Chapter 222: Chapter 781-790

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t you feel anything?” Richard asked him.

With a smirk, Arthur answered, “I think something is wrong with you, not me.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Richard asked him again.

“You’re a busybody like someone’s mother,” Arthur rebuked him.

Hearing that, Richard looked at him resignedly. “That’s because you ditched us.”

“Whatever.” Arthur turned around and left after saying that.

Then, Elliot came over and patted Richard, who was feeling hurt. “There’s really something wrong with Arthur. We should look into this.”

“I looked into his schedule and saw that he’d met a biology professor, Johnny, the day after coming back. However, I still haven’t found a chance to meet him yet. I’m sure something is wrong there.”

“Okay, we can start looking into it. We need to be extra careful in Weiss’ territory, though. It’s not our place, so don’t let them have anything on us.”

“I know. Let’s look into it together.” Richard felt better after knowing that he had someone on his side.

On the other hand, Sophia promised Anastasia to not simply go anywhere at night. She didn’t simply go anywhere either and merely strolled in the garden downstairs. If she didn’t come out to give herself some air, she felt that she would go insane in no time.

As she was strolling, her gaze landed in her opposite direction. Lights were shining blindly, and the person she loved the most was standing there. Even though they were not separated by mountains or seas, but only by a garden, it was a gully that she found difficult to cross. He was right there, but she couldn’t touch him.

Sophia was engulfed in sadness as she had her head down the entire time and was walking absent-

mindedly. After walking for quite some time, she raised her head and was immediately stunned. Where am I?

Since the gardens were interlinked, she was now standing deep inside an unfamiliar garden and had lost her way. What made it worse was that there was no one in the garden who could help her.

At this moment, she grew more upset, and tears were gushing out of her eyes. She hugged herself in her arms and chose a bench to sit, ultimately deciding to cry it out.

She could use this chance to release all her emotions since no one was around. All this while, the toughness and calmness that she tried so hard to put on were all fake. In fact, she was feeling heartbroken inside.

Under the night sky, Sophia started sobbing, ignoring everything around her.

However, she didn’t know that her sobbing had attracted one person—a man who was heading to his study. Arthur had good hearing, so he could hear a woman crying from deep inside the garden.

It was the extremely sad sobbing kind. Yet, he didn’t want to know why she was crying. He just hoped that she could cry in a lower voice so as not to disturb his work later.

Yet, even after a while, she was still crying so loudly. As such, he decided that he would go over and get her to move somewhere else to cry.

Meanwhile, Sophia thought that there was no one around, so she didn’t suppress her emotions at all.

She was trying to convert all her sadness into tears and was crying whole-heartedly, not realizing there was a person approaching her.

Just then, she heard a cold voice of a man coming from the side. “Why are you crying?”

Startled, she lifted her head sharply and saw a man standing in front of her under the moonlight.

Although the moonlight was behind him, she could still recognize this figure that she was extremely familiar with. Regardless of his cold tone just now, he was still the person whom she loved the most.

“Arthur…” Sophia said happily and dashed toward him desperately. After running into his arms, she hugged his waist tightly.

Arthur didn’t have the chance to reject her, and the woman had wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. In fact, she was wiping her tears on his shirt.

“Let go.” He reached out his hand to pull her tightened fingers on him.

Instead of letting go, she hugged him even tighter until a cold voice came from above her head, asking her, “Who are you? Why are you hugging me?”

At this moment, she lifted her head from his chest. Her big, teary-eyed eyes looked at him pitifully under the moonlight.

“You don’t recognize me? You don’t remember who I am?” Sophia asked him.

Arthur lowered his head and gazed at the girl in his arms. Suddenly, he felt his heart aching as he sensed a sense of familiarity with that face. Adding on to that, her pair of eyes, which had tears welling up, were tugging on his nerves, and he felt his heart pounding for her as though he was under a spell.

“Do I know you?” he asked with a frown.

Sophia let go of his hands and looked at him in agony before asking, “Don’t think that you can act dumb, Arthur. Just tell me if you don’t love me anymore. We can break up.”

Startled, Arthur looked at this enraged girl and didn’t know what to do.

“My name is Sophia Goodwin, and I used to be your girlfriend. I came here to see you and hear what you said. Once you’re done talking, I’ll leave and never get in your way again.”

Surprised, he asked her, “What do you want me to say?”

“Say you don’t love me any more or that you fell in love with someone else. Just say it. I want to hear what you have to say.” She lifted her head, and while tears were streaming down her face, she made herself look at him.

Arthur looked at the girl whose tears kept coming. His chest tightened as if something were pressing on his heart, and he found breathing impossible.

