Chapter 6
Sophia cleared her throat and pushed herself up slowly. “When can I be discharged?”
The nurse raised the bed and adjusted her pillow. “Rest here for the next couple of days. If nothing changes after observation, you can leave. Someone will bring breakfast soon. Eat more. You’ll recover faster.”
After the nurse left, Sophia finally looked around properly.
The room was bright and private, with its own bathroom and shower. A television hung on the opposite wall. Fresh flowers stood in a vase on the bedside table. A high-end single room.
A woman who had walked out of prison penniless the day before was somehow lying in a room like this.
Sophia could not help laughing at herself.
“Looks like you slept well enough if you can still laugh.”
The low voice came from the doorway.
Sophia turned.
Oliver stood there with his arms folded, like a beautiful guard dog sent by hell. Leo waited behind him, carrying a thermos.
Sunlight washed over Oliver’s half-smiling face and made it even harder to read.
Sophia lowered her head in silence.
She had learned enough yesterday. In Oliver’s mind, everything she said was wrong. Everything she did was wrong. Breathing was probably under review.
“Three years apart,” Oliver said, raising one brow, “and your temper hasn’t changed at all.”
His mouth curved with ridicule. His eyes stayed cold.
“Set aside the fact that you caused trouble on your first day at work. Just the suit you ruined last night, plus the private room, hospital fees, and medical costs, comes to two hundred fifty thousand dollars. When do you plan to pay me back?”
Sophia’s eyes widened.
Two hundred fifty thousand?
She could not pay two hundred fifty thousand. She did not even have two hundred fifty dollars.
She wet her dry lips, drew a breath, and looked straight at him. “I don’t have money. Tell me what you want, Mr. Williams.”
Her indifferent expression irritated him more than tears would have.
Oliver walked to the bed, brows drawn. “Since you can’t offer a solution, perhaps I’ll discuss it with Isabella.”
“No.” Sophia’s heart shot into her throat. “Don’t tell my sister.”
When they were children, Isabella had loved her most. But during Sophia’s three years in prison, Isabella had never once visited.
She must hate Sophia now.
Sophia could not add another burden to that hatred.
“I can work and pay it back,” she said, fingers clenching in the blanket. “But please don’t tell my sister. I’ll do whatever you ask. I’m begging you. Don’t drag my sister or the rest of my family into this.”
Oliver’s eyes narrowed. He studied the woman on the bed.
Three years could change a person’s face. It could grind down the sharp edges of a personality. But some things, once carved into bone, did not disappear.
Sophia’s stubbornness, for one.
Even begging, her back remained straight. As if no matter how much she had endured, one last piece of her still refused to break.
A low, unreadable laugh slipped from Oliver. “Work and pay it back? Besides my Scarlet, what company or shop in this city do you think would hire you?”
He leaned closer, voice soft with cruelty. “Sophia, you should prepare to work at Scarlet until you die.”
“Oliver Williams, do you have even a scrap of humanity?”
The hospital room door slammed open.
Aiden Sanchez had arrived in a hurry to visit Sophia. He reached the doorway just in time to hear Oliver’s last sentence, and fury overtook him on the spot.
“What’s past is past,” Aiden snapped. “Why do you have to keep clinging to it? If Isabella knew you were treating her sister like this, do you think she would be happy?”
Oliver turned slowly. “Aiden, shouldn’t you be keeping your fiancée company? What are you doing here first thing in the morning?”
His gaze swept lazily around the room. “I give Sophia food and shelter. When she gets hurt, I put her in the best hospital room. How is that inhumane?”
Aiden’s anger burned hotter. “If not for you, how would Sophia have gotten hurt?”
“What does that have to do with me? She drank too much and hit her head.” Oliver glanced at Sophia, his voice lowering. “Isn’t that right, Sophia Watson?”
Sophia did not dare defy him. Not when those threatening eyes were fixed on her.
Slowly, she nodded.
The sight of her obedience only enraged Aiden more. He took a breath, pointed at Oliver, and said, “Come outside. We need to talk.”
“What could we possibly have to talk about?” Oliver unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat on the sofa beneath the window. Impatience showed in the hard lines of his handsome face.
Aiden’s face turned livid.
Oliver Williams did not take him seriously. Why would he? He was president of Williams Group, powerful enough to bend Sterling around his will. Arrogance had always suited him because the city rewarded it.
But that did not give him the right to bully a woman.
Aiden stared him down coldly.
The atmosphere in the room froze.
Sophia looked between them, nerves tightening until she could barely breathe. Seconds passed. Or minutes. Neither man gave way.
Finally, Sophia spoke first. “How about... I go outside, and you two can talk here?”
She pulled the blanket aside and pressed one trembling hand against her leg, preparing to get out of bed.
Her foot had not touched the floor before Oliver shoved her back onto the mattress.
The back of her head knocked against the raised bed. A pillow softened the impact, so it did not hurt much, but dizziness still washed over her.
“Leo, watch her.” Oliver stood. “Aiden, we’ll talk outside.”
He left the room first without sparing Aiden another glance.
Aiden looked at Sophia, words caught behind his lips. With Leo standing there, he said nothing. In the end, his mouth moved once, soundless, and he followed Oliver out.
Once the two dangerous men were gone, Sophia finally let herself breathe.
Sophia stayed in the hospital for only one day. As soon as she felt close to normal, she insisted on being discharged.
A room like that cost more than a thousand dollars a day. She was poor enough now that saving money was not thrift. It was survival.
Scarlet paid better than most places like it, around five thousand a month. Most of that would go toward her debt, but at least a few hundred could remain for living expenses.
Her only wish now was simple: save enough money, pay off what she owed, and if Oliver ever grew tired of tormenting her, leave Sterling for a place where no one knew her name.
Start over.
Somewhere the past did not stand at every doorway waiting to be recognized.
When Sophia returned to Scarlet, she met Isla at the entrance.
Isla was overseeing a liquor delivery. When she saw Sophia come in with bandages wrapped around her head, surprise flashed across her face. “Leo said you’d be in the hospital for two more days. Why are you back so soon?”
Then Isla frowned. “You can’t keep working the door like this.”
