Chapter 255: An Adult's Breakdown
Sophia quickly collected herself, not wanting to upset Ethan and Emma. After drying her tears, she comforted the two kids with an embrace.
Colin sighed internally, "Don't worry. As long as we figure out how Sam was threatened, we can find a specific solution. But it will take some time."
"Thank you, Mr. Colin," Sophia said.
Jake Hughes watched from the side. When he saw Sophia crying on the ground, he really wanted to rush over, wrap her in his arms, and be her everything.
He clenched his fists so tight, no one noticed the fleeting storm of rage that crossed his face.
Gabriel!
That's great. We have another score to settle.
In his company's conference room, Gabriel was busy with a video meeting concerning the launch of a new microchip.
This chip launch was significant. It was the first time Novarisia had developed its own chip, and not just Gabriel, but the entire tech industry and the nation valued it highly.
If successful, it would bring new innovation and progress to the national technology sector.
Although the chip's current applications were limited, this breakthrough paved the way for the future.
The team of doctors at the research base had been pulling all-nighters for several days. After the meeting, Gabriel told them to take a couple of days off to rest.
With nerves somewhat relaxed, they each sported dark circles under their eyes, yawning and joking about losing hair while planning to grab some late-night snacks before finally heading home to sleep.
"Gabriel."
Tiffany approached with a flirtatious smile on her face.
Gabriel frowned, "It's late. Why are you still at the office?"
"I want to catch up with everyone's workload, so I stayed to work overtime voluntarily."
Her stomach growled, broadcasting her hunger, and Tiffany's face turned red in embarrassment.
"Didn't you have dinner?" Gabriel asked.
"Uh, I got too busy and forgot."
She thought Gabriel would suggest, "Let's go grab some late-night food."
But instead...
"Then you better hurry back and grab something to eat, I'm heading out."
Tiffany stood rooted to the spot, dumbfounded.
Was Gabriel really that clueless?
That couldn't be. His emotional intelligence was definitely on point. She was a stunning beauty, not to mention his ex-girlfriend. After a long evening working late together, even if they didn't grab a midnight snack, shouldn't he at least offer a lady a ride home as a gentleman?
Was that it?
Tiffany's face flushed with anger, and her mind suddenly conjured up a series of images.
...
That night, Sophia slept with her three kids huddled around her, overwhelmed with guilt towards Sam.
If only she had known sooner that Sam was still alive, she could have been by his side earlier, maybe even prevented the threats he faced.
The next day, the kids noticed the dark circles under their mommy's eyes and felt terribly sorry for her.
"Mommy, did I kick you again?" Emma used to be restless in her sleep, often kicking others, but she had since corrected that behavior and became quite genteel at bedtime.
"No, you didn't."
Emma cocked her head, puzzled about why her mom had a rough night's sleep.
"Don't worry your head. I just had too much coffee yesterday and couldn't sleep," Sophia explained while braiding Emma's hair.
"So that's it. Mommy, try not to drink too much coffee from now on."
"Okay, mommy knows."
The news about Mrs. Arya being a judge had spread like wildfire, and as soon as Sophia arrived at the office, she was besieged by colleagues.
"Designer Kelly, did you really meet Mrs. Arya?"
"Sophia, what do you think about Mrs. Arya? Is she as stern as she looks?"
"How many points did Mrs. Arya give you?"
Sophia had composed herself, smiling slightly, "Mrs. Arya seems stern on the outside, but she's actually very nice. The results of the semifinal aren't out yet, so I don't know how many points she gave me."
"What was the topic of your competition?"
The discussion continued until Sophia's desk phone rang.
Margaret: "Could you come here for a moment?"
Sophia excused herself with an apologetic smile and went to see Margaret.
Margaret seemed to be in a good mood, her lips curling with a joyful smile, "I watched the live broadcast of the competition yesterday. You did very well and should make it to the finals."
"Thank you." She didn't have much confidence herself, especially because of Randall.
Randall, as one of the judges, had a say in the scoring. If he gave her the lowest marks, that would significantly affect her overall average.
"Mrs. Arya's participation as a judge is actually in search of students for Fusion Dynamics Corporation. Make sure to seize this opportunity, as an apprenticeship at Fusion Dynamics Corporation could skyrocket your value."
Sophia's eyes widened with surprise.
"Really?"
"Absolutely!"
Sophia felt like a pie was about to fall from the sky, and it was just a matter of whether she could catch it.
"Sophia," Margaret said, "the boss actually thinks very highly of you. He wanted me to tell you this news."
Could Gabriel really be that kind-hearted?
Sophia paused for a moment, then nodded subtly, careful not to show her astonishment.
Minutes later, after leaving Margaret's office, Sophia received a call from Alex.
"Director Lee, I forgot to tell you not to mention it was the boss who said it."
Margaret was stunned. "I've already said it."
After she got the message from Alex, she had excitedly summoned Sophia to pass it on.
But why couldn't she say it was the boss who mentioned it?
Alex was unclear himself, pondering that since it had already been mentioned, it should be fine. After all, the boss meant well for Sophia. Why not leave a good name behind, so others will remember your kindness?
Gabriel didn't want Sophia to know because he understood all too well how deeply Sophia misconstrued his intentions. If she found out he was the one who relayed the message, she would certainly doubt its authenticity.
And that doubt might cause her to make a mistake and lose the opportunity to undertake further training at Fusion Dynamics Corporation.
In fact, Sophia did reserve some skepticism.
The opportunity at Fusion Dynamics Corporation was too tempting. She neither completely trusted nor distrusted Gabriel's message.
With the results due in two days, Sophia decided to wait until then to visit Mrs. Arya.
The preliminary competition ended, and Sophia was immediately caught up in the hustle of new product development, working until her head was spinning.
One evening, after working overtime until nine-thirty, Sophia felt unbearably dizzy. Standing up, she twisted her neck, cracking it.
The rest would have to wait until tomorrow.
After packing up, turning off the lights, and reaching the parking lot, Sophia realized her car was out of gas; she had forgotten to fill it up.
Perhaps it was premenstrual irritability, but realizing she couldn't drive with an empty tank, and that public transport had stopped running, she felt utterly overwhelmed.
Sitting in her car, she allowed a few minutes to calm down before grabbing her bag and walking out of the parking lot.
Stepping outside to hail a cab, she found not a single one nearby.
Sophia felt dazed. Poor sleep the night before and a day of intense work had left her lethargic.
And to make matters worse, she started feeling abdominal pain.
Could her period have come early?
At that moment, she was close to breaking down.
Standing alone at the bus stop, under the dim light that stretched her shadow long and thin, she was engulfed in solitude.
A van parked about fifteen feet away, and two men got out, moving quietly toward Sophia.
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