Chapter 559
Mark looked at the two pictures and smiled happily. “Everybody’s here; all of them are here…”
However, Nathan was staring at another picture in a daze—it was a picture of Mark and a young man.
That man in the picture was the same man in the car outside the militarypound—his name was
Cooper Mitchell.
Sophia came to the militarypound and lived a life like a retiree. Waking up at 6:30 AM every day,
she went jogging and exercising with Old Master Fletcher. The old man might have been a hundred
years old, but his body was still strong and healthy. Moreover, he insisted on working out his body.
Hence, he went jogging every day. After jogging with a bunch of old men, she had her breakfast. Then,
she carried a bottle of wolfberry water with her while ying chess with Old Master Fletcher. Either that
or she would apany the old man out for a walk and practice Tai Chi.
On the second day since her arrival, she ran into Joel when she went out to buy some snacks at night.
He was the one person she had been trying to avoid.
“Sophia, you’re here.” Joel, who was wearing a green military coat, appeared out of nowhere from a
dark corner. His sudden appearance caused her to jump in fright. Stopping in her tracks, she gripped
the big bag of snacks in her hand and smiled awkwardly. “Yeah, I arrived yesterday.”
After the ball at the Edwards Residence previously, she had not dared to face him again. Moreover, she
had blocked both his phone number and his Messenger ount. When she came to visit Old Master
Fletcher at the militarypound, she had been afraid of running into him. s, they met anyway.
In the darkness of the night, she could not see his eyes clearly. They seemed like two pools of water at
the bottom of an old, abandoned well at night. She couldn’t tell the depth or temperature of his gaze—all
she could see were two ck pits.
He stepped forward. His army boots had left a trail of footprints in the snow. When she saw the spot
where he had been standing, she noticed many footprints in the surrounding area. It was obvious that he
had been waiting there for a while now. As he approached her, she responded by retreating backward,
step for step.
Joel and Michael were very different. Although Michael used to be in the army, he had spent many years
in the entertainment circles. Therefore, he had learned to control the military aura that he had around him
—he could release it or withdraw it as he wished. However, Joel could not hold his aura back. He was
somebody who had killed in battle before. Thus, he carried a bleak and chilling air around him that came
from leaving a pile of bodies in his wake on the battlefield. It left a fangirl like Sophia shivering in fear in
his presence.
Joel fixed his gaze on Sophia. “Are you terrified of me?”
Sophia had thrown a military coat over her pajamas when she came out to buy some snacks. Under his
imposing aura and the freezing winter wind, she was trembling uncontrobly. Upon hearing his
question, she cowered slightly as she answered, “A-A little bit.”
His footsteps stilled and he did not continue approaching. Instead, he asked calmly, “Is he troubling
you?”
Naturally, the ‘he’ he was referring to was Michael. Thus, she quickly shook her head. “No…”
Then, he asked, “Am I bothering you?”
She was tempted to answer, ‘Yes.’ However, she felt too embarrassed to say it. After all, he was one of
the grandsons Old Master Fletcher was very proud of. Besides, Woody was here too. Since she
constantly came over to visit, it would be bad if she couldn’t get along with Joel. Therefore, she
organized her thoughts in her head and mustered up her courage to look at the man standing one head
taller than her. Solemnly and seriously, she said, “General, as you should know, I’m your sister-inw. As
such, I believe we should maintain an appropriate distance between us.”
Under his increasingly frigid gaze, she felt her arrogant confidence slipping away slowly. The intensity of
this man’s aura was simply too powerful. He was a man who could restrain an entire army by himself—
the aura he carried was not something an ordinary person could withstand!
He waited for her to finish before saying, “So, that’s the reason why you blocked my number.”
The aura around him grew stronger all of a sudden.
She was so terrified that she was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, and all she could think of was
escaping. Forcing augh, she said, “Blocked your number? What are you talking about? I don’t
understand… Maybe it was just Michael fooling around.”
He stared at the cowering girl in front of him. Her slightly lowered face was flushed and she seemed to
exude an alluring scent like no other, arousing the destructive possessive desire within him. He didn’t
know if it was because she was Michael’s woman or some other reason, but his possessive desire was
stronger than it had ever been before. Hence, he continued walking toward her. At the same time, she
was dripping with cold sweat from head to toe. Stepping back in terror, she was about to be forced into a
corner…
As Sophia watched the approaching figure that was Joel, she was so scared that the bag of snacks in
her hand fell to the ground and was crushed under her feet.
Meanwhile, his beast-like gaze was fixed intently on her. “Sophia, you should know this.” Forcing her into
a corner, he continued in a whisper, “The person Michael truly loves and cannot let go of… is not you.”
In an instant, herplexion became deathly pale. The person Michael truly loves and cannot let go
of… She had a vague idea who it was but had deliberately ignored it until now.
On the other hand, he mercilessly tore out the cruel truth and presented it to her in all its raw and bloody
glory. “You are simply a substitute he bought with money. You know who the person he truly loves is…”
Sophia lowered her head and said nothing. Then, he leaned close to her face and whispered, “I’m the
only one who is sincere toward you.”
His hot breath blew against her face. In the harsh, cold winter, his actions made her unbelievably
distressed and embarrassed, and it caused goosebumps to appear all over her body. She kept quiet. All
of a sudden, she slipped out from under him and ran for her life. In her desperation to get away, she
didn’t even bring the snacks she had brought with her.
Joel watched as the figure vanished out of his sight. After that, he bent down to pick up the bag of
snacks she had left behind. Shaking the snow off the bag, he suddenly spoke in the direction of a dark
corner, “Come out. Stop hiding.”
A figure came out of the shadows and walked toward him. When the figure walked out of the darkness
and into the light of a streetmp, the dim yellow light revealed her exquisite facial features. Moreover,
the military coat she wore over her tall figure could not hide the bump she was carrying. Irene walked
over with a mocking sneer. “Is that the reason you broke up with me?” She was referring to Sophia, who
had fled.
Joel answered candidly, “Yeah.”
In response, sheughed self-deprecatingly. Joel is unimaginably cruel. He truly is the epitome of
cruelty. She had silently dedicated herself to him for so many years. However, he dismissed all her
efforts with a single word with no room for maneuver whatsoever. The way he was trying to court SophiaAll content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.
right now waspletely identical to how he had courted her back then—domineering, cold, and
refusing to take no for an answer. Simrly, nobody could stop him once he decided to leave. He isn’t
chasing after love; he’s chasing after his prey. Moreover, he isn’t hunting out of hunger; he is hunting
simply to snatch away the prey of another hunter. And, that hunter is Michael Fletcher.
Irene gritted her teeth. “Joel, you really are cold and ruthless to the bone. Aren’t you afraid of receiving
retribution?”
Joel nced at Irene, who was brimming with rage. Then, he couldn’t helpughing coldly. “Irene, you
should find a suitable opportunity to ‘recover’ your memories. That way, you can peacefully continue
being Mrs. Fletcher.”