It was absolutely unnecessary for Sophia to make any guesses about all these men who came to visit her; it was rather obvious from the way they introduced themselves.
“How are you, Sophie? My name is Claude Fletcher and I’m twenty-six years old. I graduated from the Military Academy, an affiliated college of Bayside University. I serve in the army as a Lieutenant. I’m single and don’t have a girlfriend at the moment. I heard that you’re not feeling well, so I’ve come to visit you specially today.”
Early in the morning, another man from the Fletcher Family came to visit Sophia. He even brought her fruits and flowers.
Maria, who came to look after Sophia, took the fruits brought by Claude and placed them on a table at the side. The fruits on the table were piling up like a huge mountain; some of them were being kept in the fridge in the kitchen as well. Meanwhile, Nathan did his homework seriously on the table piled with fruits. He looked as if he wasn’t aware of Sophia’s visitor at all.
In front of her bed, a handsome man cladded in a military uniform sat upright in a proper manner and stared at her attentively.
It was obvious that Claude was the type of person who had experienced lots of great things; he looked calm and serious as he sat there properly in an upright position. While standing, he stood up straight, looking like a tall pine tree. His eyes were so sharp; when he stared at Sophia, they looked like a sharp sword. Although it was temporarily sheathed, menacing energy still emitted from the sword. It kept pricking Sophia as she sat on the bed, making her shiver uncontrollably. She could even feel pain in her bones when he stared at her like that.
The men from the Fletcher Family weren’t very good at chatting. After they introduced themselves, they would just stare at Sophia closely, waiting for her to come up with a subject and start the conversation.
Likewise, Claude sat there in an upright position today. He looked really serious and the atmosphere in the room was really awkward.
Sophia chuckled twice awkwardly as she tried to come up with a conversation starter. “Uh… today’s weather is really good, huh? Haha…”
“What are you having for lunch later…”
“Since the glaciers in Antarctica have been melting pretty quickly, it’s become imminent for them to save the habitat of polar bears there…”
After conversing in an awkward manner for a while, they exchanged contact numbers and befriended each other on Messenger before Claude finally left.
Glancing at him as Claude left the room and closed the door politely on his way out, Sophia was extremely relieved. She lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling while thinking to herself, What exactly is going on here?
As soon as Claude left, Nathan scuttled over and asked curiously, “What do you think of Claude?”
Sophia answered, “He seems nice, just nice…”
Nathan pushed the door open and went out as he munched on some fruits.
After a while, Claude added Sophia to his list of friends on Messenger.
She left a mark on his ID. Upon checking her Messenger friends list, she noticed that she had added over a dozen of guys from the Fletcher Family within the last few days.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, she combed her hair and smoothened out her clothes. After washing her face and making herself look more presentable, she sat on the bed.
If things went according to plan, there would be another man from the Fletcher Family coming to visit her later. Recently, things had been like this every day, and she had gotten used to it by now. There would be one who came around ten o’clock in the morning and another around three o’clock in the afternoon. It was the same every day—nothing changed at all.
Soon, Maria came to announce the arrival of a Fletcher. “Madam, there’s another man from the Fletcher Family who has come to visit.”
After a while, heavy footsteps could be heard coming nearer and nearer. The ward door sprung open and a man in a military uniform came in while carrying a large bouquet in one hand and a box of fruits in another. The man’s face was covered by the large bouquet.
“Are you Sophia? I’ve come to visit you on someone’s orders.”
This Fletcher guy said it in an even more straightforward way—on someone’s orders…
As usual, the man who came possessed standard traits belonging exclusively to the Fletcher Family. He was tall, well-built, handsome, and was a high-ranking military officer. He held a bouquet of flowers in his left hand and a box of fruits or tonic in his right.
However, Sophia actually knew the man who had come today. It surprised her so much that she goggled at him with her bulging eyes. “Uh… Caleb, what brings you here?”
Indeed, the man who came was Caleb, Stanley’s older brother!
Caleb looked a bit ill at ease. Still, he sat down and explained, “It’s Old Master Fletcher who has asked me to come and visit you.”
Sophia was speechless.
Then, it was silent, endless of silence descended upon the room. It was so quiet in the ward that even Nathan, who was doing his homework at the corner, felt tingly all over his body. He felt awkward for the both of them.
Caleb was a quiet person who didn’t like to talk much. Since Sophia had used the same topic to chat awkwardly with over ten people before, she felt a bit embarrassed if she were to use the same topics to engage in conversation with Caleb. Besides, she had already seen Caleb twice before, so he could be considered as a friend. Nonetheless, even if a friend came to visit her, she had no idea what she should talk about either. In the end, she went straight to the point and asked him about it.
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