Pursuing Her

“Why should I do that? You guys had better not lay a finger on Mark. I'll really call the cops!”

“The cops? Go ahead!”

When Mark saw that the girl was shaking in fear, he went over and apologized.

“I'm sorry, but I can't let you keep those photos or videos.” Then, he took the phone from her and deleted everything.

“Please leave. You need to stay out of this.”

“I can help you, Mark. I really like you,” the girl said with her face flushed.

Mark frowned.

How dumb can she get? Doesn't she know what the situation is over here? How can she say something like this?

“I don't need your help. Just leave,” Mark repeated.

Can't she tell that she's no match for these people?

The young woman glanced at the men wearing black, her lips trembling.

She thought hard about what she should do. As she was very fond of Mark, she did not want anything to happen to him.

“I can help you, Mark! I'll stay here with you,” the girl announced after some thought. I can't just leave him all by himself.

Mark's frown deepened.

“I said I don't need your help,” he insisted before turning to the men. “Don't even do anything to her. Consider yourselves warned.”

With that said, he spun around and left. He had no time to waste since Sophie was waiting for him.

To him, Sophie took precedence over everything else, no matter what it was.

The time of their appointment came and went, but Mark was still nowhere to be seen. Even so, Sophie stayed and waited.

After some time, Mark finally showed up at Blossom Garden.

It was a good place to meet up given Mark's explosive fame at that moment, for no one would pay attention to him or what he was doing.

That was why Sophie picked this location.

Mark took off his sunglasses after entering the private room.

“I thought you weren't coming,” Sophie said.

“I'm sorry. Something came up, and there was a delay.”

“Don't worry about it. I didn't wait for long. We still have time.”

With that, Sophie handed him the menu.

“Order first. We'll talk while we eat.”

As expected of Mark, he ended up ordering all the dishes Sophie liked.

He had always put her before himself in all his considerations.

Seeing this, Sophie also took up a menu and ordered two dishes Mark liked.

The waiter who took the order knew who Mark was when he saw the famous singer, but he went about taking the order as usual.

“You don't look good,” Sophie mentioned.

Mark patted his face.

“I drank a bit too much yesterday, so I'm not feeling my best.”

“You were drinking? With who?” Sophie suddenly recalled that Tristan had also gotten drunk the night before, but it did not seem to her that the two men were close enough to drink together.

“With Tristan,” Mark admitted.

Mark knew he could leave Sophie in Tristan's hands without worry, for that man genuinely cared for her.

Sophie was surprised when she heard that.

“How could both of you do this to me? You guys should've at least invited me along!”

“Sophie, I'm glad you met a man who loves you and whom you love as well. I'm happy for you.”

“Mark, I don't like how you're talking right now. It feels like you're leaving forever. We're best friends. Can't you just tell me what's going on? Didn't we agree that we would be honest with each other and face everything together? Do you know how sad everyone is because of what you're doing?”

Sophie was not trying to emotionally blackmail Mark. She just badly wanted to know why he was leaving.

“It's nothing much, actually. My family wants me to go back to inherit the family business. That's all.”

“What?” Sophie was surprised because Mark had never talked about his family.

That was the first time he had mentioned them—only because they wanted him to go back to take over.

“But the important question is whether you want to or not. You can continue singing if you don't want to go home.”

“Sophie, I'm not a kid anymore, so I can't do whatever I please. Some matters are not up to me. This is my responsibility toward my family.”

Mark knew the time had come for him to stop living as he liked.

Sophie could understand his feelings. After all, she was not very keen on Tanner Group either, but she stepped up nonetheless because her grandfather wished that she make the company more successful. She did not want to disappoint him.

Sometimes, things were not just about individual preferences—they were about responsibility.

“But what does that have to do with your career as a singer?”

“Sophie, I'm tired of the entertainment industry already. It doesn't matter to me if I'm famous or not.”