Seeing Leila upset made Joseph uncomfortable. He walked up to her and said in a comforting tone, "Leila, you're an amazing woman. You deserve someone better. If you think you're ready for another relationship, I can introduce you to some excellent young men."
Leila didn't respond. How could there be a better man than Colin?
Besides, it wouldn't work if she didn't have feelings for them.
"I see. Thank you, father." Repressing her sadness, Leila flashed him a smile and nodded.
"I only want what's good for you, my daughter. I hope you understand."
Leila was almost 30 already, no longer a young girl in her twenties. She understood how Joseph felt. She walked over and held his hands. "I do, father. Thank you."
Joseph patted her gently. "Don't mention it. How long will you be staying?"
Since Leila had became famous, she only went home a few times a year.
"I'll stay until the day after tomorrow. I need to see mom before I go back to work."
"Okay. Your mother will arrive tomorrow afternoon. We can pick her up at the airport together."
"Okay."
...
Outside the study, Leila went back to her bedroom in a sullen mood.
She hesitated for a long time before she dialled Colin's number.
"Leila." Hearing Colin's voice shattered Leila's defenses. She wanted to cry.
She choked back a sob. "Colin, can we still be friends?"
Colin didn't think much about it and readily agreed.
He had always treated Leila as his own sister, and it wouldn't change now.
Leila felt a little better. "Colin, I miss you so much. I want to visit you in Z Country."
"Leila, you can visit me in Z Country, but you can't say things like that. It's not appropriate." Colin bluntly told her. He didn't think it was a good idea to beat around the bush in this situation.
Leila was sad to hear his admonishment, but it also meant that Colin was a good man. She was happy about that. "I understand, Colin. I'll visit you after I finish filming in France."
"All right." Colin replied.
During her lunch break, Sophia met up with the woman she found in the red light district.
She pushed a bank card to her. "There's 3 million in it. Take it. If it's not enough, I can give you more."
"Okay!" Cora's eyes lit up at the words 'three million'.
Sophia calmly continued, "I want you to..."
Ten Minutes Later.
They stood up together. Before they parted, Sophia said, "I hope you can keep your mouth shut before it's done. That's all I ask."
Cora quickly nodded, "You can rest assured, Miss. As long as you give me enough money, I can do it."
"Good."
Afterwards, Sophia went to a food stand for lunch and returned to office.
When she passed by the CEO's office, she knocked on the door.
Colin's voice came from inside. Pushing the door open, she found Colin working. He glance at her, then continued to work.
But Sophia went on with work as usual, as if nothing had changed.
Since Colin's announcement, they were never affectionate in public again and their relationship turned back to being tense.
When her period was over, Sophia paid a visit to a renowned veteran doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.
The doctor examined her, prescribed her four weeks of Chinese medicine, and gave her a piece of shocking news.
Lying in bed in the evening, Sophia was still ruminating on what the doctor told her. He said, "Your body lacks positive energy, which greatly affects your chances of pregnancy. What's worse, it's also the root of a disease. If you don't treat it, you may not get pregnant in the future."
...
In the past two months when she was with Colin, she'd been wishing for a baby.
But apparently, it was in vain...
Wendy also wanted a grandchild... At the thought, Sophia couldn't help crying silently.
Colin seemed to be drunk when he came home from a business dinner that night. He opened the door of Sophia's bedroom.
He walked up to Sophia's bed and kissed her roughly, smelling of alcohol. "Sophia... Sophia... You've been ignoring me for so long... I'll teach you how to behave tonight. Sophia, I hate you sometimes..."
The night found Sophia panting and begging for mercy. It wasn't until daybreak that Colin stopped and returned to his room.
It went on like this for the following nights.
Colin always entered her room heavily drunk.
Sophia started to fear the urgency of his love-making.
"Colin, I can't take any more!" She begged for respite, even for just a night.
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