Next One Is a Babe

Mrs. Constance had uttered such remarks in the past, so John truly didn’t want to listen anymore. He merely murmured an acknowledgment. “It’s late now, so you should sleep earlier. I’ve got to go since I still have something to do.”

Knowing that he was growing impatient, Mrs. Constance quickly went along with him. “Sure, sure, I will. We’ll talk next time since you’re busy.”

After hanging up the phone, John closed his eyes for a moment. There was a stringent feeling within him which he just couldn’t brush off. On his way back to his room, he walked past the study. Sophia was still scratching her head inside, googling the questions that went over her head, but she just couldn’t understand the explanation given by Google at times. The door to the study was opened, and she sat before the computer, groaning softly from time to time.

John had instinctively walked over, but he retreated on second thought. Leaning against the door frame, he stared at Sophia who had changed into another set of clothes, sitting cross-legged on the chair as she stared at the computer screen with great resentment. Mrs. Constance’s words on the phone earlier flashed across John’s mind, and his mind automatically supplied him with Isabelle’s image. His gaze darkened.

After a few seconds, he walked in. “What are you doing?”

Startled, Sophia’s head snapped back before her expression fell. “This stuff is exceedingly difficult to understand.”

Going over, John saw that the computer screen was filled with a bunch of driving test questions. These questions weren’t all that difficult, but perhaps Sophia had trouble understanding out of the blue since she’d never come across them. John pulled a chair over and sat down beside her. “Which one don’t you understand? I’ll explain it to you.”

Without an ounce of hesitation, Sophia pointed at a question on the screen at once. “I don’t understand this one.” John was patient and explained things to her one by one. His explanation is much simpler than Google’s. Sophia nodded slowly. “Don’t go first. Wait a moment, for I’m bound to have other questions.” John wasn’t in a hurry to leave, so he sat there and explained as Sophia went. Sophia felt much more relaxed now, and she learned much faster.

While she was looking at the computer, John’s gaze gently alighted on her collarbone since her collar was rather loose, baring her collarbone. There are still faint traces on it. He actually had quite a high alcohol tolerance, so the single glass of red wine that night truly couldn’t have affected him in any way. However, he himself couldn’t say for sure what possessed him that night, but he was just worked up and wanted to ravage her.

The next day, when he was awakened by Mrs. Constance’s knock on the door, he even glanced at her when he got out of bed, noticing that her bare body was littered with black and blue bruises as though she’d been beaten up, looking rather pitiful indeed. For a brief moment, he was upset, knowing that he’d been far too rough with her, but he also knew that it’d still end similarly even if he was given the chance for a do-over.

As he stared at the marks on her body now, he could still remember how frenzied he’d been that night. He hurriedly averted his gaze, feeling inexplicably restless once more even as uneasiness flooded him.

Sophia, however, wasn’t at all aware of all this, her sole concern on the questions in the driving test. John was rather patient tonight, and he only stood up when Sophia yawned, making it clear that it was past her bedtime. “Take it easy. There’s no need to rush since all this isn’t all that difficult to understand.”

Sophia nodded. “Thank you for tonight.”