Once Charlotte left, the private room was abuzz with various comments and speculations.
“I think Charlotte is quite pitiful, liking someone for so long, only to find out he’s already married.”
“What’s there to pity about? Didn’t you hear? Mrs. Hunter said Charlotte knew he was married long ago but didn’t say anything and kept sticking to him like nothing was wrong.”
“Exactly. Every time we joked about her and Mr. Hunter, she always laughed and played along, making it seem like there was something between them.”
“Too bad. Mr. Hunter didn’t even look at her tonight.”
“……”
When Charlotte caught up with Evan, he was just finishing buckling Sophia’s seatbelt.
She approached and said to Evan, “Can we talk alone?”
Evan didn’t even spare her a glance as he started the car, ready to leave.
Charlotte became anxious, reaching through the window to grab the steering wheel, “Evan, we’ve been colleagues for so long. Do you really have to be this heartless?”
Without looking at her, Evan replied coldly, “Sorry, but aside from my wife, I treat everyone the same.”
He didn’t think he was being heartless at all.
Charlotte forced a bitter smile, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ve applied for a transfer, so we won’t be seeing each other much longer.”
“Okay,” Evan responded indifferently.
Hearing Sophia humph beside him, he glanced over to see her starting to fidget restlessly.
With a tense expression, he was about to drive away when he noticed Charlotte’s hand still on the steering wheel. His face darkened, “Is there anything else?”
Charlotte immediately withdrew her hand, not wanting to completely ruin her last impression with Evan.
As soon as she pulled her hand back, Evan stepped on the gas, and the car sped away, leaving Charlotte standing there with a mix of unwillingness and resignation.
Inside the car, Sophia, sitting in the passenger seat, began tugging at the zipper of her dress.
“Evan, it’s so hot~”
Evan’s forehead veins throbbed as he kept his eyes on the road, reaching out to restrain her hand, “Stop moving around. We’ll be home soon.”
He knew something might happen when she drank, but he didn’t expect it to be this quick.
Sophia was not known for handling her alcohol well. At this point, she couldn’t hear anything he was saying.
She pulled her hand away from his, grumbling, “Don’t touch me. You’re always taking advantage of me.”
Evan: “……”
Knowing that talking to her in this state was useless, Evan sped up.
What normally took forty minutes, he managed to cut down to twenty.
As soon as they got home, he carried Sophia into the bathroom, ran the bathwater, and dumped her, now voluntarily undressed, into the tub before turning to leave.
Outside, Evan drank a large glass of water, trying to cool down his own heated emotions.
Thinking about the scene in the bathroom, he took a deep breath and went to the balcony.
Their first time was when she was drunk. He was afraid it would leave a bad memory, so he had to control himself now.
About ten minutes later, he came back inside, walked to the bathroom door, and knocked. There was no response.
Hesitating, he opened the door and was rendered speechless.
Sophia was leaning over the edge of the tub, sound asleep.
Evan sighed, more troubled now.
He fetched a towel, pulled her out of the tub, and dried her off before placing her in bed. By the time he was done, he was drenched in sweat.
He decided that no matter what, he would never let her drink again.
It was a peaceful night.
When Sophia woke up the next morning, she saw Evan, fully dressed, emerging from the bathroom.
She squinted with a smile and said, "If Dr. Hunter lived in the old days, he'd definitely be one of those monks who never missed morning prayers."
Evan's eyes narrowed, taking on a dangerous glint, "Are you saying I'm not into women? I can actually be quite..."
“Ding-dong~”
The doorbell rang.
“Hmm, who could be here so early?” Sophia wondered.
Evan walked towards the door with long strides, “You should get up,” he advised, to avoid a rushed situation later.
Sophia stayed in bed for a few more seconds, then threw off the covers, ready to get up. She felt something was off and looked down to realize she wasn’t wearing anything!
Recalling Evan’s calm demeanor earlier, she gritted her teeth in annoyance.
He must have done something to her while she was drunk!
Just as she was about to call out to him, she heard a concerned voice from outside, “Evan, how could you not tell the family about such a big incident?”
That voice… it was her mother-in-law!
Sophia quickly forgot about scolding Evan and hurried to grab some clothes from the wardrobe and dashed into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, she emerged, hesitated for a moment, then opened the bedroom door and walked out.
Mrs. Hunter was questioning Evan about the fire incident when she heard footsteps and turned around, smiling.
“Sophia, did I wake you?”
Sophia quickly shook her head and walked over, “Mom, what brings you here?”
“Oh, it’s about the fire. I almost fainted when I heard it was your neighbor’s house that caught fire.”
Sophia glanced at Evan, then said, “Since nothing serious happened, we didn’t want to worry you.”
“You should have told us right away. At least we would have been prepared.”
Sophia didn’t know how to respond and looked at Evan for help.
Evan gave her a reassuring look, then said to Mrs. Hunter, “Mom, you haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Let’s have breakfast first.”
He gently guided Mrs. Hunter out, and Sophia breathed a sigh of relief.
Ever since she first brought up divorce with Evan, Sophia had felt guilty every time she saw Mrs. Hunter. Although divorce was no longer an option, she still felt a bit uneasy.
After breakfast, Evan offered to drive Mrs. Hunter home, but she insisted on taking a cab. He hailed one for her.
Before getting in the cab, Mrs. Hunter suddenly turned to the couple and said, “By the way, I consulted a date specialist. The eighth of next month is a good day for a wedding banquet. Do you think you can make time for it?”
Sophia froze.
She had almost forgotten that she and Evan hadn’t had a wedding banquet. But she didn’t care much about formalities and was about to decline.
Before she could speak, Evan said, “Okay, I’ll handle the wedding arrangements.”
Mrs. Hunter nodded and looked at Sophia, “Sophia, if you have any requests for the wedding, just let us know. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it should be special.”
Sophia felt warmth in her heart, “Okay, I will, Mom.”
After sending Mrs. Hunter off, Sophia turned to Evan, “I’ve heard that organizing a wedding can be very tiring. Why don’t we skip it?”
She thought a destination wedding sounded more appealing.
Evan smiled at her, “Are you afraid of the hassle?”
Sophia nodded enthusiastically.
“Don’t worry. You just need to be the bride. I’ll take care of everything else.”
“But Evan…”
