Never Too Far Novel

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 withArthur. We should look into this.”

“I looked into his schedule and saw that he’d met a biology professor, Johnny, the day after comingback. 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 ourplace, 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 simplygo anywhere either and merely strolled in the garden downstairs. If she didn’t come out to give herselfsome 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 theperson 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 shecouldn’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. Wheream I?

Since the gardens were interlinked, she was now standing deep inside an unfamiliar garden and hadlost 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 inher 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, thetoughness and calmness that she tried so hard to put on were all fake. In fact, she was feelingheartbroken 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 hisstudy. 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 hopedthat 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 andget 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 extremelyfamiliar 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, shehugged his waist tightly.

Arthur didn’t have the chance to reject her, and the woman had wrapped her arms around his waisttightly. 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, askingher, “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 pitifullyunder 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 hesensed a sense of familiarity with that face. Adding on to that, her pair of eyes, which had tears wellingup, 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 actdumb, 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 whatyou 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 hearwhat you have to say.” She lifted her head, and while tears were streaming down her face, she madeherself look at him.

Arthur looked at the girl whose tears kept coming. His chest tightened as if something were pressing onhis 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 girlon 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 thinkabout you ever again; I’m getting rid of anything you left behind at my place and any promises youmade to me are now null and invalid,” Sophia exclaimed loudly to him as if she was cool about it, buttears could not fool people.

At this moment, a large dog rushed out from the side and barked madly at Sophia. Her face turned palewith 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 factthat 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 wasthrown 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 theidea of leaving her alone.

Sophia stared at the man in front of her and had the impression that he didn’t recognize her. He lookedat her as if she were a total stranger; the affection he had felt for her had faded away. This feeling wasfar 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, sheresembled a weeping lily, charming and heartbreaking.

Arthur’s breathing was somewhat irregular as he struggled to recollect the past. Where else have Iseen 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 beanything 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 itmight be, is sole of concern to her; she intended to let time heal the wound. She had no regrets aboutloving 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 aman?”

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 toleave.

“Don’t go.” Suddenly, Sophia ran over to him and, seemingly out of her mind, wrapped her arms tightlyaround 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 herintimacy?

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

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

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

When Sophia heard that, she felt a shudder run through her entire body. She let go of her hand andtook 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 insideher 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 hishand.

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

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

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

Arthur frowned when he looked down at the girl that was being held in her arms, thinking how carelessshe 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 tocorrect 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. Arthurwas on the verge of leaving, but an unexplainable feeling flooded his heart, which caused him tobecome a bit concerned about her. He feared that she would continue to walk aimlessly or come intocontact with some kind of danger.

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

However, she didn’t realize that a few meters behind her, there was a person watching her. Arthurlooked at the girl whose shoulders were trembling from her cries. He knew he was the reason she wasin 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 thecrying Sophia. She quickly stood up and turned around, only to see that the man was still there. Seeinghim 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, “Stopcrying 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 theArthur 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 anexit, 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 directionas her.

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

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

Just then, Arthur rushed over and took a deep breath. He looked at the girl, who had brought him somuch 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 getherself out of the pond. Luckily, the pond was stone-paved, and there were only a few fancy fish, so itwas really clean without any dirt.

When her foot stepped on the stone steps, she slipped and fell back into the pond since she didn’tknow 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 thedrowning 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 inthe opposite direction to the stairs.

At this moment, Sophia was stunned as she felt like the Arthur that she knew was back. She washappy 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 theguest 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 withher brows raised.

All of a sudden, a smile tugged on his lips as though Sophia had made him laugh. This was the onlytime 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, “Gothere. 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 simplyfind 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 leavingquickly.

At this moment, the man froze for a few seconds. He looked in her direction with his deep eyes andsuddenly remembered something. Following that, he reached his hand into his shirt pocket, took outthe 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 toa 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 threedays. 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 departmentthat 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 withArthur? At the thought of all the anger that she felt from Sophia, she thought that she could use thischance 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 wasalready Arthur’s fiancée anyway, and it would be her big day three days later, so she could tortureSophia within these three days.