Why did I feel compelled to comfort her by wiping her tears? Even though he realized she was the girl on his phone, it was clear he had never met her.

“Say it! Why didn’t you tell me you don’t love me anymore?” Sophia was enraged and shouted at him.

He did not respond or move away; he just gazed at her calmly.

“You don’t dare to say it, do you! Okay, then, I’ll say it: let’s break up! I don’t want to talk to you or think about you ever again; I’m getting rid of anything you left behind at my place and any promises you made to me are now null and invalid,” Sophia exclaimed loudly to him as if she was cool about it, but tears could not fool people.

At this moment, a large dog rushed out from the side and barked madly at Sophia. Her face turned pale with fear, and even as she panicked, she picked the safest spot for protection—Arthur’s arms.

She gripped him like an octopus by wrapping her arms around his neck and bending down on her legs.

“Gritt, get out of here.” Arthur was holding a panicked girl as his dog continued to bark anxiously.

“Arthur, I’m scared. Ask your dog to go away.” Sophia clutched his neck hard, almost suffocating him.

“It will not bite you. Come on down!” Unexpectedly, he didn’t try to push her away.

“No way, it’ll bite me.” She was sure that the big dog considered her an enemy.

He inhaled deeply and said, “I can’t breathe!”

“Then, tell your dog to leave!” Sophia was annoyed.

“Gritt, go away.” The most Arthur could do was shout at his pet, and when Gritt caught on to the fact that its master was becoming irate, it moaned pitifully, turned, and walked away.

As soon as Gritt left, Sophia refused to let go of Arthur until he finally pulled her hand away; she was thrown off balance and fell to the ground.

“Ouch!” she shouted in pain.

Arthur gazed at her while extending his hand to help her up.

“I don’t need your help! You can leave now!” She decided to ignore him.

“You’re lost. Let me send you back.” Arthur’s surprising kindness sprang from his inability to bear the idea of leaving her alone.

Sophia stared at the man in front of her and had the impression that he didn’t recognize her. He looked at her as if she were a total stranger; the affection he had felt for her had faded away. This feeling was far more excruciating than really putting an end to her.

“Are you sure you don’t remember me?” she stood up and asked him.

Arthur looked over Sophia’s face, which was covered with tear stains. Under the moonlight, she resembled a weeping lily, charming and heartbreaking.

Arthur’s breathing was somewhat irregular as he struggled to recollect the past. Where else have I seen this face except in the photos on my phone? Is there something I can’t recall?

“Never mind. Suppose this is how you break up, fine. I’ll accept it. But I still want to hear from you.

Have you never loved me before? Just answer yes or no.” Sophia gave up, for there wouldn’t be anything that would make her more hopeless than she was when he announced his marriage.

In preparing to confront Arthur, she had come to terms with the fact that this truth, however painful it might be, is sole of concern to her; she intended to let time heal the wound. She had no regrets about loving or devoting herself to him, even if it meant living the rest of her life for him.

“Say it! Yes or no?” She abruptly extended her hand and pushed him, asking, “Arthur Weiss, are you a man?”

His tall, slender frame retreated as if he were being rocked by her force.

“I don’t feel like answering that question.” Arthur shook his head and then turned around and wanted to leave.

“Don’t go.” Suddenly, Sophia ran over to him and, seemingly out of her mind, wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and pleaded with him, “Don’t go, okay?”

Stunned, Arthur looked at the delicate arms around his waist and felt strange. Why am I not against her intimacy?

These days, Emily often found opportunities to make out with him, but whenever she touched him, he would have a sensation of reluctance. But at that moment, he realized that he did not reject this girl physically or mentally; the realization that his body created a favorable impression on her confused him.

Who is she? Why is she on my phone, and why did she say she’s my girlfriend? But when did I date her?

“I can answer your previous question,” Arthur said suddenly, as though he was annoyed by her pestering.

When Sophia heard that, she felt a shudder run through her entire body. She let go of her hand and took a step back before turning her head to look at him and waiting for his answer.

Arthur then straightened his shirt as though he detested her for wrinkling it.

“What is the answer?” She fought the impulse to cry and instead asked him.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” she asked, upset.

“I thought you wanted me to say yes or no.” Arthur found her incredibly annoying.

“So, you never loved me, did you?” As soon as Sophia had finished her sentence, she reached inside her pocket and handed him the paper. “This is what you wrote to me, and I’ll give it back to you.”

Arthur frowned as he looked at the letter that had been folded; then, he reached for it and held it in his hand.

“I promised not to bother you further; after all, our relationship began when you said it did and ended when you said it did. It’s all over now.” Sophia stepped back as she finished talking but didn’t notice the flower bed behind her.

