When Love Fades to Ashes

Sophie Queen and William Locke were engaged for four years when Lily Manse, a woman whom William's been in a one-sided infatuation with, returned to the country. Every day, William would feed her and accompany her until she fell asleep. One day, Lily schemed to have both herself and Sophie poisoned by toxic gas, and she was happy when William kicked Sophie away to come to her rescue. Despite all this, Sophie refused to shed a single tear, but instead chose to silently disappear from his life. Yet, for some reason, William would later have Lily thrown into jail just so Sophie would give him another chance… Chapter 1 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. Chapter 2 Unfortunately, Sophie now realized she had failed to warm William's stone-cold heart. Ultimately, Sophie headed back upstairs without apologizing to Lily. "Uneducated wench… She should just die in her old poor neighborhood!" Gloria gently patted Lily's shoulder while hurling insults at Sophie. William squinted, and his brow furrowed as he held Lily in his arms, feeling uneasy about Sophie's abnormal behavior. After that, Sophie was left alone in her room, the darkness making it impossible to read her expression. The roar of William's car engine slightly hurt her ears. That was the first time in four years she had seen William panic. She brought out her first aid kit and was halfway through tending to the blisters she had gotten from the fiasco when her phone rang. The call was from an unknown number. When she answered, Lily's voice sounded. "It hurts so much, William. After we go to the hospital, will you take me out to race in your car like you used to whenever I'm in a bad mood?" William's voice, full of affection for Lily, echoed. "I'll do whatever you want as long as you listen to what the doctor says." "In that case, I want you to bake me a cake too. You'll have to feed me since my hand's injured!" "Sure. Does your hand still hurt?" At that point, Sophie hung up, with no intention of listening to the rest of their conversation. In the past, William had sworn never to race or drink any alcohol after that car crash almost cost him his life. Yet now, he was agreeing to Lily's ridiculous request without hesitation! Sophie had long heard of Lily's bratty behavior, and that William had been pampering her like a princess. It became even more obvious that his love for her was unrequited when she flew overseas. Afraid that Lily would be infuriated, William distanced himself from all socialites. He would even go as far as doing anything Lily wanted, no matter how ridiculous or impossible it seemed. With everything that had happened, Sophie was convinced that everything she had heard was true. However, there was no need for her to feel anything about the matter since she had already decided to leave. She blocked Lily's number, packed her belongings, and hid her luggage behind the wardrobe. While looking for her charging cable, she found the three diaries she had kept next to her bed. Each of those diaries contained memories from when she was a naive girl, filled with the love she once had for William. Sophie took off her engagement ring, placed it between the diaries, and threw them all into the bin as if her love for William had turned to ashes. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and William entered with medical patches for burns. His lips pursed when he saw that Sophie hadn't welcomed him like she used to, unsure of what to say at that moment. "Does your face—" "I'm fine," Sophie interrupted him coldly. She was momentarily stunned when she saw a lipstick stain on William's collar, but it quickly passed as she calmly said, "I'm tired. I'm going to get some rest." William's expression flickered with concern as he noticed the large blisters on Sophie's face. He seized her arm. "A woman's face is very important. Come on, I'll take you to the hospital before your blisters turn to scars." William was startled to discover that Sophie’s arm felt unusually hot. Placing his hand on her forehead, he tried to suppress his rising panic—but failed. "You're burning up!" Sophie felt a jolt of sarcasm at William's response. 'You're the one who wanted me to apologize to Lily, and now you're making it seem like you care for me... 'You're the one who injures me, and you're also the one who gives me hope that you do love me somewhat.' Sophie swatted William's hand away and replied, "The doctors have all gone home by now. I'll go tomorrow." William sighed in relief. "You're right. I'll take you there with Lily tomorrow since she needs to have her hand checked again. Shall I get you some medicine to help with your fever in the meantime?" Silence greeted William, and his unease grew as he sensed that something was off. Just as he was about to speak, Lily suddenly barged in and wrapped her arms around William's. "Aren't you happy I'm going to be staying with you for a while, William? What are you doing? I want you to read me a story so I can fall asleep!" Hesitant, William glanced at Sophie before saying, "Why don't we—" Lily's eyes immediately turned red, and she gave William a pleading look. "But I won't be able to perform in tomorrow's competition if I don't sleep well tonight…” Reluctantly, William lovingly stroked Lily's head and said gently, "I'll go find a book." Sophie had already