Annoyed by his behavior, Sophia ignored him. “Where were we?” She turned to Ian. “You said you want to tell me something. What is it?”
Ian smiled. “Forget it. I’ll tell you when I have the chance.”
John looked up at Ian, and he raised his cup. A faint smile appeared on his face, but Sophia was oblivious to it. “Okay,” she said.
The atmosphere quickly turned awkward, for Ian and John both said nothing, while Sophia didn’t know what to say as well. Then, John looked at Sophia’s phone that was on the table, and he picked it up. “You’ve been using this for a while now.”
“What are you doing?” Sophia protested.
“I remember buying this for you.” John held it tightly.
Sophia was surprised he remembered that. Before she married John, she was using a no-name phone. She complained about it being laggy, so John asked Zack to change it right away. Or maybe it was because he thought it dragged his class down. Either way, Sophia glared at him. “So you’re going to even take back the phone now?”
John smiled. Then, he tried to unlock her phone, but the password was incorrect. I knew it. She doesn’t even defend against Husky, but her guard is all up against me. Thus, he tossed the phone back at Sophia. “No. It’s just something I remembered.”
Sophia took her phone and put it away.
“I transferred some money to you,” John continued. “I’m a man of my word. Reneging on a promise is not my style.”
Surprised, Sophia quickly went to check her account and found that John had transferred some money to her this afternoon. He’s generous. This is a lot of money. “What’s the meaning of this?” She looked at him, upset.
John became serious all of a sudden. “It’s your reward. Did you forget what I said?”
Sophia looked at her phone. Unwilling to dwell on this matter further, she nodded after a while. “Fine. This is the end then. We owe nobody anything.” You can stop coming over now.
John gave her a cryptic smile, while Ian closed his eyes, looking resigned. Now, he had accepted what had happened, so he stood up and announced, “I should go back now. It’s late.” Then, he looked at John.
If it were the old John, he would have taken the cue from Ian and left as well, but now, for some unknown reason, he ignored it. “Safe trip,” he told Ian.
Sophia was annoyed. “Didn’t you hear? It’s late, so you’re leaving too.”
John stared down and sipped his tea. “After I finish my tea.”
Ian gave John a look before turning back to Sophia. “Good night, Sophia.” He knew John wouldn’t do anything to Sophia; not like she would let him do as he wanted anyway.
Sophia sent Ian off at the yard, and before he left, Ian reminded her of the usual stuff. At the same time, John picked up Sophia’s phone. It’s unlocked. Good.
Meanwhile, Sophia was still talking to Ian. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Do you really don’t want to say what’s on your mind? Is it urgent? Do you need my help? Tell me if you need any help. It’s fine.”
Ian smiled. “Nothing. It’s okay. I’ll be leaving now.”
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