Every day, she left home bright and early and didn't return until the dead of night. Her working hours exceeded 14 hours a day, and she worked seven days a week without any real rest. After finishing her shifts, she always looked utterly exhausted as she boarded the bus. Even though she was dead tired, she didn't dare fall asleep on the ride—she forced herself to stay awake for the 40-minute late-night bus journey home. Day by day, her face grew paler and more worn.
Seeing Sophie toil so relentlessly every single day broke Archibald's heart. He was genuinely afraid that one day she might collapse from overwork and die.
Today, Archibald could no longer hold back.
Around 1:30 p.m., after the lunchtime rush at the convenience store had died down, the automatic door slid open with a chime of "Welcome!" He strode in confidently.
Sophie, standing behind the counter, glanced toward the entrance out of habit. When she saw Archibald turn and grin at her, her expression changed instantly. "You..."
Archibald ignored her reaction. He turned to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of juice, and walked straight to the counter to pay. At that moment, he was the only customer in the store. "So you're still finishing at midnight tonight? At the same restaurant?"
Sophie lowered her eyes and gave a slight nod. She knew Archibald had already figured everything out.
"I'll wait until you get off work. I have something to say to you."
She frowned and handed him the receipt for the already-paid juice. "I have to head to the restaurant later, so I won't be done for another ten hours."
"That's fine! I'll drive you there later." With that, he left. Right next to the convenience store, in the corridor, there were tables and chairs for people to rest. He sat down there and waited, looking completely at ease, as if he had all the time in the world.
Sophie said nothing. It was work hours, and even though the store was quiet, there were surveillance cameras—she couldn't handle personal matters or slack off in any way.
Ever since driving her to the restaurant, Archibald had stayed put in his sports car, waiting. He remained there until the restaurant closed for the night, the rolling shutter door was pulled down, and Sophie was the last one to step out.
She stood under the corridor, silently staring at Archibald as he stepped out of his sports car and crossed the street toward her. She knew he had been waiting outside for her almost the entire day.
"Why didn't you go back?" Sophie finally spoke when Archibald was standing right in front of her.
"I said I'd wait for you," Archibald replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What are you waiting for me for? If you have something to say, you could just call me after work." She said to him.
Archibald didn't reply. He just gave her a sharp look. "I'll drive you home!" Then he turned around and walked straight toward his car.
Sophie didn't follow.
When he realized no one was behind him, he turned back. "Come on!" Archibald called out to her.
After a moment's hesitation, Sophie finally followed and got into the passenger seat.
"How long have you been following me?" Sitting in the car, Sophie stared straight ahead, her brows deeply furrowed as she asked.
"Seven days. A full week. From morning till night," he answered without hesitation.
Sophie turned her head, eyes wide as she looked at him. "Why?" She had genuinely thought Archibald had only found out today.
"Ever since I ran into you at the restaurant last time, something felt off. That's when I started tailing you," he said casually, as if it were no big deal.
She didn't ask why—because she was afraid his answer would be more than she could bear.
"Why are you taking such exhausting jobs? Working seven days a week without a single break—you'll drop dead from overwork, you know that?" He frowned as he asked her.
"It's just work. Work is supposed to be tiring. There's no difference," Sophie replied very calmly.
"Then you could find something easier! With jobs this grueling, how much can you even earn in a month? Less than £10,000, right?" Archibald shot back.
Sophie bit her lip and didn't answer.
"What about Ned? Does he know you're working here?"
"That has nothing to do with him," she replied coldly and quickly.
Archibald fell silent.
"What exactly do you want to tell me?" she asked him.
"You know my father works in the Department for Business and Trade. They need a clerk there—£8,000 a month, no overtime, two days off per week, plus public holidays. Do you want to come work there?"
Sophie glanced at him, then shook her head. "Thank you, but I'd rather stay here."
"You mean that lousy restaurant?" He scoffed. "That place works people to the bone—they don't even treat you like a human being. Why are you so determined to stay there?!"
"My first proper job was in the hotel industry, so I want to find a similar kind of workplace. Restaurants are an essential part of the hotel sector anyway, right? I don't want to stray too far from my interests," she replied.
"If you like the hotel industry, why did you leave C&C?" he pressed on. "If you don't want to go back to C&C, I can introduce you to other hotels!"
"No need," she turned down his offer. "For now, I just want to stay here." Sophie offered no further explanation.
"But—"
"Just drive properly and stop talking," she said gently, cutting him off.
Though clearly unhappy, Archibald couldn't persuade her and could only sulk in silence.
After dropping Sophie off at her apartment, he suddenly asked, "Be honest with me—why were you expelled from LSE? What exactly happened?" His tone grew serious as he pressed her for answers.
Sophie's brows furrowed deeply. "I don't want to explain."
"I have to know why. How can they just casually force a student to withdraw? If it's the school's fault, I'll make them apologize immediately and admit they were wrong—and the principal will have to personally go to your house to invite you back to classes!"
Sophie looked at him. "Don't get so worked up. It was all my fault."
"That's impossible!" Archibald immediately rejected the idea, then added, "I mean, even if it was your fault, there has to be a reason, right? I want to know the specific reason!"
"You don't need to know." She reached for the door to get out.
Archibald blocked her. "If you don't tell me, I'll go straight to the student affairs office and find out myself!" He was stubbornly determined.
Sophie stared at him. After a long pause, she finally said, "If you're so desperate to know, then I'll tell you."
She laid everything bare to Archibald: how she had arranged to meet Ned at the hotel, and how photos had been taken.
"How could there be photos? You two didn't decide to go to the hotel on the spur of the moment? Who could have predicted your whereabouts so accurately and taken pictures? Didn't you lock the door?" Though shocked, Archibald skipped over the fact that they had gone to a hotel room together and focused only on the photos.
After all, Sophie and Ned had been a couple at the time, and it wasn't unusual for a couple to have sex—it was just that he couldn't quite suppress the faint pang of jealousy in his chest.
"I don't know," Sophie answered dazedly.
To this day, she still couldn't figure out who had taken that stack of photos—or what their motive had been. Was it really just to get her expelled from school?
"I think we should go and find out for sure!" Archibald said.
The reason for her expulsion had always been a knot in Sophie's heart. "How are you going to ask? Who are you even going to ask?" If it were possible, she wanted answers too.
"I'll use my connections to reach one of the school governors, and then go straight to him!"
"Will he even tell you?"
"I have ways to make him talk."
"Even if we find out the reason, the fact remains that I was expelled—and the school didn't wrong me."
"Even if it's true, we still need to know who took the photos and why they did it!"
He was right; Sophie couldn't deny it. "There's one thing I need to ask of you," she said.
"What is it?"
"Please don't tell him about me being expelled from school." She meant Ned.
Archibald stayed silent.
"Please, please!" Sophie pleaded, her face crumpling. "I don't want him to know. We've already broken up; there's no connection between us anymore. He doesn't need to know about my business—it would only cause trouble for both of us." She tried to sound light and casual.
Archibald remained quiet.