The Heart Left Behind (Cole and Yvonne) novel Chapter 159

Lorraine shot Sophie a look of surprise. She knew Sophie had always been concerned about her, but it seemed unnecessary to give up a family gathering just for her sake.

"Sophie." Lorraine came to a sudden stop. Noticing Sophie's puzzled expression, she voiced her doubt, "Why are you so kind to me? Did Cole…"

She suspected I might've arranged for Sophie to stay by her side.

Before she could finish, Sophie's expression changed abruptly, and Lorraine immediately understood.

"I'm an adult, Sophie. I can protect myself, and you don't have to skip your family gathering for me."

Lorraine refused to cause Sophie trouble. Though she wasn't sure what kind of agreement I might have with Sophie, it wasn't Sophie's responsibility to watch over her outside of work hours.

Sophie knew she had misunderstood and explained, "Mr. Joplin just asked me to watch over you a little, and there's nothing more to it. I swear I decided to stick around because you're a good person."

Lorraine frowned and seemed skeptical of her words, but Sophie grabbed her wrist and walked toward the cab. "Believe it or not, I'm coming to the gathering today. You're not trying to avoid paying for my meal, are you?"

"Of course not."

Once in the car, Lorraine thought of something and turned to remind Sophie, "Don't tell Cole about what happened today."

Sophie, who had just been typing, flinched at Lorraine's words and accidentally tapped the send button. "W-Why not?" she stammered.

Lorraine hesitated and debated whether to share the argument I had with her earlier. Before she could answer, Sophie dismissively waved her hands. "You don't have to explain if you don't want to. I'm not that nosy of a person."

Seeing Sophie's curious yet hesitant expression, Lorraine explained somewhat helplessly, "We just had a fight, and I don't want to give in so easily."