Sophia gave a gentle nod, "Okay."
"I gotta do some work now," Brandon said. "You catch some z's, and I'll holler when I'm done."
Sophia nodded softly, "Mhm."
Brandon flashed her a smile and then closed the door behind him.
The room suddenly went quiet.
The master bedroom was spacious, laid out pretty much like their old place, but not quite the sameâit didn't bring too many bad memories.
Sophia walked over, peeled back the covers, and laid down on one side of the bed.
Brandon liked using high pillows, but they were too high for her she didn't like them.
She was about to sit up and switch pillows when her phone buzzed-a video call. She picked it up. It was Yolanda's grandma, Renata, calling.
Sophia hesitated. To be honest, she wasn't itching to pick up-she didn't want to get too tangled up with the Frost family but didn't want to let the old lady down either.
Her affection and protectiveness to her were no secret, even if it was all about seeing her as a granddaughter substitute.
The call went silent amidst her hesitance, only to ring again shortly after.
Sophia glanced at her phone and, with a moment's pause, answered.
There was Renata, looking as forlorn as a kid, "Do you not want to talk to Grandma anymore?"
Guilt washed over Sophia.
"No way, Grandma, don't you worry," Sophia quickly cooed, "I was just outside and didn't hear my phone."
The old lady's face lit up with a huge smile, but it froze when she caught sight of the bump on Sophia's forehead. She leaned into the camera, eyes full of concern, "Sophia, what happened? Are you hurt? Does it hurt?"
"It's nothing, Grandma, don't worry," Sophia assured her, "I accidentally bumped into a table, I'm fine, it doesn't hurt."
But the old lady was deep in her own worry, muttering non-stop, "Let Grandma blow on it, it won't hurt, don't cry, Grandma will be right there to take you to the hospital, hang tight, Sophia, wait for Grandma."
With that, she turned around, frantically looking for her keys, acting like she was about to head out, startling Sophia who tried to stop her, the old lady didn't hear and kept bustling around, looking for stuff and mumbling about taking Sophia to the hospital. Sophia watched, touched and nose tingling with emotion.
Thankfully, since her last wandering episode, Louis was practically her shadow. As Sophia floundered, Louis walked in, comforting the old lady. But she was beyond soothing, almost in tears, urging Louis to get moving and take Sophia to the hospital.
Louis was at a loss and looked to Sophia for help. Sophia covered her forehead, leaned close to the camera, and told Renata, "Grandma, I'm all good now, no need for the hospital, see?"
The worried old lady finally calmed down, peering close into the camera, examining Sophia. Maybe seeing she looked okay and the wound wasn't visible anymore, she perked up.
"Then, I will cook you chicken soup, drink it to nourish your body," the old lady murmured, "Hold on, Sophia, Grandma will go make you some nutritious chicken soup."
After saying that, she shakily walked off, forgetting the phone was still on.
Sophia watched her hurried figure, her nose tingling more intensely.
Louis moved into camera view, apologizing to Sophia and asking her not to mind, then quickly hung up to follow his wife.
The phone was quiet again. Sophia stared at it for a while, let out a sigh, suppressed the emotions bubbling inside, and got up to fetch a low pillow from the wardrobe's dresser.
The dresser was part of the vanity, with a drawer above.
The cabinet door and drawer had a push-to-open unified design.
Sophia tried to pull at the cabinet door, but it wouldn't pop open-maybe something inside was jamming it. Puzzled, she turned to the drawer and pulled it open.
A somewhat crumpled, yellowed piece of paper appeared, with "DNA Paternity Test Report" vaguely visible.
Sophia froze. She suddenly remembered, two years ago in the presidential suite of the Wye City Starlight Hotel, Brandon's silent gaze after he got back with the DNA test report.
His handsome face was so calm it was nearly expressionless, tinged with regret and nostalgia, and a faint, unnameable conflict.
He had handed that DNA paternity test report to her back then. She never opened
it.
His expression had already spelled out the answer.
Sophia never thought she'd see that report again.
She stared at the yellowed paper for a while, her hand hesitantly reaching for the paternity test report.