Sophie ushered her uncle inside, head bowed, knowing she was in the wrong.
"I never imagined you'd keep something as big as quitting your job and moving out from me. How could you treat your uncle like a stranger?" Matthew stood in the living room, shaking his head as he spoke.
"Uncle, everything is my fault. Scold me all you want! But I swear it's not because I'm treating you like an outsider—I was just terrified of making you worry!"
"No matter what, you should have told me about something like this! Even if you were afraid I'd worry, you can't handle everything alone like this! How can you be so stubborn and disregard how your family feels? You've really gone too far, child!" Matthew's words and tone were unusually stern—this was the first time he had ever spoken to Sophie so harshly.
"If something happened to you out there on your own and I had no idea where you were… Just thinking about how you'd have no one to help you in that moment fills me with dread!" Matthew's voice cracked slightly with emotion. "Sarah would never have raised you to act this way…"
Listening to her uncle's stern reprimand, Sophie's heart twisted into a tight knot.
"I'm sorry, Uncle… I won't do this again next time…"
She lowered her eyes, and tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
She offered no explanation for the heartbreak she had felt when she left C&C back then.
At that time, the pain had been so overwhelming that she had almost wanted to disappear from the world entirely.
Looking at Sophie now—seeing the weary shadows beneath her eyes—Matthew suddenly felt a deep pang of sorrow…
"Alright, just remember: don't ever do this again." His tone softened.
"I know." Head still bowed, Sophie rubbed her fingers hard behind her back and answered in a choked voice.
This child is so pitiful!
From the moment she was born, it seems her fate was destined to be one of suffering.
"Uncle, how have you been lately? How's Aunt? Are Thomas and Jack doing okay?" Wiping away her tears, Sophie forced a light, casual tone as she asked about Matthew's recent well-being.
Matthew snapped back to reality. "Uh, we're all doing fine, nothing's wrong… except that you didn't tell me about quitting your job or moving out."
Sophie lowered her head again, at a loss for words.
"I already know about you and the young master. Old Mr. Harrington told me himself. He hopes that you…" Matthew trailed off awkwardly, unable to continue.
Sophie's head jerked up as she processed his words. Uncle Jonathan must not know that I'm his daughter too. Is he, just like my birth mother Victoria, against me being with Ned?
Does he simply want Ned to marry someone from an equally prominent family?
And women like me and my mother—penniless and from nothing—can only ever be toys for the idle amusement of young men from wealthy families…
Just like these past two weeks: Ned had been waiting for her downstairs at the small apartment, accompanying her to handle the funeral arrangements. Though he remained as cold as ever on the surface, every now and then Sophie caught the intense warmth in his gaze, and she knew his love for her hadn't faded.
The sudden shock of her mother's death had hit her hard; she often couldn't sleep. Between the high-intensity part-time jobs, apartment hunting, and applying to schools, her condition had been steadily deteriorating. Yet Ned still checked on her gently, asking how she was holding up.
It almost felt as though they had never "broken up." In the evenings, he would even call proactively to see how she was, reminding her not to overthink things and to get enough rest.
She knew this kind of love was immoral, adulterous—but secretly, Sophie still felt a quiet thrill, like she had a tiny spoonful of honey lingering in her throat, sweet and warm. The man she loved was still loving her the same way as always, wasn't he? She couldn't even bear to tell Ned that she was planning to move, that she was preparing to apply to universities in the United States and leave London.
"Sophie, Sophie," her uncle's voice broke through her wandering thoughts. "What are you daydreaming about?"
Sophie kept her neck stiff, refusing to lower her head. She stared blankly at the floor ahead, her voice flat and emotionless as she stated the fact: "Uncle, you don't need to worry. We've already broken up. It's all over."
Matthew gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Child, if there's anything at all, just tell me honestly. Don't hide it from me—"
Sophie blinked, then looked straight at her uncle. "We were only together for a very short time. My mother knew about it, but she was always strongly against it. So I didn't know how to tell you. Even now, I still feel that being with him was somehow inexplicable. Since we've already broken up, there's nothing left to say."
Matthew lowered his gaze and fell silent.
"Uncle, I know I've been very willful, and I'm sorry for my behavior." She bowed her head and spoke each word deliberately. "I never imagined my mother would… take her own life because of this. Even now, I still can't believe it's real." Tears fell from her eyes in silent streams.
Matthew stared at his own knees as he replied, "This isn't your fault. I'm the one who's to blame too. I watched Sarah and Mr. Harrington fall back into that same deadlock, and I didn't do anything to stop it. I was useless—I didn't have the money to cover Sarah's medical expenses. If anyone is most at fault here, it's me!"
"Uncle…"
"Let the past stay in the past!" Matthew lifted his head and looked at Sophie, then continued, "We won't bring up old matters anymore. It's all over and done with. Let's forget it and look forward instead." He tried to comfort her with these words.
Sophie said nothing. She remained silent, with no reply to give.
After seeing her uncle—who had offered to help her move—off, Sophie picked up her two small suitcases and took the bus to a remote area in north London. There, she had just rented a tiny room. The house was very old, the transportation inconvenient, and the surroundings far from ideal—but at least the rent was cheap.
She looked around the small room, her heart heavy…
Her uncle's visit had been a wake-up call: she could no longer indulge in this illicit, forbidden love. For both moral and rational reasons, she had to pull herself out of it. She needed to keep herself busy, forget about romance, and forget all the pain…
Yet the thin, lingering ache pierced her heart like needles. It was probably a wound that would never fully heal in this lifetime.
Except for her evening restaurant part-time job, Sophie now had the entire daytime free. As usual, she continued her part-time job at the convenience store in University College Hospital, working five days a week. The store wasn't too far from the restaurant where she worked at night—just a 15-minute bus ride—so her daily shifts connected almost seamlessly.
On the remaining two days, Sophie would go to the entrance of the amusement park to wear a mascot costume for six hours a day, earning £15 per hour—a decent income in itself. In this way, she filled every single moment of her time completely.
All of her jobs required long hours of standing, and at the end of the restaurant shift, she even had to sit on a small stool and bend over to wash dishes for more than three hours. This extreme physical intensity had already left Sophie's back and waist barely able to straighten.
Yet she still pushed herself to work hard, without the slightest slack. The relentless busyness actually helped her keep going—at least when her mind was fully occupied, she didn't have to think about the things that hurt her.
"Sophie."
Archibald stepped in front of her, blocking her path, and looked straight at her.
"You—" Sophie was a little startled to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for dinner." Archibald jerked his chin toward the private room door. "A classmate's treating, so I tagged along for the fun."
"Oh. Well, enjoy yourself then! The food here is really good!" Sophie gave him a smile. "Have a wonderful evening." With that, she started to walk away.
"Wait, Sophie." Archibald stopped her again. "Have you moved already? I went to your place looking for you—the room was completely empty."
"Yeah, I moved. The old place was too big, and the rent was too expensive." Sophie lowered her gaze. "Anyway, it's just me, so I found a single room. I really have to get back to work now—being away from my post too long isn't good."
"So you're working here part-time now? Isn't the pay from C&C enough? Do you even have time left for university studies?" Archibald fired one question after another.