Hugh looked down at the wine in his gla.s.s. He was silent for quite a while. He didn"t know what to say, because he felt guilty.
Suddenly, he said, "Sophia, should you ever face any problem, promise me that you will call me and I"ll be with you immediately!"
Sophia was moved by his promise but wondered what had prompted it. "Sure, Hugh. But tell me, what"s wrong?" she asked.
Hugh shook his head and answered, "Nothing. It"s just that mom has decided to go to the temple and submit to the Buddhist discipline while still wearing her hair*."
*TN: In Buddhism, one can live a simple and meditative life and attain nirvana by staying in a temple without shaving one"s hair.
Sophia was surprised. "What happened, Hugh?" she gently asked.
Though Sophia wished that Jonas would be punished for what he had done, she also really hoped that Hermosa and her children weren"t affected.
"Well, my mother just found out what my father had done to your family..." Hugh slowly said looking up at Sophia. Sophia was a good woman and deserved to be protected by a good man.
He really wanted to be that man but his father had killed her mother! There was no evidence to suggest this but everyone knew that this was what had happened.
Sophia froze and wondered how Hermosa knew this. Hermosa was really nice to her and if she knew that her husband was a killer... Ah! No wonder she was planning to go the temple!
Suddenly Hugh"s phone started ringing. The man at the other end of the line said something and Hugh looked at Sophia. "I get it, " he said and disconnected the phone.
Sophia forced herself out of her reverie and quizzically looked at Hugh.
"Herring is in the Chess and Card Room on the seventh floor. They need a fourth player to play cards and they are calling us. Let"s go there, " he said.
... Herring and Hugh, they were always with... Colin.
Hugh and Sophia rose from their seats. Sophia didn"t want to go. "Could you go upstairs alone?" She hesitantly asked.
Hugh looked at her and laughingly said, "Don"t worry! All of them have a woman accompanying them. If I go upstairs alone, it"ll be very embarra.s.sing."
Sophia thought about Hugh"s words, "All of them have a woman accompanying them?"
Unable to say no, Sophia went with Hugh to the Chess and Card Room on the se
"You"re my wife in name only, on paper only. My heart and love will never be yours."
Edward made it clear to Daisy that she was nothing to him. They were both victims of family greed -- the marriage was arranged for them.
Six years pa.s.sed. She remained quiet, gaining a reputation in the army as a tough-as-nails colonel. When she walked into his life again, Edward fell in love with this woman...
The others noticed her face go pale. Herring opened his mouth to say something, but didn"t know what to say. He wondered if he had said something wrong.
Maeve noticed Sophia looking at Colin. She provocatively put her arms around him and moved closer.
Colin turned to look at Maeve, smiled and said, "You naughty girl!"
Maeve withdrew her arms and pretended to ignore him. "I"m not naughty!" she huffed. It looked as if they were just flirting with each other.
But actually, Maeve had seen the warning and anger in Colin"s eyes. That was the reason why she had withdrawn her arms.
Having known Colin for such a long time, she was afraid of him, especially after his divorce with Sophia.
Hugh hadn"t said a thing since they came in. Holding Sophia"s hand on the table, he realized that it was very cold. "Sophia, why is your hand so cold? Are you feeling cold?"
He asked with concern. Sophia was jerked back to reality. She wanted to pull back her hand, but Hugh didn"t give her a chance. So she lowered her head, shook it and said, "I"m fine. Why don"t you go and play."
She couldn"t stop thinking that Colin had been deliberately drifting apart from her, even though he knew the truth.
"Why? Why?" She kept asking herself and sobbed in her heart.
When Hugh joined the table, Patrick asked him, "Did you drink just now?"
Hugh glanced at him and said that he had had something to drink downstairs. He then rolled the dice.
Sophia"s phone was ringing in her bag. She took it out and saw that it was Aaron.