Chapter 526
“Joel?”
Irene’s voice rose suddenly. She was curious when she saw anger emanating from Joel, and hence she
asked in nervousness.
Putting his phone away, Joel put on his hat and suddenly walked toward Irene. Solemnly, he called out,
“Irene Weber.”
“Yes?” Irene looked up and met his eyes.
Joel’s eyes were as ruthless as they had ever been. As if he was giving a military order, he announced,
“Today, I’m breaking up with you officially.”
Irene was shocked.
A breakup…
When she had finally returned to her senses, Joel had already gone far.
Staring at his disappearing figure in a daze, Irene was not as disappointed as she had imagined she
would be. On the contrary, she felt that the enormous rock in her heart had finally fallen.
Breaking up—isn’t this what I’ve been looking forward to?
She knew there was no hope for marriage, but Joel’s ruthlessness had gone beyond her imagination…
Because Linus had only arrived in Bayside City not too long ago, he didn’t have a strong foundation.
However, he still sent out everyone he had to join the search. At the same time, since Linus was an
expert in electronics and the inte, with the cooperation of Sean, they had taken down all the photos
on the inte and reduced the impact to its lowest. He didn’t know why he was so attached to someone
whom he had only known for a few months.
After arranging and dispatching some of his manpower, Linus rushed out the door in a hurry. When he
went out, he saw snow falling from the sky.
It’s gettingte. Where are you? Are you cold?
Wrapping himself in the down jacket tightly, Linus still felt cold. However, that was someone else’s cold
that he was feeling…
He called Stanley. “Stan, has Sophia ever run out like this before? Where would she go if she ran out?”
Stanley was still looking for Sophia along with Michael. They had been to every ce she would usually
go, but they found nothing.
Wiping his tears away, Stanley said, “We’ve searched those ces all over; she wasn’t there. She didn’t
bring her wallet and her phone, there’s no way she would go far.”
Hanging up the phone, Stanley looked toward Michael and said, “Linus and Sean have removed all the
posts. Sean has also found the person who posted it.”
Michael said nothing. His face was full of gloom, and a thinyer of snow umted on the crown of
his head. He said, “Stay in touch with Linus. He might know where Sophia is.”
Twins shared a special connection and they were telepathic; Linus might know where Sophia had gone.
On the other side, Linus had been driving around Bayside University after ending the call.
Where would you have gone?
All of a sudden, an image appeared in his mind. An old bench was sitting alone below a decaying willow
tree, and there was a river flowing quietly by the side.
A month ago, Sophia had posted a photo like that on her IG Stories. She said that was a ce her
parents had been to in the past.
Bayside Park!
Immediately, Linus drove to the park. The sky was getting dark and the park was closed. Linus wandered
around the park’s fences for a while and found footprints on one of the lower fences. Climbing over it, he
went into the park. Following the picture she posted, he found the river in an instant.
His steps were quiet. On a snowy night, the world was silent. asionally, the crisp sound of branches
breaking from the weight of umted snow could be heard.
As he walked, he tried to keep his steps gentle; he was too afraid to disturb the peaceful silence of the
park. Instead of shouting for Sophia, he walked along the river. After a few minutes, he heard someone
sobbing in the silence.
Instantly, Linus was overjoyed. Quickening his pace, he darted forward and saw a tiny figure sitting under
a small tree. The figure was curled up and trembling in the cold.
“Sophia!” Linus couldn’t help but call out.
The figure heard his voice, stood up, and ran. Linus immediately followed after her and pulled her into his
embrace.
When he held Sophia in his arms, he felt like he was holding a pile of ice. She was stiff all over and her
hair was damp and frozen.
She was drenched in tears. Even though ten years had passed, she still looked like the little girl in the
photos: helpless, hopeless, and vulnerable.
Linus hugged her with all his might, trying to warm up her freezing body.
From N?velDrama.Org.
After struggling for a while in his embrace, Sophia stopped moving. Instead, she continued to cry in
despair.
Burying his face into her dampened hair, Linus was overwhelmed with a burst of heartache he had never
felt before. His eyes felt sore all of a sudden, and tears started rolling down his cheeks.
He let go of her and quickly took off his down jacket to wrap her in it. Cupping her freezing face, he
whispered, “It’s okay. It’s all right now. Everything is over now.”
Sophia was already choked with sobs that she could not say anything. Her eyes were swollen and she
was soaked and freezing all over. She wanted to talk, but when her mouth opened, there was only more
sobbing. Even her lips were numb.
“Come on. Let me take you home!” Linus grabbed hold of her hand and tried to pull her out.
However, Sophia tugged him from behind. It seemed like she didn’t want to go home yet. Turning around
and looking at her wrinkled face, Linus whispered, “What’s the matter?”
Choking on her own tears, she sobbed, “I don’t want to go home now.”
She didn’t know how to face Michael and everyone else.
Fixing his eyes on her, Linus held her cold hands in his palms to warm her up. Knowing that her
emotions were probably all over the ce and she didn’t want to go home, Linus said patiently, “Then
let’s find a warmer ce to sit down, okay?”
Sophia’s tear continued to fall and she didn’t answer. He dragged her, and she followed suit.
Immediately, Linus took her to a ce sheltered from the wind and they sat down. He fished out a lighter
from his down jacket, and found some dry leaves and branches in the woods. In a short moment, he lit a
fire.
The me rose, and Sophia sat in front of it to warm up her freezing body. She stared at the fire in a
daze; mes danced in her eyes. Her face was slightly numb and her mouth felt dry.
She had been doing a lot of thinking. That was the darkest time in her life; it was the moment she wanted
to forget forever. However, everything was presented in front of her like a scab being torn apart. The
hideous flesh and bloody wound beneath was exposed. It was unpleasantly stinky and unbearably
painful. The wound that she didn’t want to show to anyone was exposed in such a terrible manner to the
public.
That kind of feeling was traumatizing. She felt like her soul was stripped away from her utterly.
Linus was very fortunate to find a carton of chocte milk in his bag. He put it near the fire to heat it
before handing it to Sophia.
Taking the milk from him, Sophia took a few sips. Her mouth was dry, but her stomach felt a lot better
after she drank some milk.
She continued to stare at the fire. Her face felt numb and cold after being washed by tears. When the fire
heated her face up, she seemed to be covered by ayer of film, and it was very ufortable.
In just one breath, Sophia finished up the milk and threw the packaging into the fire. Using a stick, she
picked at the box and it was quickly burned to ashes by the me.
Linus didn’t call Stanley; he wanted to stay alone with Sophia for a while.
After a long while, he said, “You should go home earlier. He’s looking everywhere for you.”
Something in Sophia’s eyes shed; a subtle light seemed to glisten from them. Tightening the down
jacket Linus had given to her, she shrank her face into the clothing, looking like a tortoise hiding into its
shell.
She wanted to go home too. But, her scars were torn apart so severely. She felt like there was an
unbearable smell exuding from her. How could she expect Michael to ept her?