As soon as Natalie saw Sophia''s anxious expression, a wave of sorrow and guilt washed over her. What had Sophia done wrong?
Even if she had made a mistake by falsely iming to have saved Marcus, she had never harmed anyone. Yet, she had suffered for so long at the hands of Emma, Sky, and Shane.
"Ms. Walker, what''s wrong?" Sophia asked, growing increasingly uneasy as she noticed the redness in Natalie''s eyes. She had already confessed to pretending to be Marcus'' savior. Other than that, she had done nothing to harm anyone.
"Did I do something wrong again? Please don''t scare me," she pleaded.
Natalie stepped forward and hugged her.
"I''m sorry," Natalie said, her voice hoarse. "I brought something with me for you to see. Sophia, you did nothing wrong. You have no reason to feel guilty. You say your mistake was iming credit for saving Marcus, but I don''t me you."
"Natalie, what''s going on?" Sophia hugged her back. "Why are you so upset?"
"Because my family has hurt you too much."
Natalie gently pulled away. "I''m sorry."
Sophia froze. Then, her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall uncontrobly.
She had already prepared for the worst, thinking that if Natalie were like Emma, she would have no way out.
But Natalie had saved her. She had arranged for her to stay at Goodwill Pharmacy and recover. That alone proved she was different from Emma. epting Natalie''s help was already herst hope.
Sophia had never wanted to cry.
Her n had been simple-hold onto Natalie''s protection, distance herself from Marcus, and slowly rebuild her life.
But now, Natalie apologized to her and said that the Walker family had wronged her.
Why? Natalie had nothing to do with what happened.
Emma and Sky had let Shane torment and ckmail her while Natalie wasn''t even part of the family yet-none of this was her fault.
"I''m sorry," Natalie said again, cing a box before her. Her usually calm voice wasced with pain. "I found some things in Shane''s room.
"And I have to tell you something-Emma attempted suicide at the enforcement office, and Sky got her out. He even ced her in your mansion in the southern suburbs."
Natalie took a deep breath, disgusted by Sky''s shamelessness. He was a disgrace to the Walker family.
"Look at what''s inside. Shane is under my control now. I want you to have the final say on what happens next. We''ll stand by your side if you need my help or Marcus''.
"Sophia, open it."
Sophia''s hands trembled as she stared at the box. Tears blurred her vision, no matter how often she wiped them away.
"Nat," she choked out, her voice thick with emotion. "Tell me what''s inside first so I can prepare myself."
"Alright," Natalie said, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. "Everything inside represents the harm done to you."
"Okay. I''m ready." Surprisingly, hearing that made Sophia feel relieved. She had already endured so much suffering-what was a little more?
At least now, she knew that Natalie had no ill intentions-Natalie was willing to help.
Her willingness to lend a hand was enough.
Taking a deep breath, Sophia opened the box. She squeezed her eyes shut, counting silently before forcing herself to look.
Inside were photographs and a small doll covered in stab marks.
She picked up the doll, nced at it briefly, then set it aside.
Then, she started flipping through the photos-one after another.
Natalie watched her in silence.
When Sophia finished, Natalie finally spoke. "I questioned Shane. He admitted that Sky knew about everything he did to you. Emma also has photos and videos of your abuse."
Sophia''s shoulders trembled. Tears streamed down her face, but she bit her lip, refusing to make a sound.
"Sophia, if you want to cry, just cry," Natalie said, stepping forward and embracing her.
"Tell me how you want to deal with Shane, Sky, and Emma, and I will help you.
"When we captured Shane,
something unexpected
happened he admitted to
ve
everything. But don''t worry. It all
happened within the Walker
residence. I will make sure no one outside hears about it."
"Nat, you''ll protect me, won''t you? You''ll let me live a good life, right?" Sophia''s voice was hoarse and full of tears.
"Yes, I will protect you. As long as I''m alive, no one will hurt you again. Not even
Sky or Emma." Her words were firm, decisive, and unwavering.
"Thank you. With your promise, I have no regrets even if I die." Sophia hugged Natalie tightly. "I won''t let you down. I''ve suffered enough.
From now on, I''ll follow you and live
well."
Despite the tears on her face, she smiled at Natalie. "The heavens were kind to
me after all. They led me to you."
"The heavens were cruel-they should have let us meet sooner."
"It''s not toote," Sophia said, crying andughing simultaneously.
Natalie didn''t try to stop her tears or offer empty words about how crying was terrible for her health.
At this moment, she needed to cry. She needed to let it all out. Keeping it bottled up would only hurt her in the long run.
Sophia cried andughed, but she didn''t let Nataliefort her. After crying andughing until she was exhausted, she slowly regained control of her emotions.
She went back to looking at the photos, flipping through them repeatedly.
Her heart would bleed once every time she looked, but she forced herself to keep looking. These were her painful past, but she hadn''t done anything wrong-she was the victim.
From childhood to now, she had never hurt Emma, Shane, or Sky even once.
Yet these three people had treated her this way.
The most hateful was Sky. As her fiancé, he knew that Emma had instigated
Shane to do everything to her, yet he pretended not to know and even condoned
it.
Now, he even arranged for Emma to stay at her vi just because she had once given him the key to the mansion in the southern suburbs.
She had trusted Sky, but he took her trust and turned it into a sharp sword, stabbing mercilessly into her body, into her heart.
They didn''t love each other, but she had never done anything to wrong him.