The CEO's Midnight Remedy novel Chapter 265

Chapter 265

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I stood reluctantly, backing toward the door. As I stepped into the hallway, I heard the first sob break free from behind the closed door, a

painful reminder of my failure.

Three hours later, I returned with Sophia’s favorite foods and a change of clothes. She sat by the window, staring out at the cityscape, her

profile etched with grief.

“I brought food,” I said gently. “You need to eat something.”

Sophia didn’t look at the bag. “I’m not hungry.”

I set it on the bedside table and approached carefully. “Even just a few bites. Please?”

“What’s the point?” she asked, her voice hollow. “Eating won’t bring her back.”

The bleak despair in her voice alarmed me. I knelt beside her chair. “Sophia, I know it feels impossible right now, but you will get through

this. And I’ll be with you every step-

“Will I get through it?” she interrupted, turning to look at me. “Like Chloe wants me to get through it‘? Move on and pretend nothing

happened?”

The mention of Chloe caught me off guard. “What does Chloe have to do with this?”

Something flashed in Sophia’s eyes–a fierce, burning anger that transformed her grief–stricken face. “She went to see my mother last week. After she pushed me at the engagement party and hurt my arm–remember? When I was just helping Owen to his car because he

was too drunk to drive?”

I nodded slowly, recalling the incident. “I remember.”

“She told my mother I was having an affair with Owen.” Sophia’s voice shook with rage. “She called me a home–wrecker, a ‘little mistress‘ stealing her fiancé. She showed my mother pictures of me helping Owen that night, twisted everything to make it look like we were

sneaking around.”

“My mother was already fragile,” Sophia whispered, tears streaming down her face. “The medication helped, but… she was always so concerned about our family’s reputation. Chloe’s lies pushed her over the edge. She kept saying I’d dishonored the family, that she’d failed as a mother.” Her fists clenched at her sides. “I’m going to make Chloe pay for what she did.”

Alarm bells rang in my head. Sophia’s grief was twisting into something dangerous. “Whatever Chloe did, confronting her now won’t help

anything.”

“You don’t understand,” she snapped, her eyes wild. “My mother was getting better. She was stable. Then Chlce visits with her poison, and

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Chapter 265

suddenly my mother can’t even look at me… Her voice broke.

I approached her cautiously. “Sophia, please sit down. We can talk about this-

“I don’t want to talk!” she cried, grabbing something from the bedside table–a small paring knife that had come with the fruit plate.

“I need to find Chloe,” she said, her voice suddenly eerily calm. “I need to make her understand what she’s done.”

“Sophia, no. I reached for her arm. “Give me the knife. You’re not thinking clearly.”

‘Let go of me!” She tried to pull away, the knife held awkwardly between us.

“I can’t let you do this,” I insisted, tightening my grip on her wrist. “You’ll ruin your life.”

We struggled briefly, my hand around her wrist, trying to force her to drop the knife. In the confusion of movement, I felt a sharp, stinging pain across my forearm. We both froze, staring down as blood welled from a slash across my skin.

“Oh God,” Sophia breathed, the knife falling from her suddenly limp fingers. It clattered to the floor between us, the blade smeared with my blood. “Aria… I didn’t mean to…”

The cut wasn’t deep, but blood flowed freely, dripping onto the white hospital floor. For a long moment, we both stared at it in shock, the red droplets a stark contrast against the sterile tile.