Chapter 6

Sophie’s heart, already battered beyond repair, felt nothing now, not even pain.

She suddenly remembered five years ago, when Daniel brought her into the city to marry him and stood before her parents, making his promise.

“Don’t worry. I may not have much now, but I’ll protect Sophie with everything I have. I’ll make something of myself. I’ll take care of both of you.”

Her parents hadn’t looked down on him. They had been moved and overjoyed.

Her father brought out the best food the family had been saving for months, and her mother pressed a pair of handmade shoes into his hands, stitched together late into the night.

They gave him everything they could.

And in five years, they received nothing in return.

Now, her father’s life was being used as leverage, just to force her to bow her head.

She should have understood long ago.

In front of Clara, whether she was right or wrong, whether she explained herself or not, the truth had never mattered to Daniel.

For the woman he loved, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

Sophie looked at Clara, steady and quiet, then bent at the waist in a deep bow.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been jealous of you. I shouldn’t have hurt your child. This is all my fault.

“Please… let my father go. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”

Clara nodded, satisfied. “At least you know your place. But words alone aren’t enough.”

She slapped a sheet of paper down on the table, her eyes glinting. “Write me an apology in blood. Promise you’ll never harm my son again.”

Daniel’s brow tightened.

After the explosion, Sophie had already lost too much blood.

He almost told her she was going too far, but Sophie had already broken the skin of her finger and begun writing, line by line, in blood.

The rough paper scraped against her wound, her pale fingers quickly turning raw and torn.

Because of the blood loss, the wound clotted too quickly, and she bit into a second finger.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, a flicker of discomfort passing through him.

But Sophie didn’t even flinch.

She still looked as gentle and composed as ever, yet there was something in her eyes he could no longer understand.

Daniel had a vague sense that Sophie was different from before.

Was it because of the child, or because of her father? Had he gone too far?

“Sophie…”

A flicker of unease stirred in him, but before he could say more, Clara cut in.

She took the apology Sophie had written. “Daniel, your wife seems sincere. I forgive her.

“Your place was damaged in the explosion. You can’t stay there for now. I don’t mind her staying with me for a while. Can you come back with me and help get a room ready for her?”

Daniel glanced at Sophie, her gaze lowered, then at Clara, her eyes full of expectation.

In the end, he nodded.

It could wait. He would make it up to Sophie later.

With Daniel’s order, Sophie’s father was released soon after.

Seeing her father, his hair gone gray overnight, his face drawn with exhaustion, Sophie felt a surge of guilt and pain, yet there was nothing she could do.

She used the money Daniel gave her to buy her parents some clothes and supplements, then sent them back to the countryside.

After that, Daniel’s aide brought her to Clara’s home.

Standing at the doorway, Sophie looked inside. The small two-bedroom apartment was warmly decorated, and the sight struck her like a needle to the heart.

Every detail in that home was something Daniel once promised her, but never gave.

He said that when they had a place of their own, he would plant sunflowers for her himself.

The sunflowers she imagined now stood neatly arranged on Clara’s balcony.

He also said he would take her to a studio for a proper wedding photo, one they would hang proudly in their home.

Now the walls were covered with pictures—of him and Clara, holding the baby, like a family of three.

Daniel cleared his throat, his voice a little strained.

“Sophie, I let Clara stay in our place before because she was grieving. Don’t take it to heart. I’ve already put in a request for another place…”

Sophie pulled her gaze away and cut him off.

“There’s no need.”

She would be leaving soon.

There would be no chance of ever living in his house again.