grown used to William's biased attitude toward Lily. After they left, she picked up her phone to contact Alena Graham, her mentor in the dance troupe. Alena had always been kind to Sophie, so she wanted to say farewell and handle some final procedures before she left. Sophie had spent many years with the dance troupe, putting in a lot of effort before gaining success. Now, she had more than a dozen juniors under her guidance. The reason there were still 29 days before her departure was that she wanted to teach them everything she could. - Sophie woke up early the next morning to avoid running into William and Lily. Alas, their paths still crossed when she was saying goodbye to Alena. With a huge smile, Alena grabbed Lily's hand and introduced her to Sophie. "This is Lily Manse, the rising star among pianists. She's a straight shooter and a passionate young woman. I collaborated with her once, and she just finished her performance. I've just received word that she's the champion of this competition!" Lily clung to Sophie's arm as though they were close friends. With an embarrassed smile, she said, "I'm nowhere near as good as you make me sound, Alena. Also, Sophie and I are the best of friends." Surprised, Alena raised an eyebrow. "You two know each other? What a small world! Well, I'll leave you two to it then. I have some things to instruct my troupe about." Lily nodded, revealing a ring on her finger. "Isn't this a lovely ring? William insisted I take it because I won first place. “My goodness, why would he give me a ring of all things? People might think he's proposing to me…" None of their circle knew that William and Sophie were engaged, so it was clear Lily was saying this deliberately. However, Sophie had no intention of playing along with Lily's games. As she turned to leave, Lily grabbed her arm and tugged at the ring on her own finger. Sophie barely had to struggle, and Lily ended up falling to the floor with a loud thud. Chapter 3 "Sophie! What are you doing?!" William rushed over in a panic and pushed Sophie aside. Dropping to his knees, he anxiously checked Lily's injuries. Sobbing, Lily extended her ring finger, which bore the unmistakable signs of being pulled—marked by a deep red laceration. "I did what you asked. I apologized to Sophie, but she lost it when she saw the ring. She insisted I take it off and tried to snatch it from my finger when I refused! "I know I have a bad temper, but you know I'd never lie, right? I just don't understand… Why would Sophie do something like that after I apologized?" Lily bit her lip, struggling to hold back her tears, stubborn yet delicate. Heartbroken, William gently stroked Lily's head and wiped away her tears. "It's all right, Lily. I'll take you to the hospital—or anywhere you need to go. I'll do whatever it takes." Lily's eyes brightened. "Really?" "Of course!" William turned to Sophie with a cold expression. "Since when did you become so violent? I gave Lily her ring. If you're upset, you should be angry with me, not her! Besides, don't you also have a ring?" William glanced at Sophie's ring finger, only to find it empty. Confused, he raised his voice rose slightly. "Where's your ring?" Sophie sneered. 'I see… So I should wear my ring to show others…' Four years ago, William had carefully placed the ring on Sophie's finger. Even his usually composed demeanor had softened into a smile as he vowed to dedicate his life to her, declaring she was his only fiancée. At that moment, Sophie had fallen deeply in love with him, thinking they would live happily ever after. But four years later, she had endured rumors that she was only marrying into the Lockes for their wealth, not to mention the insults from William's own nanny. Their marriage had never been formalized. Nonchalantly, Sophie replied, "I left it at home." Her answer momentarily piqued William's curiosity, but it quickly shifted to anxiety as he almost lost his grip on Lily, who would have fallen. He remembered the time when Sophie lost her ring while swimming. She had searched the pool for hours that night before finally finding it. Afterward, she had cried in William's arms, promising never to take her ring off again. 'It's true I've been focused on Lily since she returned, but Sophie's always been understanding. She should know why I'm doing this, right?' William thought back to how Sophie would always make him a warm glass of milk the morning after he had yelled at her or given her the cold shoulder. At the thought, his gaze softened, and he said gently, "Let's go to the hospital together. You should get your face checked too." Lily's eyes widened in shock, and she stomped her foot angrily. "William! Have you forgotten what she's done to me?!" William found himself in a difficult position, unsure whose side to take. Sophie needed to pick up her prescription from the hospital that afternoon, but she couldn't bear being around William and Lily any longer. Calmly, she turned down William's offer and hailed a cab to the hospital on her own. - After consulting with the dermatologist, Sophie unexpectedly ran into William. "What did the doctor say?" William asked. He reached for Sophie's mask to remove it, but she quickly evaded him. At that moment, a nurse approached and said, "Are you Sophie Queen? The doctor mentioned you'll be leaving in two days and would only like to collect half of your prescribed medication. Is that correct?" William's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed Sophie's hand, his gentlemanly demeanor replaced with urgency as he shouted across the hallway, "You're leaving? Where are you going?!" Sophie smiled and tried to pull her hand from his grip. "I'm going with the dance troupe for a show." William let out a sigh of relief, but his anxiety lingered. "How long will you be gone? Where are you going? We can't keep delaying our marriage, you know?" 