“Ah…” She exclaimed a loud yell, staggered backward, and looked like she was about to fall on the flowerbed.

Instantly, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. As a result of being subjected to this force, the impact sent her into the man’s warm embraces. Despite the iciness of his voice, his demeanor was as comforting as ever.

Arthur frowned when he looked down at the girl that was being held in her arms, thinking how careless she was. “Pay attention to where you’re going,” he reminded her.

“I don’t need you to save me. I did not ask you to save me.” Sophia shoved him away.

He had never felt his mind this messy before. This girl seemed to be able to mess up my emotions.

Helplessly, Arthur watched as Sophia turned around and picked a path to head off in. He then had to correct her, saying, “That’s not the direction to go back to the guest room as you took the wrong way.”

When she returned, she headed in a different way, and he watched her vanish into the bush. Arthur was on the verge of leaving, but an unexplainable feeling flooded his heart, which caused him to become a bit concerned about her. He feared that she would continue to walk aimlessly or come into contact with some kind of danger.

After walking a few meters, Sophia was engulfed in sadness all of a sudden, making her unable to walk. While covering her face, she squatted down on the pathway beside the bushes and started sobbing while suppressing her voice.

However, she didn’t realize that a few meters behind her, there was a person watching her. Arthur looked at the girl whose shoulders were trembling from her cries. He knew he was the reason she was in misery.

Why is she crying like this? Why does she think that I abandoned her?

He just stood there for as long as she was crying until his phone started ringing and frightened the crying Sophia. She quickly stood up and turned around, only to see that the man was still there. Seeing him there stunned her for a few seconds.

I thought he didn’t care about me anymore. Why is he still following me?

Arthur looked at his phone, but he didn’t pick it up. In fact, he hung up the phone and told her, “Stop crying and go back to your room!”

“Even if I cry, it’s none of your business!” Sophia quipped out of annoyance.

“Your crying disturbed me,” he said ruthlessly.

Hearing that, she felt her body sway a little and nearly passed out from anger. Is this man really the Arthur that I know? He’s even colder than strangers.

“Fine! I just need to cry further away, right?” As soon as she said that, she turned around and saw an exit, so she ran in that direction right away.

At this moment, Arthur remembered that that was the way to the pond, and there was no path there.

Just as he wanted to stop her, she had already run away.

“So…” He suddenly realized that he had forgotten her name, so he could only run in the same direction as her.

Yet, before he could stop her, she jumped into the pond as expected, since she didn’t know there was a pond behind the bushes.

“Ah!” she shouted fearfully as her body sank into the pond. The coldness of the water at night made her extremely frightened.

Just then, Arthur rushed over and took a deep breath. He looked at the girl, who had brought him so much trouble tonight, and felt speechless.

“Give me your hand.” He reached out his hand, wanting to pull her up.

However, Sophia took a step backward. “I don’t need you to care about me. I can save myself.”

As she said that, she tried hard to walk to the side and grab the stone steps beside it, trying to get herself out of the pond. Luckily, the pond was stone-paved, and there were only a few fancy fish, so it was really clean without any dirt.

When her foot stepped on the stone steps, she slipped and fell back into the pond since she didn’t know that the stone steps were filled with moss. Now, her whole body sank into the pond.

The next second, Arthur jumped into the pond as well. He reached out his long arm and pulled the drowning girl up. Sophia was so terrified that she hugged him at his waist as if he was her savior.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” he bellowed. After that, he carried her in his arms and walked in the opposite direction to the stairs.

At this moment, Sophia was stunned as she felt like the Arthur that she knew was back. She was happy even when he scolded her, for it was much better than the cold words he said to her.

She looked like a mess when he put her down. Then, he pointed in a direction. “This is the way to the guest room. Don’t use the wrong way again.”

“Can you send me back?” she asked.

“I’m busy.” He needed to go back and take a shower as he was soaking wet too.

“What if I get lost again?” she pleaded.

“Are you a three-year-old kid?” You’re a grown woman. Figure it out by yourself!

“You’re not wrong. My mind is like a three-year-old. Are you sending me back or not?” she asked with her brows raised.

All of a sudden, a smile tugged on his lips as though Sophia had made him laugh. This was the only time someone made him laugh during this period of time. “Let’s go.” He decided to send her back.

Sophia followed him and walked forward. But not long later, he pointed in a direction and told her, “Go there. There’ll be a maid there to help you.”

“Are you not sending me back to my room?”

Arthur felt that Sophia was asking for too much, so he didn’t comply. “If you’re lost again, just simply find someone to bring you back to your room.”

