"I'm begging you—you have to promise me!" she pleaded again.
"Fine, I got it!" Unable to resist her persistent begging, he answered reluctantly, though a slow-burning anger began to rise inside him.
"Thank you, thank you!" Only after getting his firm confirmation did Sophie finally relax.
Then she opened the car door and stepped out. "Thanks for driving me back," she said, bending down beside the car to thank him.
Archibald stared straight ahead at the windshield and didn't respond. Here we go again—why are you always so polite with me…
He was angry, but he wasn't sure whether he should be angry at her or at himself.
Sophie had no choice but to turn and head back to her apartment. Only after the lights in her building came on did Archibald finally start the engine…
It was very late—almost 2 a.m. now. He sped through the empty midnight streets in his sports car.
Lately, he hasn't gone looking for Ned at all, even though he still receives messages from Ned every day inviting him to drink in the evening or go to nightclubs. Because he has been hesitating all along about the matter concerning Sophie…
Rationally speaking, he should let Ned know about Sophie's current situation, but emotionally, he harbors a selfish desire to keep it hidden!
Yet after all, he and Ned are brothers.
Even though the situation now is completely different, even though Sophie has repeatedly told him that there is already no relationship whatsoever between her and Ned!
Still…
He still clearly remembers the words Ned once said: "Friends' wives are not to be trifled with." Those words are deeply rooted in his mind, like a curse that won't go away!
Archibald knows he's going insane… and he knows exactly what kind of madness this is!
"Damn it…" he cursed under his breath.
He knows he shouldn't be like this, and he especially shouldn't have picked Sophie.
But feelings cannot be controlled…
Whenever it comes to anything involving Sophie, he can't restrain himself, nor can he behave like a normal person!
If it can truly be confirmed that everything between them is really over —
If he personally witnesses that Sophie truly no longer cares, then he will take the next step!
But this week of secretly following her has only made his heart ache more. The non-stop work, the endless overtime — for Sophie, it's practically self-torture. She's just being stubborn with her words. Ned's name is already deeply branded into her heart; trying to forcibly rip it out would leave raw, bloody, slow-healing wounds.
Only Ned can stop Sophie from continuing to torture herself like this. Only him!! No one else can!!
Archibald knew exactly where to find Ned!
"You're really here!" Archibald spotted Ned at their usual nightclub. Ned was already seven-parts drunk, with two beautiful women draped over him, one on each side.
"Come out with me! I need to talk to you!" After great effort, Archibald finally managed to drag Ned out to the lobby. They sat down on a sofa, and the accusing words burst out of him: "Why did you break up with Sophie?"
Ned acted as if he hadn't heard anything. He stood up, took long strides, and walked straight out the main door.
"Ned!" Archibald chased after him. "Sophie is killing herself for a living right now. She leaves the house at dawn every day and doesn't get home until the middle of the night. She's exhausted to the point she barely looks human anymore. To save money, she's even moved into some remote workers' dormitory—I can't talk her out of it at all!"
Ned paused for a moment, then kept walking.
"You really don't care at all?" Archibald shouted from behind him.
Ned didn't stop.
"Even if I seriously wanted to pursue her, you wouldn't mind?!" Archibald finally stopped chasing. Standing there, he yelled at the top of his lungs.
Ned finally halted. He turned around and looked at Archibald with an expressionless face. "We've already broken up. Who Sophie wants to be with is her freedom." After saying that, he turned and walked back toward the KTV room. "I've been out too long. The people inside are still waiting for me."
Archibald stood frozen in place…
He hadn't expected himself to blurt out the truth like that… the real thought in his heart.
He tilted his head back and forcefully exhaled toward the pitch-black sky—
What the hell was he doing?
He must have gone completely mad!
Another Saturday morning at nine o'clock, Ned drove to the street across from Sophie's original apartment. Just as he was about to call her, he clearly saw a "For Rent – Good House" sign posted on the window of her home.