That night, Sophia tossed and turned in bed until the next morning. Her eyes were all red from cryingafter 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 losehis memory?

Meanwhile, that same night, Anastasia was asleep till midnight when she felt the man beside her comeback. 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 anythingwrong 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 finishedher 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 maidand entered a car. After five minutes of driving, they reached a racecourse, and she finally saw theperson 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 youpersonally.” 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 manalone. If you think that he still loves you, I advise you to give up on that thought. He only loves menow!” 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 thewedding. 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 alreadyforgotten 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’ttell 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 lookflashing 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 knowhow to ride a horse.”

All of a sudden, Emily clapped her hands, and her bodyguard appeared out of nowhere. Then, hecarried 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 hadpurposely 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 nextsecond, someone slapped the back of the horse, and it dashed forward at full speed. She was scaredto 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 thatshe 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’sbusiness and was also a good place for horse riding and relaxing. He wasn’t the the-more-the-merrierkind, 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 fewseconds 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 andhugging tightly on its neck, frightening it and galloping away as though it was trying to fling the girldown 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 stoppedinstantly. 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 itsback.

“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. Althoughshe 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 thefield 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 wifein 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 atthe 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, breathingin all the scents of the grass and flowers around her. She could even vaguely smell the unique cedararoma 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 researchresults 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 anotherworld. 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 hereyes as she tried to comfort herself. “It seems that you have forgotten me, but that’s okay. I’ll endure allthe 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 newsabout 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 shecould ever imagine. For that, she was told that the man was out of her league, which was somethingshe finally understood at that moment. After all, Arthur was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, butSophia was just an ordinary lady from a modest family. I probably used up all my luck when I had thechance to date him for a while. At the thought of that, she considered herself lucky to have ever been ina 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. Deepdown, she fell in love with the beautiful scenery around her and was so enchanted that she wasreluctant to leave.

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

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’tbring himself to leave her there out of chivalry. “How much longer do you want to stay here?” Arthurasked.

“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 toguzzle the water down her throat. Then, she returned the water bottle to Arthur, who said, “Alright, it’stime to make a move. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Sophia realized her ankle was sprained only when she stood up, struggling to walk as shelimped. “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 grabSophia’s. Upon grabbing her palm, he pulled her up as she put her foot on the saddle’s footrest and saton the horseback. As soon as the horse started moving, she immediately wrapped her arms around theman’s waist due to the sudden jerk from the burst of acceleration, her chest completely leaning on hisback. 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 toher, 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 hishead. At the same time, she somehow felt safe and secure when she caught the familiar scent of theman with her eyes fixed upon his firm back. Nevertheless, Arthur knitted his eyebrows just when shetightened her arms around his waist. At the same time, he squinted, feeling the lady’s soft skin rubbingagainst his back as he somehow seemed to feel turned on. In fact, Arthur had been abstaining from allpleasures 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 becametemperamental 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 somethingwas holding him back.

Nonetheless, Arthur felt somewhat insecure with the lady’s wiggling body right behind him, wonderingwhat magic she had that made him feel aroused. Is she purposely trying to turn me on? Sensing thefeelings Sophia had for him, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed, as he suspected she was doing thatintentionally. “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 theair. 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 aconversation 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 alwayscalled her dumb when they were together. However, instead of showing her disgust, he used that as areason to love her and show her all the care she needed. Therefore, now that Arthur still called herdumb, she couldn’t help but wonder whether she was really as dim-witted as the man thought. “I haveto 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 questionbefore. She then smiled helplessly and replied, “I guess I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t dumb until I metyou.”

With his eyes looking forward, a smile flashed across Arthur’s face as he wondered how she couldshamelessly 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 incharge suddenly approached her and said, “Here you are, Miss Jennings. Are you here for some horseriding 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 yousay?! 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 wentfor 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 ifanything happened to Sophia.