'He still remembers we haven't gotten married,' Sophie thought with a sarcastic smile. "We'll be performing in a small town for a few days," she replied. William paused to think, checking his schedule. "I'll come with you. I don't have anything else planned for the next two days." Sophie frowned, impatience creeping into her voice. "You don't need to. It wouldn't be convenient for you to come with us." "I won't be in your way. Just do what you need to do." William was determined to accompany Sophie, and he was never one to take no for an answer. Sophie knew that he would insist even more if she refused. After a moment of thought, she came up with an idea. "Lily's competition is in two days, right? Aren't you going to go? "You should bring her with you next time we go out. Otherwise, she'll just give me an earful." As expected, William fell silent for a moment before nodding with a faint smile. "You're right. I should accompany Lily. We'll have plenty of chances to spend time together in the future." After that, William drove Sophie home before returning to his room to work. Meanwhile, Sophie's phone rang with a text message from Alena. Alena: [I'm sorry to ask, but you're the most flexible and adaptable performer I know. I promised someone I'd perform with them, but I injured my leg. Would you be able to perform on my behalf? Or, if you're busy, you could have one of your girls perform instead.] Sophie stared at her phone, lips pressed together. She didn't want to get involved with anything right before her trip. Yet Alena had been her mentor for so long, charging Sophie only half of her usual fee due to her family's financial struggles. After a moment's consideration, Sophie decided to perform on Alena's behalf as a way to repay her kindness. Shortly after sending her response, Lily knocked on her door. Chapter 4 "Hi Sophie. Alena originally promised she would perform with me at my next competition, but she accidentally injured her foot and asked you to perform for her instead." Lily deliberately paused mid-sentence. Sophie was shocked, only just realizing that the person Alena had mentioned was Lily. However, Sophie couldn't muster a friendly act, nor did she want to waste any time on Lily. "I'm busy." Seeing Sophie's cold response and noticing that she was about to close the door, Lily quickly stopped her and dropped her goody-two-shoes act. "You can't back out! You've already promised her!" Lily snapped. "We don't have the right synergy, so we wouldn't perform well together. More importantly, I'll be busy that day, and I'll have one of my apprentices replace me," Sophie retorted. Lily sneered, her disdain evident as she asked, "Are you afraid?" At that moment, William appeared after hearing the commotion. Lily immediately switched back to her pitiful persona, pursing her lips and clutching the edge of her dress. "William! Sophie and her dance troupe are trying to go against our agreement and won't dance with me during my performance. "What am I supposed to do? My competition is just three days away, and I'll definitely lose if I don't have a partner to dance with. "All of my efforts over the past five years will be wasted! I'd rather die than let that happen…" Suddenly, Lily began to convulse, her hands clenching together and her pupils dilating. Panicked, William quickly held Lily in his arms and fumbled for the medicine he always carried to help her. "Lily! Lily! Stay with me!" Without getting to the bottom of the situation, William stood up and shouted, "Don't you know Lily suffers from severe anxiety? Why won't you perform with her? What's the point of doing all those stretches every day if you're not going to dance? "You'd better hope Lily's okay, or I promise I'll make sure your dance troupe never performs again! "I'll crush your dreams because of your selfishness!" Sophie stood frozen, momentarily dazed as she looked at William's cruel expression. William knew all too well that the children in her dance troupe came from ordinary families, and that they trained tirelessly—sometimes until their feet bled—just for a chance to perform. In the past, William had always tended to Sophie's wounds whenever she was injured during training. He would even hold her in his arms and comfort her, saying he would help the children in her troupe. Now, thanks to Lily's manipulation, he was willing to crush the very dream Sophie had cherished for over 20 years. He was ready to destroy the lives of more than 30 children in the dance troupe just to make Lily happy! Lily couldn't suppress a snicker when she saw how pale Sophie had become. She curled up in William's embrace, laughing and sticking her tongue out at Sophie. As if that weren't enough, Lily even gave Sophie the finger. After a while, Sophie's vision blurred as tears welled up in her eyes. With a hoarse voice, she