Although Samuel did not understand why Sophia had made such a suggestion, he knew that it was definitely an opportunity for Alexander to win her back.
Seeing Alexander standing rooted to his spot with a puzzled look on his face, Samuel hurriedly walked toward the former. Raising his hand, Samuel tapped on Alexander's shoulder and said, “She's asking you a question!”
Furrowing his brows, Alexander replied, “Sure.”
He might not know why Sophia wanted to challenge him, but he surely would not turn her down if she truly wanted to do so.
“Have you booked a boxing room?” Sophia asked.
“Yes,” replied Alexander.
“All right.” Sophia continued, “Let's go to your boxing room to fight, then. Don't let anyone irrelevant in.”
“Okay,” Alexander answered as he strode forward and led the way. Shortly after, both of them came to the boxing room, where Alexandar was hitting the punching bag earlier.
Samuel, who followed the two, became excited for some reason. He took his phone out, planning to stream the match live so that the friends in his group chat could witness it as well.
However, just as he arrived at the door, Sophia lifted her hand and pulled the door half-closed. Blocking the entrance, she flashed Samuel a half-smile and said, “Mr. Schild, please step aside.”
With that, Sophia closed the door.
Staring at the tightly shut door, Samuel kept swearing inwardly.
Why am I considered someone irrelevant? Am I an outsider or a busybody?
Samuel insisted on demanding an explanation from Sophia. However, when he placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it, his face stiffened.
I can't believe she locked it!
He was rendered speechless.
Hasn't she gone too far?
After closing the door, Sophia took a towel from her backpack and wiped the sweat off her face. Then, she threw the towel on her backpack.
Twisting her wrists, she walked toward Alexander and said, “No helmets are needed. We won't aim for each other's head and vital points.”
“All right,” replied Alexander.
He was already in the boxing ring. Lowering his head to look at Sophia, he thought of asking her if she wanted to take a break. Yet, knowing Sophia's personality, he was certain that she would be more upset if he asked her that.
Sophia jumped into the ring after stretching open the ropes. Consequently, Alexander, who was going to reach out and give her a hand, had his hand left mid-air awkwardly.
Glancing at him, Sophia asked, “How long have you been practicing combat skills?”
“Fifteen years,” answered Alexander.
It is no wonder that he could defeat those two men ten years ago.
Snapping back to reality, Sophia said, “I boxed for half an hour just now, so let's not take a break during the fight. We'll just spar for ten minutes. If I lose, I'll promise you one thing; if you lose, it'll be the other way around.”
Hearing that, Alexander was stunned.
Clearly, Sophia did not want him to go easy on her.
Looking at him, Sophia said, “You count to three, then we'll start.”
She walked closer to Alexander as she spoke.
Alexander did not start counting. He fixed his gaze on her instead. “You'll promise me anything?”
Does that include you getting back together with me?
Sure enough, he did not dare to say his thoughts out loud.
Sophia just stared at him. For a while, she did not understand Alexander.
He already has someone he likes, so why is he pretending to be affectionate to me? Or perhaps he's an absolute hypocrite?
She would rather believe that she was imagining things than admit that she had fallen in love with a hypocrite.
“Yes. As long as it's not illegal, I'll promise you anything,” she said.
Is he so confident that he'll beat me?
Alexander stared at Sophia, his eyes flickering. Moments later, he parted his thin lips and said, “Three, two, one. Go!”
In the beginning, none of them made a move.
Sophia was only testing her opponent with a few small gestures, while Alexander was in defense mode most of the time.
After repeating the same moves several times, Sophia began to strike genuinely.
She was in a bad mood that day. Despite having gone through a sparring match with Aaron, she was still feeling down.
Her mood was so bad that she wanted to get drunk.
However, she happened to bump into Alexander that day. Sophia felt as if she had found a way to vent her frustrations.
She did not go easy on him at all. Every punch she threw was full of strength.
