Chapter 601


    Ever since Quinton’s death and Linus’ departure, Sophia’s depression had be worse. There were


    often sleepless nights and splitting headaches.


    As soon as she closed her eyes, she could see a blood-covered Quinton standing in front of her with a


    contorted face while choking her to death.


    “Sophia, you are mine! I was the one who saved your life, so you are mine! Do you hear me? Mine!”


    She startled awake before realizing that it was not dawn yet, and the space next to her was empty.


    Michael had been very busy recently, but he would still find time to apany Sophia every day. He


    would stay with her until she fell asleep then go back to work and secretlye home around


    midnight.


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    Sophia woke up alone and sat in front of the window. She looked out at the early morning scenery of


    Bayside City; it was unusually quiet.


    She didn’t switch on the lights and allowed the darkness to engulf her whole being.


    She was always dreaming about that cold, frosty night on Salvador Ind. Her bones were frozen stiff,


    and she thought she was dead, but vaguely, there was a voice that was calling her over and over again.


    He did CPR for her repetitively; his cold fingers skillfully reached into her mouth and nose, clearing out


    the mud and sand that were blocking her airway.


    She took big gulps of fresh air as he held her in his arms. He blocked off most of the cold wind, giving her


    the little bit of warmth he had.


    She remembered all of it…


    During this time, Michael was spending more time with her since the incident had caused her too much


    pain, and she needed time to heal herself.


    By the time it was spring season, Sophia was already a sophomore in college. She was still working on


    her double degree while working at Stanley’spany.


    Thepany had recently created a new mobile game called ‘The Traveling Snail’. It was about raising


    an electronic pet by feeding the snail in the game everyday and preparing dry food, tents, and amulets


    for it. When the snail went out traveling, it would mail back postcards and special souvenirs from


    wherever it was.


    Ever since the game was introduced, the response had been so great that it was the talk of town.


    “The game has a simple way of ying, so it might get boring very quickly. Don’t get too excited about it


    just yet,” Stanley slurred out. The game was such a sess that the number of downloads were


    unprecedented, and so the four main members of thepany held a celebration party at Sophia’s


    house.


    The table cups and tes were in disarray, and after Stanley had devoured everyst drop of the cer


    wine, he pestered Sophia for another bottle.


    “This is a calm, soothing game, so the number of people topping up in the game is very few, and the


    recharge revenue is not much. We could rely on marketing and word of mouth to temporarily harvest the


    sales, but it would not be a long term solution,” Seanmented.


    As the four of them were discussing the future of thepany, Sophia peeled a boiled peanut and


    spoke, “Our main objective now would be to attract the attention to the other products of ourpany to


    traffic mization.”


    Sarah chipped in, “Maybe put in more top-up functions, like paid movies or paid novels, to ensure a


    speedy mization.”


    “The snail’s gamey has to be constantly updated too.”


    “And we could take in some ads to maintain the operation of thepany, and it would look better on


    our financial statements.”


    …


    As they were discussing their work and thepany, the topic eventually led to Michael.


    “What has my uncle been doingtely? Hurry up and get him to advertise our game!” Stanley huffed


    loudly.


    Sophia replied, “Your uncle is busy!”


    “Then what about that little brat, Nate?”


    Although Celine was back, her mental state still required time to recover. Justin was apanying her


    at the hospital, and Nathan would stay over for 2 days, then asionallye to Sophia’s for 2 days; he


    never stayed in a fixed ce.


    On the other hand, Justin seemed to be busy as well. The Mitchell Family had yet to be informed of his


    existence, and he wanted to choose an auspicious day to announce his return so that his wife and child


    would be recognized by the family. He also wanted things like, nning for another child, returning back


    to the army, and even traveling around the world with Celine. Justin just wanted toplete his


    unfulfilled dreams.


    But first, he had to undergo stic surgery.


    6 years ago, his face waspletely disfigured, hence his nickname, ‘Goblin’. Back then, when he was


    living in resentment, he didn’t bother about his appearance—he just wanted to look more ugly so that he


    could look more intimidating to others in hopes that one day he could use his ugly face to scare Phantom


    Wolf to death. But now that his wife was back, and his son had also recognized him, he began to care


    about the way he looked.


    After all, Justin used to be known as the handsome young man of the Mitchell Family! How else could


    Celine have fallen for him at first sight?


    In the future, when he would go traveling with Celine, attend Nathan’s parent-teacher conference, or try


    for a second child, it would not be possible with the face he had now.


    Sophia strongly rmended him to go to the stic surgery hospital that she frequently went to. That


    hospital had a very good scar recovery rate and was at the forefront of the world in its field. Besides, she


    had a VIP membership card, and so aplimentary double-eyelids procedure woulde together


    with the stic surgery.


    When Michael found out that Justin wanted stic surgery, he was very concerned, and he found him


    the best doctor with the most expensive package avable. The surgerysted for about two months


    intermittently, and now, Justin was still in the process of recovery.


    Nowadays, Nathan could be seen running between two different ces. Today, he went over to visit his


    mother at the military hospital.


    While they were talking about Nathan, the lights in the house suddenly turned dark, and a few colored


    spotlights shone on the living room. The whole living room became mysterious as soft, light music rang


    out. “There were three little bears living together. Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear…”


    A sour-faced Nathan popped out, wearing a baby bear onesie, as he wiggled his little butt and danced to


    the cheerful children’s music.


    Everyone was dumbfounded.


    They had onlye to their senses by the time Nathan was done with his dance and realized that


    Michael had been standing at the revolving staircase while leaning against the wall, watching Nathan’s


    whole performance.


    After he finished dancing, Nathan felt so embarrassed that he leaped into Sophia’s embrace and rubbed


    his face against her arms.


    Stanley fell onto the sofa as heughed uncontrobly. “Hahaha! The little brat can actually dance!’


    They couldn’t help butugh at Nathan. In order to cheer Sophia up, Nathan had sacrificed that little


    pride of his.


    As Sophia hugged Nathan, who was rubbing against her in her arms, she wanted tough and cry at the


    same time.


    Nathan, the well-known little iceberg, had performed a dance for her; how could she not be happy?


    She had never felt so ted!


    Ever since the recent incidents, it was rare to catch a smile from Sophia.


    Michael walked over in casual pajamas and sat down next to Sophia. He nced at the state of the cups


    and tes on the coffee table; Sprite, fruit juice, and wine wereid out on the table with a pile of


    peanuts and pistachios.


    Garfield, which was given by Linus, had turned from a cutie to a fatty. As soon as Michael came, it went


    straight into his arms; it was the only gift from Linus that wasn’t sent away.


    Michael hugged the cat while he ate a peanut and asked, “How’s thepany doingtely?”


    Stanley drank a mouthful of wine and shoved some peanuts into his mouth. “Uncle, thetest popr


    game now was made by ourpany. We’re just waiting for you to endorse us!”


    Michael took a look at his phone. “The Traveling Snail?”


    He had been quite busytely, but he had always been following his beloved wife’s career. He knew she


    had gotten thinner from all those nights of staying upte to write game programs. He didn’t understand


    what was so fun about the game, but everyone was ying it. Perhaps the idea of raising a virtual pet


    became more popr because it was time-consuming to keep a pet in reality.


    Michael had just recently had a virtual snail named ‘Chica’. He bought a flirty red flower for it to wear on


    its head and topped up a lot of money in the game to build a luxurious nest for Chica while feeding it


    expensive food for every meal.


    Naturally, as one of the developers of the game, Sophia would join in as well. Both herptop and phone


    had downloaded the game, and she had a total of 3 snails, all of them named ‘Mikey’…