To add, Patrick would never allow this to happen.
He preferred avoiding her altogether.
‘It's only a joke.It's fine just to listen and not react” she thought to herself, brushing the promotion
rumors off.
It had been four days, and Patrick still had not come back to work.He had no clue just how serious his
illness was.
All the more, he didn't know the exact number of days his body needed to recover fully.
Like a snail moving every minute, Sophia was as busy as ever.
Later that day, Sophia started packing up the files on her desk.
She was just about to turn off the computer and go home after a day's work when John suddenly
appeared by the door of the evaluation department.
"Sophia, come out with me for a moment.I need you to do something"
John had a heavy and worrisome look all over his face.
Patrick had been away for so long already.This might have caused an extra strain on John's part.
‘‘Without the guidance of Patrick on company matters, John must be exhausted by now” Sophia
thought to herself.
Just around the corner by the stairs, John handed over a document to her.
"You have to go to President Evans’ apartment right now and give him this document.Be there before
six o'clock; he must decide by then” John instructed her firmly.
Sophia felt shocked and annoyed by this sudden task.
"It's late already.It's time to get off work and go home, Mr.Ward’’ Sophia replied, wanting to end the day
already.
"But this is work” John raised his eyebrows and looked over the file he was holding.
"You could've asked other employees to do this for you.Why does it have to be me?"
Sophia tried to protest in a low voice.She was telling the truth.
Other employees would be so quick to jump at this opportunity to go to their boss' apartment.
They'd do it in an instant before John could even finish the instruction.
Also, Adriana regularly visited Patrick at home; she could do it instead.
"Are you my boss now? Do I have to listen to you? I don't seem to remember that being the case."
John's face went even darker as he said those words.
Already impatient and concerned over the ticking time, John shook the document, indicating Sophia to
accept it and do the task.
Sophia remained hesitant, but she knew she had no choice but to do what she was told.John said it
perfectly; this was work, and she was merely a lowly employee.
Despite official work hours being finished, she had no reason to refuse.
John gave her the access card to Patrick's place.
After that, she made her way to the luxurious apartment building.
She got his floor and stood in front of Patrick's unit for quite some time.She was obviously hesitant
about this whole ordeal, hence, her unmoving stance.She was feeling all sorts of things.
It was impossible to put them into words.
Everything felt complicated for her, not understanding them herself.
After that previous rainy night, she had a lot of thinking to do.
She put aside the unpleasant divorce from five years ago, including the resentment and hatred she felt.
Aside from all these, Sophia knew Patrick was a person that was difficult to hate.
He was a simple man who handled problems smoothly and carefully.
He was intelligent but not cunning, ensuring fairness in all matters.
He had a lot of positive attributes, more than enough to swoon any woman to fall in love with him.
Even though he was engaged, it didn't stop women from falling for him.
He was exceptional at everything, except for the fact that he did not love her.
Sophia was the one who couldn't accept the truth.
Patrick had his easily? Do you think I'm willing to be with any man without thinking of what's right? Who
do you think you are, Mr.Bower?"
Finn didn't expect to hear this from Sophia.
She talked about him in such a bad light, hurting his self-esteem and ego.
At this point, his face sunk and turned pale, prompting him to say the next words with the same
harshness.
"How are you any better, then? You are simply an employee who does everything her boss wants.Isn't
that what you came here for? Aren't you aware that a divorced woman is already worthless, Miss Hill?
Honestly, we had gotten along just fine when we were dating, but looking back, I wonder if what you
showed back then was even true."
"Or, you must be so confident that you and Mr.Evans might end up together? You must already think
he'll marry you.If that's the case, the joke's on you.It's obvious he's only playing around’’ Finn said, not
holding back.
Hearing all these, Sophia felt her entire body go cold.She could feel her existence drain out as her
blood flowed the other way.Her head was all over the place.She suddenly went numb.
A person's heart was indeed hard to predict.
She was aware of her current situation, and she couldn't help but feel hurt.
"You both are already at my door.Why don't you come in and do the talking inside?"
As if on cue, the once tightly shut apartment door opened and revealed Patrick standing just inside.He
wore a simple grey V-neck shirt that loosely hugged his chest.He was comfortably leaning against the
door.
"I didn't expect to see Ms.Hill here.So, we talked quite a bit before I went up, Finn innocently said.
"Oh, what did you talk about?" Patrick queried.
Finn did not expect him to ask more about it.
"Nothing!" Finn shook his head awkwardly.
"Oh, I almost forgot! I have some things to do.I'll go ahead and leave now?’ Finn hurriedly said, wanting
to escape the sudden interrogation.