struggled to speak. "Fine, I'll be Lily's dance companion. Just leave my dance troupe alone..." Chapter 5 Sophie and Lily were the only two in the practice room. Lily was playing the piano so aggressively that it produced an unpleasant buzzing sound. Stomping her foot as she stood up, she hurled a thick chunk of piano sheet music at Sophie. "Your rhythm's off again! Are you sure you're as good a dancer as they say?" Sophie hissed in pain and covered her bruised forehead. She gave Lily a cold stare. "That's it! I've had enough of you!" Lily wasn't actually complaining about Sophie's rhythm, but about her irregular movements. She would even accuse Sophie of being lazy if the latter needed to drink some water during breaks. What was worse, Lily would sometimes whip Sophie with a cane on purpose. One day, Lily deliberately threw away the warm water Sophie had brought in a thermos while Sophie was on her period. When Lily saw that Sophie was in pain, she fetched a bucket of cold water from the washroom and poured it all over her. Gleefully, Lily claimed she was only trying to help Sophie stay awake. Now, Lily didn't seem affected by Sophie's retort. In fact, she seemed to take pride in what she had done, leaning in closer to Sophie. Blinking her eyes like an innocent girl, she asked, "What's the matter? Are you angry at me?" Sophie sneered and pushed her away. "You're not actually as good a pianist as they say, are you?" Sophie had known from the moment she agreed to be Lily's dance partner that things would be difficult. Thus, she had memorized the piano sheet music and its rhythm by heart. She had also watched many of Lily's performances in past competitions to study her playstyle. In truth, Lily's rhythm had been far more sluggish and inelegant in recent days compared to her usual performances. Sophie's rhythm wasn't off—Lily's was. "Don't you dare blame me when you're the one who's dancing terribly!" Lily pretended to be calm, but the brief change in her expression betrayed her. 'It's true I had someone else perform for me during my competitions, but I've been very careful. There's no way she knows about that!' Lily thought. William could sense the tension as soon as he entered the practice room. "What's the matter?" He seemed concerned when he saw that Lily was in a bad mood and quickly approached her. "Are you okay? You don't look so good." Lily's heart raced. She was terrified that Sophie would expose her actions, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Suppressing her anxiety, she noticed how worried William seemed and forced out some tears to appear pitiful. "I'm okay. Sophie accused me of not being a good pianist because she can't keep up with the rhythm. I threw my piano sheet at her because I was so angry…" she replied. "You don't think it's my fault, do you?" As expected, William noticed the bruise on Sophie's head and seemed sorry for her. As he reached out to caress the bruise, he suddenly recalled Sophie's accusation and slowly retracted his hand. Seeing this, Lily covered her face and made herself appear even more miserable. Through sobs, she said, "I couldn't stand her accusing me of something so outrageous… Do you have any idea how much I had to suffer, learning to play the piano properly over the past five years away from home? "I know Sophie dislikes me, but being a pianist is all I've got. I can't let her take that away from me." William frowned and began to scold Sophie. "You shouldn't have said that to her, Sophie. I know Lily can be straightforward, but there's no way she would pretend to be a good pianist." Lily froze for a moment upon hearing this but awkwardly laughed it off. Meanwhile, Sophie sneered, wondering if William would still defend Lily if he knew her piano skills were nowhere near as impressive as they had been during her competition performances. She looked at Lily with a smirk. "Is that so?" Sensing the threat in Sophie's tone, Lily clenched her fists and shot her a dangerous glare. Yet William remained oblivious to the change in Lily's expression. 'I've spent so many years reaching this point to gain Father and Mother's approval. I won't let Sophie ruin it all! I won't!' At that moment, an idea sparked in Lily's mind. Chapter 6 Sophie did not want to expose Lily's antics, nor did she want to deal with William's nonsense. All she wanted was to leave that place and never see William again. When she arrived home, Sophie took out her phone and looked at her marked calendar. "Only four more days left… That's also the day Lily will be performing." William had just brought in a glass of warm milk when he noticed Sophie's phone. He grabbed it and stared at the mark Sophie had made on her calendar in a momentary daze. Then, he seized Sophie's hand and demanded, "What's this?!" Calmly, Sophie retrieved her phone and replied, "I'm marking the day Lily's going to perform." William wasn't convinced. "Why would you mark the days leading up to it?" Sophie appeared calm on the outside, but inside, she was seething with frustration. A thought suddenly struck her, and she said, "It's going to be our anniversary soon. Have you forgotten already?" William's face softened when he realized that Sophie still loved him, that she remembered their anniversary and was preparing a gift for him. Regret and remorse filled his heart, and he pulled Sophie into