“It’s okay even if you don’t remember me, Arthur. I’ll always remember you. Even when you’re married, you’re still the man whom I love the most,” Sophia said seriously before turning around and leaving quickly.

At this moment, the man froze for a few seconds. He looked in her direction with his deep eyes and suddenly remembered something. Following that, he reached his hand into his shirt pocket, took out the paper that she gave him, and opened it.

It was his handwriting on it.

When he read the words on the paper, his brows knitted together. When did I write such loving words to a woman? But this is really my handwriting. When did I lose my memories of this girl?

With a frown, he thought that he didn’t want to create any problems since his wedding was in three days. It didn’t matter whether he had anything to do with this girl.

The past has nothing to do with the future.

In the Jennings Residence, Emily had just received a message from the human relations department that someone with the name ‘Sophia Goodwin’ was on the guest list, indirectly causing her insomnia.

I can’t believe Sophia’s here. What does she want? Does she want to restore her relationship with Arthur? At the thought of all the anger that she felt from Sophia, she thought that she could use this chance to return all that to her since this was her territory, “It’s good that you’re here. You asked for it yourself, so don’t blame me,” Emily scoffed. She was already Arthur’s fiancée anyway, and it would be her big day three days later, so she could torture Sophia within these three days.

That night, Sophia tossed and turned in bed until the next morning. Her eyes were all red from crying after feeling that the Arthur that she met today was familiar yet strange.

What had he been through when he returned to his family? Why can’t he remember me? Did he lose his memory?

Meanwhile, that same night, Anastasia was asleep till midnight when she felt the man beside her come back. She suppressed her drowsiness and asked, “Did you find out anything?”

“Ya. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. You should sleep.” He kissed her on her head and put her to sleep.

He had looked into Arthur’s schedule and his test report with Richard tonight. There wasn’t anything wrong other than Arthur had gone to Johnny’s laboratory. This was the part that they hadn’t gotten into.

The next day, there were many guests at the manor, making it busy and lively. Just as Sophia finished her breakfast, a maid came to her. “Miss Goodwin, someone is looking for you.”

“Who is it?”

“Please follow me.”

Sophia didn’t feel suspicious as she thought that it was Arthur looking for her, so she followed the maid and entered a car. After five minutes of driving, they reached a racecourse, and she finally saw the person who was looking for her.

Shocked, she looked at the person. Emily?

“Long time no see! I heard you’re coming to our wedding, so I thought that I should meet you personally.” Emily smirked.

Hearing that, Sophia took a deep breath and said, “Congratulations to you both.”

“If you’re trying to stir up my wedding, I’ll let you pay for it, Sophia. I’m warning you. Leave my man alone. If you think that he still loves you, I advise you to give up on that thought. He only loves me now!” Emily said confidently.

Sophia spent the entire night thinking things through, coming to the conclusion that it was what it was.

She didn’t intend to mess anything up, so she gave the lady her promise, explaining, “I’m here for the wedding. I promise you I won’t go near him.”

Needless to say, Emily didn’t believe her, but it didn’t matter anymore since Arthur had already forgotten about her. She had purposely talked about Sophia in front of Arthur previously, but he didn’t have any reaction. With that, she vaguely knew what her father had done, but she definitely wouldn’t tell others about it.

“If you want me to believe you, ride a horse with me then.”

“I don’t know how to ride a horse.”

“Don’t worry! All the horses here are very gentle and well-trained,” said Emily, with a devilish look flashing on her face.

“I’m not riding.”

“What if I let you ride Artie’s horse?”

Hearing that, Sophia was startled for a moment, but she shook her head in the end. “I really don’t know how to ride a horse.”

All of a sudden, Emily clapped her hands, and her bodyguard appeared out of nowhere. Then, he carried Sophia up. “Get her up on that horse.” Emily pointed at a big horse.

Shocked, Sophia shouted, “Let me go! Let me go!”

However, no one could save her here since the racecourse was closed today, as though someone had purposely gotten rid of everyone here. This gave Emily the chance to mess with Sophia.

Sophia sat on the horse in fear, and she grabbed onto the bridle on the side instinctively. The next second, someone slapped the back of the horse, and it dashed forward at full speed. She was scared to death; she could only lie on the horse’s back and hug its neck tightly.

While the horse was galloping, Sophia was screaming all the way. However, no one—including Arthur —knew that someone had been riding a horse on the racecourse since early in the morning. He didn’t sleep well last night either, since his head was full of the girl she met in the garden and that letter that she had handed him. He looked at it for the whole night but still had no idea when he wrote that to her.

