He stared at the ceiling for a long time before finally closing his eyes…
He fell asleep without even taking off his clothes, just lying on top of the quilt. Fortunately, the air conditioning in the room was set to a very comfortable temperature; otherwise, sleeping like that would have left him with a splitting headache and a terrible cold the next morning.
There were no classes that afternoon. Before Sophie even entered the office, she saw Ned sitting in the boss's chair looking refreshed and energetic. Even after getting heavily drunk the night before, he still showed up to work the next day as usual—never slacking off.
She hadn't even settled at her desk when the intercom on it rang.
"Hello, did you sleep well last night?" Ned's voice sounded cheerful.
"Pretty well," she replied with a smile. In truth, she hadn't slept well at all, but she still said she had.
"You're the one who got drunk. You probably didn't sleep well, right?"
"I'm long used to it," he answered.
"Oh!" She nodded, turned on her computer, and prepared to start work.
"Want to have dinner together tonight?" he asked suddenly.
"Why?" She was a little taken aback.
"To apologize for making you unable to find me last night."
"No need. I didn't visit Mom in the hospital yesterday evening—even though I went at noon, she was asleep the whole time. I want to go again tonight," she answered honestly. "And yesterday you were discussing business with clients. It wasn't convenient to take calls, right?" Sophie sounded very understanding.
"How did you know I was discussing business with clients?"
She froze for a moment. "You told me yourself yesterday. You said you and Uncle Jonathan were having dinner to entertain a congressman. Wasn't that it?"
He laughed out loud. "Yes, exactly, I was discussing business with a client." Then he stopped smiling, lowered his voice, and asked, "Don't you want to know where I was doing that business?"
"If you wanted to tell me—if you wanted me to know—you would have told me," she replied.
"I was talking with the congressman at the same KTV I took you to that day. Last night there were a lot of hostesses there." Ned said it casually, as if it didn't matter. "Do you mind?"
"That's just business entertainment. I have no reason to mind or not mind," Sophie said, pretending she didn't catch the implication.
Ned's eyes flickered. "Most women get jealous when a man goes to a KTV for business."
She lowered her gaze and gave a faint smile. "I'd love to be jealous, but getting jealous over something like this isn't worth it."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Because even if I did get jealous, you'd still go to those places for work in the future. If I got upset every single time, I'd be the only one hurting while you wouldn't feel a thing. That's way too unfair to me! I'm not going to put myself at that kind of disadvantage." She laid out her reasoning calmly.
Ned let out a soft snort of laughter. "This is honestly the first time I've ever heard a woman say that."
Sophie continued, "But I still hope you'll go to KTV less often. Drinking too much is bad for your health, and you have such a heavy workload. You're up early every day for work—you really need to take better care of yourself." She tried hard to explain.
"Really not jealous at all?" he teased playfully.
"If I did get jealous, would you stop going to KTV?" she asked, half-serious.
"No." The answer was short and decisive.
Sophie smiled, shook her head, and looked down with a hint of disappointment. "I already knew that would be your answer. Just… don't drink too much, okay? Take care of your own health."
Then she turned to her computer screen, opened her work folder, and started typing. "I've got to get back to work. I'm hanging up now."
Ned didn't say anything more. They ended the call and each got busy with their own tasks.
In the end, their dinner plans fell through again. Ned's father had asked him to have dinner at the restaurant on the top floor of C&C.
Sophie went to the hospital to visit her mother instead.
In the quiet hospital room, her mother was propped up in bed, slowly eating a liquid diet. The doctor had warned that the patient couldn't have anything too solid, and the private nurse Uncle Jonathan had hired was extremely attentive and thorough—Sophie barely had to worry about a thing.
"Mom, yesterday I had so much schoolwork that I ended up staying late and missed visiting hours. I'm really sorry I couldn't come see you," she said apologetically, rubbing her hands together. "I did come by at noon today, but you were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you."
Sarah's spirits looked much better than they had in recent weeks. She shook her head gently. "It's all right. You've been running yourself ragged lately, going back and forth everywhere. You have to take good care of yourself too. Everything's fine with me here. As long as I keep recuperating slowly, I'll get better."
"I'm going to go talk to Dr. William right now about your follow-up rehabilitation plan. Wait here for me—I'll be quick!" Sophie dashed out of the VIP ward like a gust of wind.
At the restaurant on the top floor of C&C, the father and son each ordered a simple salad and steak, then a glass of red wine apiece.
"Father, is there something important you need to discuss that you deliberately chose this place? Are you trying to avoid Mother?" Ned opened the conversation.
"I want to talk to you about Sophie," Jonathan said. He finished the bite of steak in his mouth, set down his knife and fork, and looked straight at Ned. "You already know about her situation… Well, I haven't had the chance to ask you yet—what do you plan to do about it?"
"Nothing's confirmed yet. Sophie could just be a child her mother adopted," Ned replied coolly.
"What I'm asking is this: if the paternity test proves she really is my daughter, what are you going to do then?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Ned had lost all interest in his steak and put down his cutlery as well, meeting his father's gaze directly.
Jonathan's expression was unusually grave. "You still don't have any plan at all? Macy said the results should be ready by next Monday at the latest."
"At least for now, everything is still just speculation. It's not the right time to make plans," Ned insisted.
"You should break up with her now!"
Ned looked deeply at his father for a moment. "I'll decide the timing myself—and it will be the most appropriate timing."
Jonathan didn't quite understand. "Why not do it now? From my standpoint, I don't want either of you to get hurt!"
"No matter when I bring it up between us, the hurt is already unavoidable! I'll make the right decision…" Ned stared blankly out the window at the sky, his face expressionless.
Jonathan was stunned by his son's rebuttal. Ned had always obeyed him without question; he had never directly contradicted him like this before.
Feeling a little awkward, Jonathan picked up his knife and fork again and began cutting the steak that had already gone cold. He found that what had once been a delicious, juicy piece of meat now tasted bland and unappetizing. He lost all desire to eat it, so he simply lifted his glass of red wine and took a small sip to calm his emotions.
Sophie, meanwhile, felt equally disheartened after her in-depth conversation with Dr. William. She had been fully expecting that once her mother's surgery was over and she had rested for a while, her condition would improve enough to start some supportive health treatments.
"Your mother seems to have been suffering from chronic insomnia. Her recovery is far from ideal. If she doesn't cooperate with follow-up treatment, her life expectancy will be shortened considerably. The family needs to pay close attention to the patient's condition," Dr. William said bluntly.
"As her attending physician, I don't recommend using sedatives or similar drugs to help her sleep, so emotional support and companionship from the family are extremely important. They can help ease the patient's mind and improve sleep quality." Sophie nodded repeatedly as she listened.
"Regarding transferring her to the United States for treatment, I've already contacted the hospital where I'm currently affiliated, and they've agreed to accept her. However, given her current recovery progress, moving her right now would not be advisable."
After hearing Dr. William's candid assessment, Sophie felt a wave of dejection wash over her.