He called Archibald and got Sophie's current address from him. Following the navigation, he arrived in front of this old, rundown apartment building.
The moment he saw the condition of the place, his brows furrowed tightly. The environment here was far too poor—absolutely not suitable for a girl to live in alone.
Just as he was about to get out of the car, he saw Sophie and Archibald walking out of the apartment together, chatting and laughing.
"Seriously, you helping me like this makes me feel really bad. I don't even know how to thank you properly. Things were too rushed today—I couldn't take leave, so I can't go with you. But you going on my behalf is just the same." Sophie said sincerely.
Archibald pursed his lips. "Just treat me as a friend. That's enough." He spoke with a meaningful tone.
"We've always been the best of friends!" Sophie's smile was exceptionally bright.
Then Archibald started the engine and drove off.
Ned remained silent in his car…
His expression darkened as he stared at the two of them laughing and talking, especially at the radiant smile on Sophie's face, until Archibald's car disappeared.
He glared at the wide-open entrance of the apartment building, his eyes growing even more ominous…
Fate had left him no choice. There was no turning back now.
It turned out that today Archibald had arranged to meet Ali Ahmed, a board member of LSE, to demand an explanation regarding Sophie's expulsion. But unexpectedly, at the meeting, he saw someone who shouldn't have been there—Charles Cadogan!
Archibald's family had no longstanding connection with Lara's father's family, so he didn't know that this uninvited guest was Lara's father. He had only seen him occasionally at banquets hosted by Ned's family—enough to recognize the face, but nothing more.
Although Ali Ahmed was the chairman of the school board, he was ultimately a businessman. And Archibald's father was a minister in the Ministry of Commerce. Any sensible businessman knows better than to offend a politician. So Ali had deliberately invited Charles along, so that if anything went wrong, he could conveniently shift the blame and keep himself clean.
"Mr. Ahmed! Hello!" Archibald stepped forward first to greet him.
Today he was dressed in a sharp, impeccably tailored suit—very different from his usual carefree, grinning self.
"Hello, Archibald." Ali Ahmed immediately stood up with a big smile the moment he saw him. "How's the Minister doing?"
"Thanks to your kind thoughts, he's doing very well, of course!" Archibald bantered back. "Sorry to intrude on you like this. The reason I came today is to ask about Sophie Davies being expelled from school. Or, to be more precise, about the photos."
After the polite preliminaries, Archibald cut straight to the point.
"Oh, you mean that stack of 'hotel' photos?" Ali Ahmed pursed his lips and gave an ambiguous smile.
Archibald's face instantly turned cold. He stared icily at Ali Ahmed.
Ali Ahmed was startled. Only then did he stammer, "Well… about those photos…" He glanced meaningfully (or perhaps unintentionally) at Charles. "I'm afraid it's not very convenient for me to say."
"I have to know!" Archibald said firmly. "I want to know who gave those photos to you! What was that person's motive? Why did they do it?"
"This is something you really shouldn't keep pressing about anymore," Ali Ahmed said. "Even if such a thing really happened, and even if you knew who provided the photo, it wouldn't make any difference. The facts are already set in stone—she can no longer stay at the school. Even if we found out who handed over the photo, it's impossible for her to come back."
"I'm well aware of that!" Archibald persisted stubbornly. "I just want you to tell me—who was the person who gave you the photo?"
Ali Ahmed glanced at Charles again, looking very hesitant. "This really isn't convenient to say—"
"There's no need to trouble Mr. Ahmed any further!" Charles, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up. His tone was gloomy and cutting right from the start. "If you've done something wrong, you should bow your head, admit your mistake, and quietly reflect on it. How dare you still have the face to come here and make things difficult for other people? A girl should have proper upbringing—only then can she avoid bringing shame to her parents' teachings! This girl is no longer young, yet she's still so ignorant and immature. She has no business being in university at all!"