I’m leaving

The Zhou mansion

Five people were sitting quietly drinking their tea. The house butler and the maids came with fruits and light snacks they could enjoy with the tea but was lying on the coffee table untouched.

*Cough cough*

"Pumpkin, do you want some green apples?" asked Zhou Xiu Ying (elder Zhou), looking at his dear granddaughter who was sitting quietly next to him.

"No, thanks grandpa," said Sophia quietly.

Zhou Xiu Ying (Sophia's grandfather), Zhou Yu Yan (Sophia's grandmother), and Zhou Li Min (Sophia's uncle) tried their best to have a long conversation with her but only ended up getting short answers from her which made the situation pretty awkward. Her father even tried to talk to her but only got ignored not just by her but by everyone.

The house butler came suddenly back to the living room where everyone was sitting even though he was dismissed by his master. "My apologies for interrupting master, but there is two guests that are standing outside saying that she is a close friend of the young miss,"

Sophia stood up from her seat immediately knowing that the two guests were no other than Francesca and elder Shen. She nervously went out to see them coming in.

"Oh my gosh! I thought something bad happened to you," said Francesca and hugged her the moment she saw her.

"I told you little flower, she will be okay," said elder Shen and patted Sophia's head.

"Grandpa Shen, Francesca!" said Sophia and felt bad that they were worried about her.

"Oh, my old Shen! Long time no see, how are you?" Zhou Xiu Ying asked while he gave elder Shen a handshake.

"I'm good old Zhou, how are you and your wife?" asked elder Shen.

" Me and my wife are doing good, please come in," said him and took them inside together with Sophia.

The elders were talking together which gave Sophia the opportunity to drag Francesca up to her bedroom. "How did you know that I was here?" asked Sophia.

"I asked SPADES to track your phone when you didn't reply to my messages and found a broken frame inside your cold condo. Was your condo that cold when you first moved in?" asked Francesca.

"No, I opened it before I got kidnapped by my father's men," she said quietly.

"This son of a...I mean crazy father. The fuck is wrong with him? You already have a degree in business, something you really wanted to study. Why can't he just appreciate it and be fucking proud of you? He's destroying your happiness by forcing you to continue to study something you don't wanna study. I'm more speechless over that he used his men to kidnap you, I told you that I could help packing out your stuff, and none of this would have happened. If something happens to you again you will be moving straight back to Shen mansion with me. I don't care if I have to talk to your stupid stubborn father. You don't even have your freedom here at all. Parents should never force their children to study something they don't wanna study." said Francesca angrily.

Sophia was quietly sitting on her bed while watching Francesca who was walking back and forth ranging about Sophia's father. Someone knocked on the door and both looked at the door. A maid told them that the elders wanted to talk to them and they went down.

Elder Zhou cleared his throat when the girls sat down. "Pumpkin, your grandmother, and I will support you no matter what you wanna do with your life. You don't have to study to become a doctor if you don't want to."

"Father!!" said Zhou Li Qiang shockingly.

"What? Am I wrong? Why are you forcing my pumpkin to do something she doesn't like? Does the Zhou family lack on everything right now? Do you want my granddaughter to go through the same hardship as me?" asked elder Zhou.

"I didn't mean that father-" said Zhou Li Qiang.

"Then what else do you mean?" asked elder Zhou.

"I-..." said Zhou Li Qiang.

"it's fine grandpa. I will continue to study medicine, " said Sophia.

Everyone was looking shockingly at Sophia. "Bumpkin are you sure about that? Do you really want to? You can start your own company or take over your uncle's company if you want to. Grandpa will support you." said elder Zhou.

"Thank you grandpa but I have decided to continue," said Sophia.

"When did you decide to continue?" asked Francesca, looking disappointed at her best friend.

"Before you guys came," said Sophia and sipped her tea.

Francesca was about to say something but was held back when elder Shen patted her hand signaling her not to say anything.

"If this is what you want to do, then we won't try to stop you, Sophia. Just remember that this is your life and we will always support you no matter." said elder Shen calmly.

"Thank you, grandpa Shen. I have already asked uncle Zhou to fix everything for me and I will leave early tomorrow, so I will go back to pack stuff from my condo," said Sophia.

Everyone looked at Sophia who stood up and went to her room upstairs and took her windbreaker with her. Francesca and elder Shen decided to leave too once they saw Sophia coming downstairs.

Elder Shen and his bodyguards drove back to the Shen mansion while the girls drove back to Hyatt Regency. Sophia was quiet on the way back to her condo until her phone started to ring. She looked at her phone and rolled her eyes before she picked it up.

Zhou Li Qing: [Sophia? Papa is very happy that you choose to continue studying.]

Sophia: [...If this is all you can say instead of saying you are sorry for using your men to kidnap your own daughter then why are you even calling me? What kind of father are you? Please stop telling me that you're doing this for me. I'm saying this right now once I become a doctor please don't interfere with my life.]

Sophia hung up and looked outside the window trying not to cry. Francesca felt bad and played some soft music so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable. She soon parked her car and they both got out of the car.

Noah who just came back from the volleyball match saw Sophia and Francesca enter Hyatt Regency. He called out to Sophia while he was running towards them. The girls both turned around as he held Sophia's shoulders.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you? Do you feel any dizziness, stomach ache, or headache?" he asked as he examined her from top to toe.

Francesca who didn't like how Noah was holding Sophia took his left arm and twisted and kicked his leg which made him fall. "Who the hell are you?"

"Francesca release him, he's my neighbor!!!" Said Sophia shockingly.

"Eh?"

"He is my neighbor and that guy who saved me from that disgusting man from the nightclub, remember? He took me also to the hospital," said Sophia and helped Noah up.

"Ahhh! I'm so sorry," said Francesca awkwardly.

"No, it's fine! I apologize too, I must have made you uncomfortable in a way, I was just very worried once I saw my new neighbor's door wide open and a broken frame in front of the door. Luckily it seems like you are doing alright. Oh right! I cleaned the broken frame for you too." said Noah and smiled warmly.

The two girls were looking at him weirdly.

"I mean I cleaned up and threw the broken glasses away for you, and I swear that I didn't touch nor did I look at anything," he said.

"Well then thank you for cleaning up the mess for me," said Sophia as they walked over to the elevator.

"Are you gonna take everything with you? Because you can leave the rest of your things here or in the Shen mansion if you're gonna sell the condo," said Francesca.

"Hmmm, I'm thinking of letting some stuff be in the condo. I can't take everything with me anyway, so I'll just leave the rest be here until I come back I guess. I don't really have to pack anyway since I barely packed out anything yesterday." said Sophia.

"Is miss Zhou going somewhere?" asked Noah.

"Yeah, I will go back to Poland to continue studying, and won't come back probably after I'm done with my internship training," said Sophia and sighed.

"Oh! Well, good luck" said Noah and sounded a bit off.

The elevator stopped on the 12th floor and everyone got off, they said goodbye to Noah before they went inside to Sophia's condo.

The girls ended up ordering pizza and watched a movie together before they face-timed Jennifer which was on the other side of the world. They told her about the sad news about Sophia going back to Poland to continue study which of course made Jennifer also mad.

Both Jennifer and Francesca were trying to cheer her up by talking about their shared fashion company once they saw how quiet Sophia was.

It started to get late and Jennifer had to go to another boring meeting. Francesca decided to sleep with Sophia until she fell asleep just to make sure she was okay before she went back to the Shen mansion.