“Alright, I’ll send someone to get your friend right now.” The person in charge replied, shifting his eyesto 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?”novelbin

On the other hand, Emily was glaring at the lady right behind Arthur intimidatingly, realizing it was noneother than Sophia. Damn it! I can’t believe I just created an opportunity for Sophia and Arthur! Sheangrily stomped off and exited the cafeteria, making her way toward Arthur. “You’re back, Artie.” Emilygreeted 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’shead to keep it still, whereupon he reached out his arms to carry Sophia off the horseback. When herfeet 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 anevil eye in a hostile manner, wanting to make the latter admit that it was her own mistake to ride thehorse 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 thefact that Emily was the one who was about to become Arthur’s wife. In order to protect Arthur’sreputation, 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 Sophiaback home by himself. At the same time, Sophia only looked at him in a stunned manner as she wasreminded 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 hadprepped for him, Emily was left stomping the ground behind her with regret and anger. Why on earthdid 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 usuallyindifferent toward Sophia. Why does he still treat Sophia so well? I thought he’d already forgotten abouther. Didn’t my father make sure of that? Emily was left behind as she helplessly watched the car hewas in left.

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

“Y-Yes, I am.” Sophia nodded, refusing to let Arthur carry her because she didn’t want to draw attentionfrom the people around her in the hospital. However, as soon as she took two steps forward, she wasoverwhelmed 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, shelooked up and asked, “Can you get someone to fetch me a stretcher to carry me? It’s too painful, and Ican’t walk.”

In response, Arthur grunted and replied, “You’re asking for it.” He then bent over and carried her to thehospital’s lobby not long before he took her to the orthopedics department. After some diagnosis andexamination, the doctor confirmed that she suffered from a ligament injury, which would heal in amatter 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’sforehead 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? Whoam I to you?”

In the face of the man’s intimidating gaze, Sophia didn’t flinch but instead gazed at him gently as shelied. “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 anddisturbed. For that, she believed it was her destiny to be forgotten by Arthur, although she used toblame him for his heartlessness in abandoning her for another woman. While she realized there was nomeaning in discussing the past since his wedding was in three days, Martha’s words still reverberatedin her ears. Therefore, she knew she must suppress her love for him in order not to ruin the marriagethat Martha had arranged for her grandson.

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

Nevertheless, Sophia wasn’t angry at the man’s sarcastic reply at all but instead kept her head downwith a smile. “You’re right. It is true that you’re friends with a dumb lady like me. But, if you don’t believein 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 wellas 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 phonethat 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 herhead 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 heasked 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 needanything.”

Sophia looked up and saw the door shut in dismay. He is gone. I can’t believe he is gone. At thethought of that, she felt suffocated, wondering why he would forget about her. What happened to himafter 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 asharp sting in her heart.

Meanwhile, there were two more men who wanted to know about Sophia’s confusion more thananybody else—Elliot and Richard—as they had started to make their move. In the meantime, Richardhad brought along a lot of military gear, including eavesdropping devices that he could use wherever hewent. After all, he had a set of extraordinary skills that allowed him to sneak into any place withoutbeing noticed. In fact, even Johnny’s lab, which was heavily guarded, didn’t prove to be enough to stopRichard, who was able to infiltrate the place stealthily. At that moment, Richard was in the room withElliot 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 daybecause he didn’t want to miss any single piece of information that could prove useful. Having plantedhis eavesdropping devices all over the place, he reckoned nothing should escape his ear, including themaids’ 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 alot 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 treatsme 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 infront of me like I didn’t exist. Do you know how mad I was to see that? I thought he would treateverybody coldly, but it looked like that was not the case with Sophia. Mom, it seems that he hasn’tcompletely 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 surprisedmanner.

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

On the other hand, Richard knitted his eyebrows when he heard that through his eavesdroppingdevice. Well, it appears that I just found something useful. So, it was Johnny who did something toArthur’s memory, which he erased with some sort of biotechnology. The drug’s side effect is exactly thereason 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 hisdaughter’s happiness. Now, Artie is suffering from neurological damage, which explains his indifferentand temperamental attitude.”

“Johnny is controlling Artie to make him marry his daughter against his will. If this goes on, Artie willend up as one of his guinea pigs and pawns. This man must not be allowed to do any more harm to theWeiss 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 tobiological 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 hisexperiment. I wish he’d seen that coming.” Richard finished his words and looked at Elliot. “What do wedo now? Should we tell Artie about it?”