“All right, it's getting late. Let's go back and take a rest!” Tristan said to the others. They must be exhausted since they'd been accompanying Sophie for the last two days.
“But Uncle Tristan, I—” As Sophie's best friend, Ysabelle just wanted to stay by her side.
Before she could finish her sentence, Felix pulled her back. “I know you're worried about Sophie, but Mr. Tristan is here to keep her company. I'm sure he'll take good care of her, so don't worry.”
He knew Tristan just wanted to stay with Sophie and did not want others to interrupt them at this point.
“But I—” At first, Ysabelle hesitated to leave, but she eventually gave up and bobbed her head in response. “All right, we'll go home now.”
She did feel tired as she had not slept a wink for two nights.
They then got into their cars respectively. Sophie shut her eyes and took a nap right away. She had to get enough rest as she would need to make the final arrangement at Central Hospital the next day.
No matter how upset she was, Sophie knew she had to pull herself together from tomorrow onward.
Instead of sending her back to her condominium, Tristan brought her to his mansion since there were housekeepers who could look after her.
Sophie had no issue with the arrangement.
When the car arrived safely in front of Caraxes Mansion, Tristan opened the door and carried Sophie in his arms. Instead of stopping him from doing so, she wrapped her hands around his neck and leaned against his chest.
Tristan straight away carried her to his room, put her down on his bed, and whispered, “Would you like to take a bath? I'll prepare warm water for you, okay?”
Sophie lifted her head to look at the man who did everything cautiously to make her feel better.
“I'm fine, Tristan, don't worry about me. I'm just a little upset. I'll be all right once I get a hold of myself.” Her voice still sounded hoarse.
The way she looked at Tristan with her puppy eyes made him want to shower her with more affection. He sat by the edge of the bed and wrapped his hands around her shoulders. “Grandpa is gone now, but you don't want him to worry about you, do you? He'd always thought of you as a strong, independent girl.”
He believed Josiah would not leave in peace had he known how disconsolate Sophie was.
Sophie leaned against his chest but kept mum.
She understood everything he said, but she was not a robot who could forget about everything at a click of a button.
“Take a warm bath first, okay? I'll get someone to prepare food for you to eat before you sleep.” Tristan gently rubbed his chin against the top of her head.
Sophie hummed in acknowledgment.
At this point, she was exceptionally obedient.
The housekeepers had prepared dinner for her by the time she finished bathing. Tristan stayed by her side as she munched on the food, even though she ate very little.
After that, Tristan brought her back to the bedroom. He had never left her alone for a second since they arrived at the mansion.
He even carried her to the bed and tucked her in.
Meanwhile, Caleb started packing his suitcase after coming back from the funeral. Since the send-off was over, it was time for him to return to the lab.
Upon realizing his intention to leave, Charmaine kept following him while he was packing. “How could you leave now, Caleb? Don't you care about the company?”
Caleb froze. “Mom, all of us are not capable of running the business. Since Grandpa had handed the company over to Sophie, we should have faith in her. Why do you have to be so petty about this arrangement? Are we not family?”
He was not a fan of dealing with these hassles. That was why he was eager to leave. I've said everything I wanted to say. From now on, they can do what they want. I won't intervene in their decision anymore.
Yale knitted his brows, even though he anticipated this to happen. As usual, Caleb doesn't care about anything. He's always been like that. He has never felt he belongs to the Tanner family anyway!
“Enough! Let him go if he wants to. What's the point of making him stay since he knows nothing about the company? He can't be of any help to us anyway.” Yale did not intend to stop Caleb from leaving. There's no point convincing someone to stay if the person is determined to go.
“I'm telling the truth, Dad. Giving the company to Sophie is the best option since she's capable of managing it. You guys should chill and enjoy the dividends,” Caleb said. Why make life difficult for yourselves when you can sit around and enjoy the fruit of her labor? What good can you do if you insist on stirring up trouble?
“Just leave. You don't have to care about anything about the family.” Frustration kicked in. Yale could not help but feel annoyed when he thought about it.
Charmaine had no choice but to walk Caleb out of the house. After all, a mother would never forsake her child.
Nonetheless, Charmaine would only shower Caleb and Willow with love. Never in her life had she cared about Sophie.
“Mom, it's getting cold. You don't have to send me off. I'll come back and visit you when I have the time. Take good care of yourself and Dad!” Caleb had to return to the lab as soon as possible as he had to work on an important project.
“You take good care of yourself. Don't worry about us!” Charmaine assured him in return.
“Mom, I know you never liked Sophie, but she hasn't done anything wrong. Be nice to her, okay?” Caleb said. Sophie is not an awful person. She's just not a crowd-pleaser, that's all.
“That's enough. The driver's here. You'd better get going!”
After sending Caleb off, Charmaine heard a commotion in the house.
Feeling annoyed, she could not help but frown. What now?
After walking into the living hall, she saw Willow ordering the housekeepers to inspect Morgan's suitcase. Morgan was so furious that the color had drained out of his face. He could only stand there and do nothing.
Morgan, who had served in the Tanner residence for several decades, did not expect they would humiliate him in such a manner following the passing of Josiah.
“Check carefully! Make sure he doesn't take any of our things away!” Willow raised her voice condescendingly.
Morgan felt sick at heart upon hearing that. I've worked for Old Mr. Tanner my whole life, yet this is how they treat me in return?
Charmaine walked up to Willow and expressed her dismay. “Willow, what on earth are you doing? Just let him go since he's leaving. Why do you have to do this to him?”
She felt Willow's action was inappropriate and that Morgan, who had served Josiah his entire life, did not deserve to be treated like that.
“Mom, he's a country bumpkin and can't be trusted. What's wrong with me checking his belongings?” Willow defended her action matter-of-factly.
She humiliated Morgan on purpose because he had always sided with Sophie. I bet there's nothing he can do now!
Initially, the housekeepers were hesitant to search Morgan's suitcase because they used to work under him, but they had no choice but to do it at Willow's insistence.
It was no easy feat to find a good job these days, so they could not afford to offend her and lose their jobs.
Morgan could only stand aside and do nothing. All his life, he had been a righteous man with integrity. He had never done anything awful, yet today, he had to deal with such humiliation.
Everything in his suitcase was a mess as they were tossed all over the floor.
“Ms. Willow, is this your bracelet?” All of a sudden, one of the housekeepers found a bracelet in Morgan's suitcase.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Changing only for her (Sophie and Tristan)
Very nice story. Thank you author...more stories please......
Will there be new chapters soon?...