Belinda furrowed her brows. âNo, I donât wanna go! Jacob just blew his top on the phone because of my thing with Chase, and I canât even figure out my own head right now, so the last thing I need is more Chase drama. Might as well stick around. Once Chase hits the road at dawn, Iâll make myself scarce.â
Suddenly, Belinda winked mysteriously, âEllinor, Iâve got the lowdown on this Sophia situation. You wanna hear it?â
Ellinor, half sprawled on the bed with her phone, glanced up at Belinda upon hearing this. âSpill.â
Seeing that Ellinor was now intrigued, Belinda leaned over the bed and started.
âEllinor, you know how Theo keeps Patricia at armâs length because he mistakenly thinks he owes her his life, right? But with Sophia, he sometimes lets her get away with too much. You know why?â
Ellinor frowned, retorting, âTheoâs definitely not as distant with Sophia as he is with Patricia. He puts up with Patricia out of a sense of obligation. But with Sophia, he seems a bit clueless, like he doesnât see the boundaries as clearly. Thatâs because theyâre legally married.â
At this thought, Ellinor felt a sudden annoyance, and her sudden urge to want nothing to do with Theo anymore resurfaced.
After noticing Ellinorâs stern expression, Belinda quickly added, âEllinor, hold your horses! Let me explain! When Theo first met Sophia, he thought she was a guy, so he treated her like a brother, like he does with Jonah, for quite a while. He was used to seeing her as a guy, so he didnât react as strongly to her advances.â
Ellinor frowned at Belinda. âWhat the hell are you on about? You donât need to spin such a wild yarn.
Sophiaâs figure is pretty obvious; how could she be mistaken for a guy?â
âEllinor, donât be so quick to dismiss this. Iâll show you Sophiaâs old pics.â To prove her point, Belinda quickly whipped out her phone and found a few photos to show her.
Ellinor looked at Belindaâs phone with a puzzled expression, her face a picture of shock.
In the photos, Sophia had short hair, wore menâs T-shirts and shorts, her skin was sun-kissed; she wore no makeup, was quite skinny at the time, and her body hadnât fully developed yet. Her chest was flat, making her look like a boy.
âWhen Theo met her, she was like this. She even played basketball with the boys on the menâs team.â
Belinda expressed her disdain, saying, âI always found it weird that a dude like him would have a girl as a friend. Now I know itâs because he thought Sophia was a guy!â
ahead and tie the knot?â
Ellinor quickly regained her composure and scoffed. âSo what? Just because he thought she was a guy, they can Belindaâs eyes widened in earnest as she said, âIâve got the whole thing figured out. Iâve gotta clear Theoâs name. Hereâs the thing. Initially, he asked Sophia to help him put his grandpaâs mind at ease before his surgery. But on the day of their engagement, Sophiaâs flight got grounded due to bad weather, and he bumped into you unexpectedly.
Strictly speaking, he didnât really deceive you; at most, he just didnât tell you right away. He was afraid youâd be mad and leave him if you found out.
Theo really cares about how you feel. He planned to come clean after heâd sorted things out with Sophia.â