At this moment, Arthur had ridden the horse to a field two miles away. This area was under his family’s business and was also a good place for horse riding and relaxing. He wasn’t the the-more-the-merrier kind, so he preferred to stay away from crowds.

However, after around 10 minutes, he heard a girl’s scream from the woods. He was stunned for a few seconds because he had closed the racecourse today and prohibited anyone from riding horses. So, why are there people here?

The woman’s scream was getting closer and closer to him, and he could hear her weeping helplessly.

Just then, he saw a horse galloping out of the woods, and a girl was lying on the horse’s back and hugging tightly on its neck, frightening it and galloping away as though it was trying to fling the girl down from its back.

With his excellent eyesight, he saw that it was the girl he had met last night.

He was familiar with all the horses here, so he blew a whistle, and that frightened horse stopped instantly. It then neighed before turning around and galloping in his direction.

When it reached a few feet away from him, it raised its front legs and finally threw the girl down on its back.

“Ouch…” Sophia felt as though all the bones in her body were broken. Luckily, she fell onto a soft field, but it was still painful.

After the horse galloped away, a man’s voice came to her ears. “It’s you again?”

Instantly, she lifted her pale face and looked at the man in front of her following his long legs. Although she was in pain, she still couldn’t hide her happiness. “Arthur!” she called his name in surprise.

Arthur squatted down and realized she wasn’t standing up. “Are you hurt?”

Sophia’s leg was injured, and it was so painful that she couldn’t get herself up. So, she lay down on the field and decided to rest. “Ya. My whole body is in pain.”

“Who brought you here for horse riding?” he asked with a frown.

Hearing that, she felt bitter. Who else could it be? It’s the woman whom you’re marrying soon! Your wife in three days!

“I came here myself,” she simply said.

Arthur reached out his hands to her. “Here, take my hand.”

“My whole body aches. I don’t want to get up.” She continued to lie down and turned around, looking at the sky. At this moment, she felt good all of a sudden.

The sky was clear, and she could see the man’s face upside down. She took a deep breath, breathing in all the scents of the grass and flowers around her. She could even vaguely smell the unique cedar aroma on his body.

“Arthur, do you really love Miss Jennings?” Sophia asked her while blinking.

In Arthur’s eyes, it didn’t matter whether he loved her or not. Her father could bring him the research results that he wanted, and she was fit to be his wife. “I don’t want to answer that.”

“You must love her then. She’s actually quite pretty. You two are a match,” she muttered.

“I guess that’s not a bad thing either because you both belong in the same world while I’m from another world. I hope I can find my true love when I return and get married, like what my parents want me to do.

By then, both of us will carry on with our own lives.” Sophia bitterly smiled, her tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to comfort herself. “It seems that you have forgotten me, but that’s okay. I’ll endure all the pain by myself,” Sophia added.

“What do you think we are to each other, Sophia?” Arthur suddenly asked.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. Congratulations on your wedding. I look forward to hearing good news about your firstborn.” Sophia looked at the man sincerely, finally realizing that Emily wasn’t lying to her.

I guess I was indeed in over my head for wanting to marry into the Weiss Family.

She then recalled Martha’s words about the Weiss Family’s wealth that far exceeded the level she could ever imagine. For that, she was told that the man was out of her league, which was something she finally understood at that moment. After all, Arthur was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but Sophia was just an ordinary lady from a modest family. I probably used up all my luck when I had the chance to date him for a while. At the thought of that, she considered herself lucky to have ever been in a relationship with Arthur.

“Let’s go home.” Arthur took a look at the time and decided that they should make a move.

“You could go first. I want to lie down here for a little while more,” Sophia responded stubbornly. Deep down, she fell in love with the beautiful scenery around her and was so enchanted that she was reluctant to leave.

“This place is about 2 miles away from the manor, plus the fact that your leg is injured is only going to make it even harder for you to walk back.” Arthur was actually thinking of giving her a ride back with his horse.

Nevertheless, Sophia shook her head and replied, “It’s okay. I don’t have anything else better to do, anyway. So, now is the perfect time for me to admire the beautiful view around your residence.”

After hearing the lady’s words, he was tempted to save his breath on changing her mind but couldn’t bring himself to leave her there out of chivalry. “How much longer do you want to stay here?” Arthur asked.

“Another half an hour more, I guess,” she said, fiddling with the flower in her hand.

Soon, Arthur returned to his horse and grabbed his water bottle to take a sip before passing it to her.

“Would you like to have some?”