"Mr.Bower, do you know the reason why your company's Astra Sophia, already annoyed, continued to
press the doorbell and sneered, "So, you mean to say that a fragile woman can be deceived easily? Do
you think I'm willing to be with any man without thinking of what's right? Who do you think you are,
Mr.Bower?" Finn didn't expect to hear this from Sophia.
She talked about him in such a bad light, hurting his self-esteem and ego.
At this point, his face sunk and turned pale, prompting him to say the next words with the same
harshness.
"How are you any better, then? You are simply an employee who does everything her boss wants.Isn't
that what you came here for? Aren't you aware that a divorced woman is already worthless, Miss Hill?
Honestly, we had gotten along just fine when we were dating, but looking back, I wonder if what you
showed back then was even true."
"Or, you must be so confident that you and Mr.Evans might end up together? You must already think
he'll marry you.If that's the case, the joke's on you.It's obvious he's only playing around’’ Finn said, not
holding back.Hearing all these, Sophia felt her entire body go cold.
She could feel her existence drain out as her blood flowed the other way.Her head was all over the
place.She suddenly went numb.
A person's heart was indeed hard to predict.She was aware of her current situation, and she couldn't
help but feel hurt.
"You both are already at my door.Why don't you come in and do the talking inside?"
As if on cue, the once tightly shut apartment door opened and revealed Patrick standing just inside.
He wore a simple grey V-neck shirt that loosely hugged his chest.He was comfortably leaning against
the door.
"I didn't expect to see Ms.Hill here.So, we talked quite a bit before I went up, Finn innocently said.
"Oh, what did you talk about?" Patrick queried.
Finn did not expect him to ask more about it.
"Nothing!"
Finn shook his head awkwardly.
"Oh, I almost forgot! I have some things to do.I'll go ahead and leave now?’ Finn hurriedly said, wanting
to escape the sudden interrogation.
"Mr.Bower, do you know the reason why your company's Astra development case could not be
approved after all this time?" Patrick started.
You could already feel the tension rising.
After a few seconds, Patrick spoke calmly, "It's because you are a snob who would look down on
people."
Finn chewed more than he could take, and knowing he had no power; he didn't dare to fight back and
left immediately.
Sophia lowered her head and remained silent the whole time.
"I've never seen a fight like yours where you piss yourself first.It's a rare sight, actually" Patrick said to
Sophia.
"I don't need your help.I can handle things on my own.I'm perfectly capable of fighting for myself? she
made herself clear.She was not grateful for his help.This was not the first time she was put in a difficult
position.She had experienced her share of conflicts with people, and each time, she handled it herself
without needing anyone to stand up for her.All her life, she had no one to rely on except for herself.This
meant she could not let herself depend on others.
"Who said I was helping you? We both heard him say my name” Patrick said.
While speaking, he could not help but cough, covering his mouth with one hand.He was still sick, after
all.
Sophia said nothing in return.She felt he still didn't understand.
There were a lot of things that made her uncomfortable.
She felt wronged in more ways than he knew, and if she complained about these all the time, she
would simply not be able to live.
On the other hand, Patrick did not look good himself.He had watery eyes, and his hair was still
messy.His voice sounded a bit more hoarse than normal.He must have woken up only recently.
"What are you doing here?"
He switched the topic to Sophia's sudden presence.
Sophia handed the document she had been holding for quite some time now.
"Mr.Ward instructed me to give this to you.He said you need to make a decision as soon as possible"
she relayed to him.
Patrick grunted after hearing this.
However, he didn't take the document.
Instead, he opened the door and said, "Let's talk about it inside “
"I won't go in.I have to be home now."
Sophia tried to give the document once more, moving closer to him.She remembered the conversation
Patrick had with Adriana.
He mentioned he had a serious obsession with keeping things cleaned and organized.His fiancee,
Adriana, had not even been inside his apartment.
Sophia felt it was better to remain outside.
First, there was no reason for her to be inside his apartment, and second, it was inappropriate to come
in since she was a single woman while Patrick was already engaged to another woman.
He took a deep breath and said, "What? Are you afraid that I will eat you?"
He wanted to say more, but he stopped himself.
Before Sophia could even say anything, Patrick grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her inside his
apartment.
"My head is throbbing badly right now.Come in and talk."
He closed the door behind him and locked it.
As Sophia heard the door lock, she couldn't help but jump in shock.
Everything happened so quickly.
The apartment had a black and grey theme for the interior, fitting closely with Patrick's taste and
personality.
Sophia could see that it was similar to how he treated people, gentle and elegant yet profound and
thought-provoking.
"Feel free to sit” he offered.
Patrick remained at the other end and leaned against the living room wall with his eyes slightly closed.
He wasn't sure if it was because he didn’t have much strength to lean against the wall for support fully
or if he enjoyed giving others an intimidating feeling.
After a few more moments of silence, he opened his eyes and lit up a cigarette, taking a deep breath.
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