Chapter 4: Visiting Grandmother

Mason Clarke nodded.

Was fate playing tricks on her?

"I won't donate," Sophia Evans bit her lip. "I won't give my bone marrow to a woman who destroyed my family and took my husband."

But that wasn't the most important reason.

The most crucial thing was—she was pregnant.

She had a baby now.

She couldn't donate.

But she couldn't tell Mason Clarke.

If he knew, he'd force her to terminate the pregnancy.

She couldn't allow that!

"If you agree to donate, I'll grant you anything you wish," Mason Clarke offered generously.

"Does that include not divorcing me?" Sophia asked quietly, keeping her eyes down to hide the sorrow within them.

Mason Clarke remained silent.

It seemed he couldn't bear to part with Lily Foster.

Even if he agreed, it would be because he was willing to sacrifice his marriage, his happiness, for Lily Foster's life.

What a grand, selfless love.

"Sophia Evans, you can't be too greedy," Mason Clarke said coldly. "Even if I agree to save Lily, you should know—I don't love you."

Sophia's face paled.

Those four words—"I don't love you"—pierced her heart like a blade, drawing bitter blood and unbearable pain.

"But what if I insist on holding on to this tomb of love?" Sophia lifted her head gracefully, her dark eyes clear and bright.

"Then you'll get nothing," Mason Clarke replied with an icy stare, "in every sense of the word."

"For the first time, Mason Clarke, you utterly disgust me." Sophia placed her spoon down with a cold smile. "You call me greedy, but what about you? You want me to divorce you, to give you and Lily Foster my blessing—fine, I'll do it. Yet you still expect me to save her life? How cruel can you be?"

Did he have any idea how deeply she loved him?

How cruelly he tormented her!

"Mason Clarke, life doesn't always offer perfect choices," Sophia suddenly sounded more pragmatic. "Just like you and me."

She had loved this man for ten years, and now that love had become a blade that wounded only her.

"You are insatiable," Mason Clarke muttered, rising to leave.

Sophia laughed bitterly to herself, speaking softly, "Yes, I am. I want everything—I want you, and I want your heart."

With that, she lost her appetite.

How could she continue eating?

After leaving the restaurant, Sophia Evans made her way to the Clarke family home.

Her grandmother had suffered a stroke some time ago and had only recently begun to recover.

Looking at the kind, elderly woman, Sophia found herself unable to speak of the divorce.

"Grandmother," Sophia sat by the bedside.

Her grandmother's face lit up with a smile upon seeing her. "Sophia, you've come."

Of all the members of the Clarke family, it was her grandmother who adored Sophia the most.

It wasn't only because Sophia's parents had once saved her grandmother's life—Sophia herself had as well.

When her grandmother had suddenly collapsed from a stroke, it was Sophia who had remained calm and saved her.

The doctor had said that if it weren't for Sophia's timely intervention, her grandmother might not have survived.

But this was something only her grandmother, Sophia, and the doctor knew.

No one else was aware of it.

Her grandmother held Sophia's soft hand and sighed. "Who would've thought this little girl had learned so much?"

Sophia smiled awkwardly. "Grandmother, it's actually just a family skill. Though my parents are both Western doctors, my grandfather was a traditional Chinese doctor. I only learned a few things from him and never expected them to come in handy."

"Don't be nervous. I don't doubt you," her grandmother said affectionately. "I just think that marrying Mason Clarke has wasted your talents. If not for him, you could have flown so high, so far."

Sophia's eyes reddened slightly.

Her grandmother was the one person in the Clarke family who truly understood her.

"If you didn't love Mason Clarke so much, you wouldn't have sacrificed so much," her grandmother lamented. "It's a pity—Mason understands nothing of it."

"Grandmother, please don't tell him. I don't want to burden him," Sophia pleaded.

"Alright, I won't say a word," her grandmother reassured her. "Sophia, you've been married to Mason for three years now. Why haven't you had any good news yet?"

Sophia blushed. "Grandmother, I—"

"Don't listen to him. He says you shouldn't have a child, but why should you follow him? Have a baby, tie him down. Even if Lily Foster returns, she won't stand a chance against you."

Sophia smiled awkwardly.

Lily Foster had already returned.

And even if she had a child, she wouldn't be able to compete with Lily.

Because Mason Clarke was colder, more ruthless, than they had ever imagined.

Sophia took her grandmother's pulse, her delicate face radiant with a smile. "Grandmother, your condition has really improved."

"That's good. I want to live a few more years, just to see you give birth to a little Sophia," her grandmother said with a warm, hopeful smile.

Sophia smiled softly. "Yes."

After chatting with her grandmother for a while, Sophia prepared to leave.

As she stepped out of the room, she ran into Emma Brooks—Mason Clarke's mother.

"Mother," Sophia greeted her respectfully.

Emma Brooks was different from most mothers-in-law.

She wasn't picky or critical, but she wasn't particularly warm either.

She was distant, aloof.

Still, she had never spoken ill of Sophia or looked down on her.

In fact, Sophia appreciated their relationship as it was, and thus showed Emma Brooks great respect.

"Hmm," Emma Brooks responded. A formidable woman, she was in her forties, wearing a sharp business suit and heels, still working hard as a lawyer at her own firm.

"I came to see Grandmother," Sophia said, as sweet and charming as a little rabbit.

Emma Brooks, though reserved, actually liked Sophia a great deal. She simply wasn't used to expressing her emotions.

In this way, she and Mason Clarke were alike.

But deep down, Emma Brooks cared for Sophia, the soft, delicate girl who seemed as pure as glass.

"I brought some steak home. Let's have dinner together tonight," Emma said coolly.

It had been a gift from a client.

She hadn't wanted to accept it, but knowing her daughter-in-law liked steak, she had taken it.

She'd even planned to call Mason and ask him to bring Sophia over for dinner.

To her surprise, Sophia was already there.

Sophia, who used to love steak and could eat three servings by herself, suddenly felt nauseated.

She rushed to the bathroom and began to retch over the sink.

Emma Brooks entered, standing quietly at the door as she watched.

Sophia splashed water on her face, rinsed her mouth, and wiped her hands and lips with a towel.

She bit her lip. "Mother, my stomach hasn't been feeling well lately."

Emma's eyes darkened. "Have you been checked?"

"I have. The doctor says I just need more rest," Sophia replied, pressing her lips together.

After a pause, Emma Brooks asked, "Lily Foster is back. Did you know that?"