After all the shouting and screaming, Sophia couldn’t help but feel thirsty, so she stood up and began to guzzle the water down her throat. Then, she returned the water bottle to Arthur, who said, “Alright, it’s time to make a move. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Sophia realized her ankle was sprained only when she stood up, struggling to walk as she limped. “How are we going to go back?”

“My horse is our only transport back, so of course, we’re going to ride it back to where we came.”

Arthur approached the lady on his horse, asking, “Would you like to sit behind or in front of me?”

“I’m going to sit behind you.” Sophia was traumatized to sit in the front.

Arthur then got onto his horse in a charming manner, whereupon he extended his hand to grab Sophia’s. Upon grabbing her palm, he pulled her up as she put her foot on the saddle’s footrest and sat on the horseback. As soon as the horse started moving, she immediately wrapped her arms around the man’s waist due to the sudden jerk from the burst of acceleration, her chest completely leaning on his back. At the same time, Arthur didn’t spur his horse but instead rode it back slowly with Sophia, who was seen with a blushed face behind him. Although the scent wafting from the man was no stranger to her, she could still feel the thrill the first time she caught his scent.

Sitting behind the man, Sophia didn’t hide the admiration in her eyes as she stared at the back of his head. At the same time, she somehow felt safe and secure when she caught the familiar scent of the man with her eyes fixed upon his firm back. Nevertheless, Arthur knitted his eyebrows just when she tightened her arms around his waist. At the same time, he squinted, feeling the lady’s soft skin rubbing against his back as he somehow seemed to feel turned on. In fact, Arthur had been abstaining from all pleasures of the flesh recently, as he only cared about handling his work and marrying a wife. However, as he spent more time keeping to himself in solitude without socializing with anyone else, he became temperamental and was easily provoked by small mistakes his maids made.

Despite his respect for the elderly, Arthur kept his distance from them, including his grandmother.

Although he wanted to get closer to them, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do that, as if something was holding him back.

Nonetheless, Arthur felt somewhat insecure with the lady’s wiggling body right behind him, wondering what magic she had that made him feel aroused. Is she purposely trying to turn me on? Sensing the feelings Sophia had for him, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed, as he suspected she was doing that intentionally. “Sit still and quit moving.” He gave an order in a cold manner.

However, Sophia reckoned she could barely control herself because her legs were hanging freely in the air. If she didn’t wrap her arms tightly around his waist, she could fall from the horseback anytime.

“Thanks for having come to my rescue last night, Young Master Weiss.” Sophia tried to start a conversation with the man.

“I haven’t seen anyone as dumb as you are.” Arthur grunted coldly.

Sophia then pursed her lips and smiled, feeling glad that the man was himself because he always called her dumb when they were together. However, instead of showing her disgust, he used that as a reason to love her and show her all the care she needed. Therefore, now that Arthur still called her dumb, she couldn’t help but wonder whether she was really as dim-witted as the man thought. “I have to admit that I’m dumb.” Sophia smiled in response.

“How did it feel for people like you as you grew up?” Arthur curiously looked at her.

In that instant, Sophia found those words somewhat familiar, as if he had asked her the same question before. She then smiled helplessly and replied, “I guess I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t dumb until I met you.”

With his eyes looking forward, a smile flashed across Arthur’s face as he wondered how she could shamelessly put the blame on him for being dumb.

In the meantime, Emily was sipping a cup of coffee in the cafeteria at the turf club when the person in charge suddenly approached her and said, “Here you are, Miss Jennings. Are you here for some horse riding today?”

“Nope. I’m only here to take a seat.” Emily went on to ask, “Is the turf club closed today?”

“Oh. No, it’s not. Instead, it was Young Master Weiss who ordered us not to let anyone else in.”

“Why?” Emily asked in surprise.

“Because Young Master Weiss wants to have some solitude. He is actually on the turf.”

When Emily heard that, she nearly spilled the coffee in her hand, appearing surprised. “What did you say?! Young Master Weiss is on the turf?!”

“Yes, he is. In fact, he’s been there since this morning until now, and it’s been almost 2 hours.”

Upon hearing that answer, Emily bit her lip in a panicky manner and said, “I have a friend who just went for a horse ride. Hurry up and send someone to fetch her back. She is not too good with horse riding.”

Deep down, she was praying hard for Sophia not to run into Arthur, knowing she would be blamed if anything happened to Sophia.

“Alright, I’ll send someone to get your friend right now.” The person in charge replied, shifting his eyes to the window before he noticed a familiar figure. “Wait a minute. It’s Young Master Weiss. He is back, and there is a lady sitting behind him. Is that your friend?”

