Unfortunately, regret could not change the past.
Sophie would be the biggest regret of his life. He felt as though a part of himself was lost forever.
Even so, Mark was grateful that he could continue to stay by her side as a band. The Wheelers would always be around.
To be able to continue watching her from afar was enough for him.
Upon sensing Mark's disappointment, Sunny stepped forward and patted the former on the shoulders.
“Stop thinking about it, Mark. You shouldn't chase what doesn't belong to you. Come on! Let's take a trip to Horbah!”
The only way to forget someone was to find someone new. Only then could one move on completely.
“Sure! You decide where we go. I have no opinions.” Mark gave Sunny a faint smile. After all, it's just a vacation to relax. Where we go doesn't really make that much of a difference.
Going to Horbah would mean that not many people would recognize who they were.
That way, they could just be their authentic self.
In the meantime, Tristan was driving Sophie to Blossom Garden. On the way there, he asked Sophie, “In regards to the International Medical Association moving here, is there anything that you would need my help with?”
Even though Arius had been the one overseeing the whole process, Tristan would help them in any way he could without hesitation should they need his help.
“We do need help at first. We wanted to buy a building that'll serve as the residential area for the members of the medical association, but the president had approached me and offered to be in charge of that.”
Because of that, there were no significant problems to address at the moment.
As for the building for the International Medical Association headquarters, it wasn't a problem solved by purchasing real estate. They would have to spend some time constructing the building from scratch.
“It's best if the governing party plays a role in providing solutions. After all, moving the International Medical Association to Chanaea is a huge benefit to our country.”
Tristan was not at all fazed by the fact that the president himself decided to take up some responsibilities.
“Mm-hmm.”
Before the duo knew it, they had arrived at Blossom Garden.
By the time they parked and got out of the car, Arius and Barney had arrived as well.
The four of them made their way inside.
“Dr. Smith, the food in this restaurant is scrumptious! If you would like to have some in the future, you can just give Mr. Tristan a call and ask him to deliver it to us!” Arius flashed a cheeky grin.
He was a huge fan of the food in Blossom Garden as well.
“Dr. Smith, if you like the food here, I'll ask someone to send the food over to you,” Tristan promised, completely unfazed by Arius' antics.
After all, Barney was someone worthy of respect.
Moreover, he had become Sophie's mentor!
“Don't listen to him, Mr. Tristan. He just wants the food for himself. Ignore him. If I want to eat here, I can come here on my own!” Barney did not play along with Arius.
“Dr. Smith, I'm your mentee! How could you do this to me?” Arius pouted, feeling as though he was at the bottom of the food chain.
“My mentee is now Sophie!” Barney retorted without missing a beat.
Arius sighed dramatically.
“Dr. Smith, the president has met up with me. He said that the country would provide the residential area for free. You don't have to worry about this issue anymore,” Sophie interrupted.
“Is that so? I didn't want to bother him initially, but since he has offered, that'll be for the best!”
“Mm-hmm. So the only thing that we have to work on now is the building for the International Medical Association headquarters! Since there's no building in Jipsdale that fulfills all our criteria, we can only build a place ourselves.”
“Naturally.”
As of then, there was not a single building in the entire world that was suitable to be transformed into the International Medical Association headquarters.
Thus, they could only build one by themselves.
“Dr. Smith, another thing... Are we just giving up on those members of the International Medical Association who don't want to move here?” Sophie asked.
“Yes. If they don't want to move, we won't force them. They have full autonomy over what they think is best for them!” Barney was never one to force his opinion on others.
Arius nodded in agreement. That's right! Nothing good ever comes from forcing someone to do something that they don't want to. If they don't want to move, then they don't have to.
When the dishes came, Sophie got some of the signature dishes of Blossom Garden for Barney.
“Please try some, Dr. Smith. The food here is not bad. The Chanaean dishes are very authentic.”
Barney took a bite.
His eyes immediately lit up with pleasant surprise.
“Delicious!”
Barney had gotten tired of eating hamburgers in Anglandur. He had always known that Chanaean dishes are good, but he had never had any authentic ones.
Yet the dishes in Blossom Garden blew him away.
“So good!”
Due to his limitations in speaking the Chanaean language, Barney could only hum in delight.
When Arius saw Barney's response, he could not help but comment, “I told you that you'd like the food here! You're the one who didn't believe me!”
Arius was confident that most people would find Chanaean dishes to their liking.
“You're right. This is scrumptious! Can I eat here often in the future?” Barney did not have any financial restrictions, but he was well aware that some places required membership.
“Of course! I'll ask Ms. Blossom to issue you a membership card later. You can just ring Ms. Blossom up whenever you feel like coming here,” Tristan answered.
They were very familiar with Ms. Blossom.
“You see that, Arius? That's how awesome Sophie's boyfriend is! Thank goodness you're not the one Sophie is in love with,” Barney teased. Otherwise, there would have been no advantages.
Arius tried to defend himself but ultimately chose to stay silent.
He was aware that he would always be the target from then on. Nothing he said could change that.
All he wanted to do then was to have his meal in peace.
It was not until he was alone with Sophie did he speak. “I heard from an ex-colleague in the medical association that Nicholas is still alive.”
That man sure is as hard to kill as a cockroach. He can even stay alive after all of that.
Sophie remained silent.
She had not heard Nicholas' name in so long.
However, the sudden mention of his name did not agitate Sophie at all.
“He almost died this time. He won't let Tristan go so easily,” Sophie remarked.
Nicholas was an exceptionally stubborn man. If he wanted something, he would make it happen by hook or by crook.
Right now, there was nothing he was more obsessed with than Sophie herself.
“If he wants to die, no one can stop him,” Sophie added lightly.
Nicholas was truly hard to get rid of.
Everyone expected him to be a goner in the last incident.
“The Sable family in Anglandur is very restless. My guess is that they're plotting their revenge. You should ask Tristan to be more cautious,” Arius advised.
He knew how much Sophie adored that man and how she wouldn't be able to handle it if she lost Tristan. Because of that, he took the extra effort to warn her. Otherwise, he could not be bothered by another man's life.
“I will.”
It was already old news that Nicholas wanted Tristan dead. It was only natural that Sophie knew about it.
“Nonetheless, Nicholas probably wouldn't return to Chanaea for the time being, so everyone should be safe for now.”
“If he still wants to come back, then we shall make it a one-way trip for him! I'm fed up with his obsession!” Sophie clenched her fists. They had already lost too much time because of Nicholas.
“That's right. Killing him might bring up a lot of issues, but not killing him will bring more trouble.” Arius concluded that it was easier to just kill Nicholas off.
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The readers' comments on the novel: Changing only for her (Sophie and Tristan)
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