Chapter 161
Third–Person POV
After Sophia left, the servant prepared to dispose of the ring, as instructed.
But as the servant reached for the box, Lirian’s voice stopped him.
“Wait,” Lirian said quietly, his tone firm but calm.
The servant hesitated, and Lirian took the box from him, his fingers tracing the intricate design of
the ring with an almost reverent touch.
He walked slowly back to his office, his mind working through the unexpected emotions that had
surfaced since the conversation.
Once inside, he set the box on his desk and opened it carefully, as though revealing something
precious.
The sunlight poured through the window, casting a warm glow over the room.
Lirian held the ring up to the light, inspecting it closely.
As his gaze fell upon the engraving inside the band, his heart skipped a beat.
There, etched into the metal, were the initials “S” and “L.”
The ring glinted faintly in the afternoon sunlight streaming through the office window.
It sat on the desk, cold and distant–an artifact of a time that Sophia longer wished to revisit.
Lirian had poured so much into that piece, saving for months to have it custom–made, but now it felt like a bitter relic of misplaced devotion.
She didn’t want it anymore
Sophia’s POV:
My thoughts were interrupted when Eric walked into the office, his usual casual demeanor tinged with curiosity.
Sophia, have you had a fight with Lirian?” he asked, leaning casually against the doorframe.
Aloha’s Substitute.
fset down my pen and sighed, unsure where this question was coming from.
No, Eric. Lirian and I don’t fight. He’s emotionally stable and accommodating. He always puts me first. There’s really nothing to argue about.”
Eric didn’t look convinced. He crossed his arms and leaned in slightly.
“Well, I asked him because he was acting weird. Because he’s been looking upset all day, staring at this broken ring like it’s the answer to all his problems. Do you know anything about this?”
A ring? My heart stuttered as Eric’s words sank in.
I could hear from Eric’s description that it was the same ring I had the maid throw away today.
But what was he doing with it now? How did it find its way back to him?
I couldn’t shake the questions swirling in my head, so I decided to take Eric up on his implied suggestion. “Thanks, Eric. I’ll check on him later.”
The moment Eric left, I reached for my phone and called Lirian.
The dial tone stretched endlessly before he finally picked up.
Lirian?” I said cautiously.
“Busy,” he replied curtly, his voice distant and flat.
“Wait-” But the line went dead.
Lirian had hung up quickly. I stared at the phone in my hand, the screen darkening as the call ended.
A knot tightened in my chest, the weight of his dismissal heavier than I wanted to admit.
Maybe he was busy, I reasoned, trying to shake off the sting, but his clipped tone and the abrupt way he ended the call left little room for excuses.
I built up a quick mind–link, something simple to gauge his mood: *Are you okay? No response. I Ved again, this time a little firmer: “Lirian, we need to talk. Still nothing.
Minutes passed as I sat at my desk, glancing at the clock and then back at my phone, willing it to light up with his reply.
The silence from him was deafening, an oppressive weight pressing down on my shoulders
another message, this time letting my frustration bleed through:
If something’s wrong, you can tell me. Ignoring me isn’t fair.”
Yet again, there was no answer, no flicker of acknowledgment. The mental connection felt cold and barren, as if he had purposefully shut me out.
I threw the phone onto the desk with a little more force than necessary, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms tightly.
The longer the silence stretched, the more my emotions churned. Was he upset about something?
Avoiding me? Or worse, was this his way of letting me know I didn’t matter as much as I thought I did?
A part of me wanted to march over to wherever he was and demand answers, but another part hesitated, unsure if I was prepared for what those answers might be.
The unresolved tension lingered like a storm cloud, threatening to break at any moment.
Frustration bubbled under my skin. Hadn’t we just been together?
We’d shared an intimacy and had sex just so recently and that should have brought us closer, yet gere he was, shutting me out.
His behavior felt dismissive, almost cruel, like I was disposable.