On the other hand, Emily was glaring at the lady right behind Arthur intimidatingly, realizing it was none other than Sophia. Damn it! I can’t believe I just created an opportunity for Sophia and Arthur! She angrily stomped off and exited the cafeteria, making her way toward Arthur. “You’re back, Artie.” Emily greeted Arthur, as if nothing had ever happened.

As soon as Arthur got off the horse, the groom came closer and held the lead line around the horse’s head to keep it still, whereupon he reached out his arms to carry Sophia off the horseback. When her feet touched the ground, she hissed in pain, stunning Arthur, who quickly carried her in his arms again.

At the same time, he looked at the person in charge and said, “Get the driver ready. Her leg is injured.”

“You said you wanted to try some horse riding, Miss Goodwin. So, how was it?” Emily gave Sophia an evil eye in a hostile manner, wanting to make the latter admit that it was her own mistake to ride the horse unsupervised, which had nothing to do with her.

In the meantime, Sophia knew what Emily was implying, but despite her rage, she couldn’t dispute the fact that Emily was the one who was about to become Arthur’s wife. In order to protect Arthur’s reputation, she answered, “I fell down from the horse myself and got hurt, but don’t worry about me, Miss Jennings. I’ll live.”

“Artie, I could tell Henry to take Miss Goodwin home while I go on a horse ride with you,” Emily said, feeling jealous at the sight of their arms around each other’s waist and neck.

“No need for that. I’ll take her back home myself.” For some reason, Arthur felt an urge to take Sophia back home by himself. At the same time, Sophia only looked at him in a stunned manner as she was reminded of the moment he once treated her this well.

While Arthur carried Sophia in his arms and walked toward the car that the person in charge had prepped for him, Emily was left stomping the ground behind her with regret and anger. Why on earth did I bring Sophia here and even end up creating the perfect opportunity for her to run into Arthur?!

Besides the thought of that, she also noticed Arthur’s sudden change in attitude as he was usually indifferent toward Sophia. Why does he still treat Sophia so well? I thought he’d already forgotten about her. Didn’t my father make sure of that? Emily was left behind as she helplessly watched the car he was in left.

Meanwhile, Sophia was stunned as she looked at the man sitting beside her. After all, he just took her away from the turf club and left his fiancée behind. Thus, she was worried that it would undermine the man’s reputation if anyone knew what he did. Unwilling to tarnish his image, Sophia decided to force herself to walk without letting Arthur carry her as soon as they arrived at a hospital not far away from the manor. At the same time, Arthur got out of the car from the other side and circled around the vehicle to her. When he saw her holding onto the car door and limping, he frowned and asked, “Are you sure you can walk?”

“Y-Yes, I am.” Sophia nodded, refusing to let Arthur carry her because she didn’t want to draw attention from the people around her in the hospital. However, as soon as she took two steps forward, she was overwhelmed by the pain in her ankle.

“Say it if you need me to carry you,” Arthur smiled and said.

“No.” Sophia confidently rejected the man. Nevertheless, as she continued to take extra steps further, she suddenly crouched down because she could no longer make herself walk. At that moment, she looked up and asked, “Can you get someone to fetch me a stretcher to carry me? It’s too painful, and I can’t walk.”

In response, Arthur grunted and replied, “You’re asking for it.” He then bent over and carried her to the hospital’s lobby not long before he took her to the orthopedics department. After some diagnosis and examination, the doctor confirmed that she suffered from a ligament injury, which would heal in a matter of days with enough rest.

After that, Sophia returned to the manor with Arthur, who later carried her all the way to her bedroom.

When Sophia finally settled down on the couch, she gazed at the sweat that was covering the man’s forehead and said in a sympathetic manner, “I’m sorry for all the trouble that you had to go through.”

Arthur suddenly crouched down and looked at her in a serious manner. “Do we know each other? Who am I to you?”

In the face of the man’s intimidating gaze, Sophia didn’t flinch but instead gazed at him gently as she lied. “Y-Yeah, we do know each other. You’re… my friend.” Knowing Arthur was about to get married, she decided she shouldn’t create any more unnecessary trouble that could keep him preoccupied and disturbed. For that, she believed it was her destiny to be forgotten by Arthur, although she used to blame him for his heartlessness in abandoning her for another woman. While she realized there was no meaning in discussing the past since his wedding was in three days, Martha’s words still reverberated in her ears. Therefore, she knew she must suppress her love for him in order not to ruin the marriage that Martha had arranged for her grandson.

“A friend? How did I end up having such a dumb friend like you?” Arthur grunted in an annoyed manner.

Nevertheless, Sophia wasn’t angry at the man’s sarcastic reply at all but instead kept her head down with a smile. “You’re right. It is true that you’re friends with a dumb lady like me. But, if you don’t believe in me, you could check your phone and see if there are pictures of me in there.”

