When Love Fades to Ashes

One morning, Sophie Queen sat in her bedroom, speaking on the phone with her aunt, Julia Queen.

After thinking for a long time, Sophie finally said, "I've made up my mind, Aunt Julia. I will return in a month and marry Elliot."

"Finally! I've been waiting for you to say this for so long!" Julia exclaimed.

"You and William were engaged for four years, but there were never any plans to finalize the marriage, and I know how much you suffered at the hands of those jerks.

"On the other hand, Elliot's been your neighbor since you were kids and would protect you the moment he found out you were in danger. He even asked me about how you're doing a few days ago!

"Looks like your parents were right when they thought he'd be the perfect match for you!"

Though initially surprised by the news, Julia soon laughed in relief, happy that her efforts to persuade Sophie into marrying Elliot hadn't been in vain.

She quickly hung up and prepared to call Ariana Mott, Sophie's mother, and Elliot to share the good news.

Almost immediately, Sophie's bedroom grew quiet, and she could hear the commotion and laughter downstairs.

That was the day Lily Manse, a woman William Locke had been in unrequited love with for the longest time, was returning to their country.

The Locke family was close with the Manse family, so they were planning to welcome Lily back home.

Sophie let out a long sigh and drew a cross on her calendar.

'Only 29 more days to go…' she thought.

Suddenly, she heard William's cold voice behind her. "What are you doing?"

In truth, William didn't care what Sophie was doing and spoke his true intentions before she could respond. "You're my fiancée. It's only natural for you to come welcome Lily with me."

Sophie was caught off guard by William's rare, ungentlemanly behavior—he hadn't even knocked before entering.

Perhaps fearing Lily might overthink the situation if they were late, William dragged Sophie off her bed and downstairs.

Although William remained calm, Sophie could tell there was scorn in his tone.

The sound of laughter ceased when Sophie sat at the dining table.

Gloria Hall, William's mother, spoke her mind as usual. "Perfect timing, you jinx."

William's father, Alistair Locke, stopped eating when he heard that, while Sophie simply pursed her lips, used to being treated this way.

However, Finn Locke, William's grandfather, picked the best cut of steak and placed it on Sophie's plate with a kind smile.

"You've lost weight again, Sophie. I'm sorry my grandson hasn't taken better care of you. Please, have some more to eat!" he said.

Noticing Sophie's quiet demeanor, Lily suddenly had an idea. She smiled and said, "So you're Sophie...

"I really admire you. Grandpa Finn took you into the family because you saved William that one time five years ago.

"All the other socialites are saying you've risen from nothing and become a true success because of it. I think you were just born with great luck!"

William squinted and looked at Sophie. "Be nice. Lily grew up pampered and always speaks her mind."

"No, I'm not!" Lily pouted and shot William a playful glare before placing a piece of crab on Sophie's plate.

With a naive temperament, she said, "Here you go! I'm sure you haven't had a lot of crab in the past, have you?"

Sophie had always been kind and preferred to endure any grievances thrown her way. But now that she was about to leave, she refused to put up with them any longer.

"You can drop the act, Miss Manse. I know you dislike me, and I don't particularly like you either. So let's not talk to each other, okay?"

The Lockes were stunned by Sophie's rebuttal.

William was the first to recover, shooting Sophie a cold stare before throwing his cutlery on his plate.

Meanwhile, Lily, who had never been scowled at like that before, angrily picked up a bowl of hot soup and splashed it at Sophie.

Sophie winced as the soup spilled down her head and face.

Before she could say anything, Lily shrieked in pain as some remnants of the soup scalded her hand.

As tears filled Lily's eyes, the Lockes quickly surrounded her and tended to her wounds.

Gloria glared at Sophie while carefully holding Lily's hand. "Lily's a pianist! Just look at how red her hand is! Why would you be so rude to her?!"

William even began to panic.

He grabbed his car keys and held Lily in his arms, saying, "Let's go to the hospital, Lily. You've got a competition coming up in two days."

Lily stomped her foot and cried, "Is she really going to be your wife, William? Nobody's ever spoken like that to me before! I want her to apologize now!"

William glanced at Sophie's sorry state and replied, "You're partly at fault too, Lily."

Lily pouted as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "How is it my fault? I was only telling the truth, wasn't I?

"I don't care! I want her to apologize!"

Finn hesitated and struggled as he said, "I know you're not happy with what Lily said, Sophie. Still, Lily's hands are her family's pride and joy…"

William, too, looked at Sophie with a mysterious expression. "What's gotten into you? You've never lashed out like that before. Lily needs both her hands for her competition…"

Despite Lily being the one who instigated the commotion—plus it was she who threw hot soup at Sophie first—William still expected Sophie to apologize.

Sophie was in a daze.

In the past, William would always take Sophie to the hospital and punish anyone who wronged her until they confessed, no matter how cool he was toward her.

But now that Lily had reappeared, everything had changed.

Sophie had been born into an ordinary family and had fallen in love with William since college.

She had assumed their lives would never intersect—until five years ago when William got into a car accident in the city.

At the time, William had been driving recklessly out of frustration because Lily had flown overseas.

When Sophie saved him, Finn insisted that William get engaged to her, despite the family's severe objections.

Surprisingly, William agreed to the engagement.

Over the past four years of their engagement, Sophie would wake up early every morning to make breakfast for him and wait until midnight for William to return from work.

She would fight through a high fever to deliver urgent documents to him in the snow and remind him to wear a coat when it rained.

Once, when William was infected with a contagious virus, even Gloria ran from the situation, yet Sophie sat by his bed, caring for him and giving him his medicine.

Whenever William was in a bad mood, Sophie would quietly follow him, afraid he might do something foolish.

She did that without complaints, even though William often scowled at her.

She could endure it all by looking at the ring on her finger, convincing herself that William had feelings for her, even if they were small.