Alexander was busy fending off Sophia's attacks, yet he made no move to attack her. He had successfully dodged her attacks multiple times.
More than a minute later, she still did not manage to lay her hands on him.
Feeling a little agitated, she asked, “Are you purposely going easy on me, Alexander Xenos?”
“No, I'm not,” he denied.
“Then why are you not attacking me?” she asked.
As soon as Sophia finished speaking, Alexander aimed directly at her shoulder and threw a punch.
Shocked, she swiftly dodged it.
It was not that he refused to attack. Instead, he was waiting for her to get distracted.
Twitching her lips, Sophia kept herself focused.
She then made two feints in a row. When she made a move for the third time, Alexander did not manage to dodge her punch. Sophia landed her fist on his lower abdomen straight away.
He immediately frowned upon that. Sophia, on the other hand, smiled as she said, “You're looking down on me, Alexander.”
“I'm not,” said Alexander.
Sophia snorted in response. “It's been two minutes, but you've only punched thrice.”
Remaining silent, Alexander quickly threw his fourth punch.
Little did he know, Sophia came prepared. She had mentioned that she had a good memory. Alexander had used the same tactic earlier. If she had managed to dodge it the first time, there would be no reason she would let him succeed this time.
The two fought for two more minutes. As they exchanged blows, Sophia landed another punch on Alexander's shoulder.
Meanwhile, she herself did not get hit.
When Sophia realized that Alexander was going easy on her, her vexation and annoyance grew. Since he wants to pull his punches, I shall grant him his wish then!
At the thought of that, her smile disappeared, and she instantly put on a cold expression as she continued to attack him.
At first, Alexander was still trying to dodge her attacks. Yet, after sensing her intentions, he stopped avoiding those punches. He grunted in pain silently as he let her punch him.
Sophia took her anger out on him by striking numerous blows at Alexander. All of a sudden, she found it boring. “Alexander, you lost—”
However, before she could finish her sentence, Alexander tripped her up, and her whole body was pinned to the mat by him.
Sophia was startled. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Alexander saying, “Is that so?”
The two were very close to each other. The high-intensity boxing match, which had gone on for nearly forty minutes, caused Sophia to pant.
Alexander, however, was breathing steadily. Other than the beads of sweat on his forehead, which proved that he had not stood still throughout the entire match, he did not seem tired in the slightest.
During their three years of marriage, both of them had never been in such proximity. Pressing Sophia down, Alexander gripped her wrists tightly. As he lowered his head, she could feel his breath on her face. It fused together with hers when she exhaled, and at that moment, no one could tell them apart.
Sophia carried a faint fragrance. Even though Alexander could not tell precisely what kind of scent it was, he was attracted to it.
He even had the urge to bury his face in her body and get a whiff of her scent. Yet, he knew that he could not do so.
While Alexander was distracted, Sophia tried to break free. As soon as he loosened his grip slightly, she seized the chance, pushed him away, and pressed him down.
Sitting on top of him, Sophia lowered her head to look at him and said, “You lost.”
Letting go of her, Alexander dropped his hands to his side. He gazed intently at Sophia with his dark eyes. “I lost.”
Knowing that she wanted to win, Alexander was reluctant to disappoint her, so he let her win.
Looking into his eye, Sophia did not say a word. The two just locked their eyes with each other.
The boxing room fell silent. Only the sound of drizzle outside could be heard at the moment.
Strangely enough, Sophia did not feel the joy of victory. “Thanks for today. From now on, we no longer owe each other anything,” she said.
With that, she let go of him and stood up, shooting him one last glance. “I wish you happiness, Alexander.”
After all, both of them were already divorced.
Alexander had guessed what she was going to tell him. However, his heart ached when he heard her say that they owed each other nothing anymore.
Staring at her back, he knew that he would no longer have the right to show up in front of her from that day onward.
“Sophia.” Suddenly, Alexander's voice drifted into her ear.
Sophia stopped in her tracks and turned around. “What—”
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