“Do you have pictures of me on your phone too?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah.” Sophia had a lot of pictures of them on her phone. In fact, she even had videos of them, as well as their flirtatious chat history, that could indicate that they used to be lovers.

“Show them to me.” Arthur extended his arm and asked Sophia for the pictures.

Panicky, Sophia hid her phone behind her back. “No can do. There are too many secrets in my phone that I can’t show to you.”

Arthur curled his lips upward and asked, “What secrets? Why can’t I see them?”

“There are… many pictures of me and my boyfriend, and I don’t want to show them.” Sophia kept her head down, tears welling up in her eyes.

At the same time, Arthur felt a stab of pain in his chest that overwhelmed him all of a sudden as he asked with a deep voice, “Did you have a boyfriend?”

Sophia’s eyes were filled with tears as she kept her head low. “Yes, I did, and he loved me very much.”

Arthur stood up with a glacial look. “I guess I shall make a move now. Just call the maid if you need anything.”

Sophia looked up and saw the door shut in dismay. He is gone. I can’t believe he is gone. At the thought of that, she felt suffocated, wondering why he would forget about her. What happened to him after he returned to his family? What has he been through that traumatized him so much that he would forget a memory? What kind of suffering did he go through? The thought of that left Sophia with a sharp sting in her heart.

Meanwhile, there were two more men who wanted to know about Sophia’s confusion more than anybody else—Elliot and Richard—as they had started to make their move. In the meantime, Richard had brought along a lot of military gear, including eavesdropping devices that he could use wherever he went. After all, he had a set of extraordinary skills that allowed him to sneak into any place without being noticed. In fact, even Johnny’s lab, which was heavily guarded, didn’t prove to be enough to stop Richard, who was able to infiltrate the place stealthily. At that moment, Richard was in the room with Elliot as they appeared to be standing in front of the computer.

With a pair of firm eyes that appeared on his face, Richard had been sitting there the whole day because he didn’t want to miss any single piece of information that could prove useful. Having planted his eavesdropping devices all over the place, he reckoned nothing should escape his ear, including the maids’ murmurs. Soon, he squinted the moment he heard a lady’s voice in his earpiece.

“Mom, is Dad back? I have something important to ask him.”

Richard immediately tuned into the source of the voice, realizing it was coming from Johnny’s house.

Therefore, he squinted and carefully listened in on their conversation.

“Why are you looking for Dad, Emily? You shouldn’t be running here and there because there is still a lot that you have to do for your wedding. Don’t forget. You’re going to become the prettiest bride ever.”

“Mom, do you know why Artie is treating everyone else so coldly? I’m about to be his wife, but he treats me so indifferently. He won’t even hold my hand. What’s wrong with him?”

“Come on, silly girl. As soon as he marries you, I’m sure he will be much closer to you than he is now.

Thus, all we have to do now is make sure the wedding goes on successfully.”

“B-But… Sophia is here. She got injured at the turf club today, but Artie carried her in his arms right in front of me like I didn’t exist. Do you know how mad I was to see that? I thought he would treat everybody coldly, but it looked like that was not the case with Sophia. Mom, it seems that he hasn’t completely forgotten about her. He still loves Sophia.”

“What? No way. I thought he forgot about that lady a long time ago?” Vera responded in a surprised manner.

“Exactly. That’s why I wanted to ask Dad how I could make Artie forget about Sophia. I don’t want him to be thinking about Sophia after we get married.”

On the other hand, Richard knitted his eyebrows when he heard that through his eavesdropping device. Well, it appears that I just found something useful. So, it was Johnny who did something to Arthur’s memory, which he erased with some sort of biotechnology. The drug’s side effect is exactly the reason that explains why Arthur treats everybody so coldly.

“Elliot, Johnny did something to Artie’s memory. He erased his memory about a girl for the sake of his daughter’s happiness. Now, Artie is suffering from neurological damage, which explains his indifferent and temperamental attitude.”

“Johnny is controlling Artie to make him marry his daughter against his will. If this goes on, Artie will end up as one of his guinea pigs and pawns. This man must not be allowed to do any more harm to the Weiss Family. We must expose him!” Elliot could no longer hide his agitated emotions.

“When Artie lost his mother, he was so hurt and devastated that he decided to dedicate his life to biological studies so that his people wouldn’t have to suffer from the same disease any longer.

However, he didn’t know that Johnny would use his life’s work against him and make him a part of his experiment. I wish he’d seen that coming.” Richard finished his words and looked at Elliot. “What do we do now? Should we tell Artie about it?”