an embrace. "I'm sorry for everything you've had to endure these past few days," he said, his voice softening. "Lily's like a little sister to me. We grew up together, and I know how important this competition is to her. Let's get married after this is all over." Still looking worried, William placed Sophie's hand over his chest and gazed at her with tenderness. "Listen to me, Sophie… I've always loved you. After your competition is over in four days, let's stay together forever. I want you to trust me." Unfortunately, Sophie felt nothing but revulsion at the feel of William's powerful heartbeat beneath her palm. She gave a slight, noncommittal nod, and William smiled in response. "In any case, you can't leave me, Sophie." - Four days passed, and the day of the competition arrived. Lily's piano skills had suddenly improved dramatically, allowing her to play in perfect harmony with Sophie. When the performance finally ended, Lily felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders as she smiled at the crowd. Meanwhile, Sophie exhaled deeply after completing her performance. She glanced at a shadow lingering behind the scenes. 'He would probably live a much different life if he realized how talented he is and stopped living in Lily's shadow as her pianist,' she thought. - After Lily received her champion's medal and the guests had left, Sophie returned backstage. When she tried to open the door, though, she found it had been locked behind her. Her heart dropped. Panicked, she tossed her dance clothes aside and ran to the door, desperately trying to open it. No matter how hard she tried, the door wouldn't budge. On the other side, Lily discarded the key and hummed a song as she turned on a gas tank. She had deliberately arranged for someone to place the gas tank by the backstage ventilation duct a day before the competition. To ensure no one would notice, she had even blocked the surveillance cameras. 'She won't last long in that small dressing room,' Lily thought with a cold smile. 'Thankfully, no one's around.' Lily glanced at her shiny medal, her smile turning darker. 'This is all her fault. She's the one who uncovered my secret. I won't let her destroy my life as a pianist, not after my family has finally acknowledged me. 'And I won’t let her ruin my chances with William!' Lily let out an eerie laugh and was about to leave when she suddenly saw William standing nearby. Chapter 7 Sophie had left her phone in her coat, but when she removed her makeup, she ended up losing the coat entirely. Just as she thought it might be an ordinary prank, she caught a whiff of something unpleasant, and a sense of alarm shot through her. Looking up, she saw thick white smoke spreading throughout the dressing room. Beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead. Breathing became difficult, as though something heavy was pressing on her chest. Her vision began to blur, and her limbs started to grow numb. Fear surged within her. She struggled to pull her shirt up to cover her nose and desperately began knocking on the door. Suddenly, just as tears of despair rolled down her cheeks, the door swung open. Clinging to the hope of survival, she continued screaming for help, trying to see who had come to her rescue. Her heart sank when she saw that it was Lily, who had returned to the room. Fearing that William would discover she had locked Sophie inside, Lily panicked and decided to enter the dressing room. She planned to pretend that she and Sophie had been locked in together. Lily sneered, slapped herself a few times, then grabbed Sophie's hand, leaving scratches on her own skin. She violently stepped on Sophie before screaming for help. "William, help! Help me!" William rushed into the dressing room in a panic, only to be met by a room already thick with white smoke. When he finally found Lily and Sophie, weak and disoriented, his heart shattered. Sophie's vision blurred, but William had already scooped Lily into his arms and was about to leave. Fighting the pain in her chest, Sophie gasped. "Help me…" William froze. He looked at Lily, whose face had gone pale, then at Sophie, helplessly lying on the floor. A painful struggle tore through him as he tried to decide what to do. Moments later, he kicked Sophie aside and rushed out with Lily. The pain from the kick left Sophie clutching her stomach. When William disappeared from view, not sparing her even a glance, she knew he had completely abandoned her. She closed her eyes in despair, tears welling up. A bitter smile touched her lips as she thought, 'I guess this is the penance I must pay for falling in love with the wrong man…' At that moment, a figure appeared through the smoke, his nose covered. He grabbed Sophie off the ground and rushed out, calling her name as he ran. The sound of a heartbeat slowly brought Sophie back to consciousness. Struggling, she finally opened her eyes to find Elliot, his own eyes red with worry. An oxygen mask was over her face, but she reached out to grab Elliot's hand and whispered, "Elliot… Let's go back to Bloomington." Elliot's voice was hoarse, but he held her hand with affection and nodded. "Okay." He quickly made a call to arrange for a private jet. A few minutes later, Elliot's secretary arrived on the private jet, accompanied by the best doctor, to pick up Sophie before they took off again.