The Dark Side Of Fate

To Sam Street ~Liam~ I felt uneasy about how to handle sharing and discussing the text message.

I worried that mentioning Sophia might trouble Josephine, even though I knew she was resilient.

But I also feared that it could set back the progress we had made so far.

Instead of announcing the text to everyone, I decided to talk to Josephine first.

“Hey,” I said, linking her, and she turned to face me, her brow furrowing.

I expected this reaction, as linking in close proximity was reserved for private discussions.

“I want to show you something,” I said, handing her my phone with the text message.

She took the phone, read the message, and then returned it to me.

“The team should know,” she linked back, and I observed her carefully.

“It wouldn’t bother you?” I asked to be sure.

I was still new to this relationship thing and didn’t want to make any mistakes.

“Not at all, Liam.

We had our discussion this morning, and I’m confident that Sophia’s name won’t bother me anymore.

I promise,” she said with a smile and playfully punched my shoulder.

“I’m not that petty or jealous, Li,” she laughed, and I felt relieved.

“Attention, everyone; Li has something important to share,” Josephine declared, and a chuckle escaped me.

All eyes were on me, and I cleared my throat before speaking.

I put on a serious demeanour because the situation warranted it.

If they had Sophia’s mother’s phone, there was a possibility that something significant had occurred, and their circumstances might have altered.

Navigating through this with limited information wouldn’t be a simple task, but we must exercise utmost caution.

“I just received a text message from Sophia’s mother’s line, the same line she used to communicate with me,” I explained, passing my phone around so they could read the message.

“The last time she spoke to me, it was through Charlotte’s phone, as I hadn’t recovered my line back then,” I added.

Marvin was the first to ask a question.

“So why is she asking us not to search for her?” he inquired.

“That’s precisely my point.

If it were truly Sophia, she would have called instead of sending a text message.

vagueness of the message suggests an underlying

would have contained more helpful details,” I explained,

just wants you to stay out of the matter to protect you? Sending a vague message would be the best way to ensure you have nothing to work

but she would have called me if

messages; she’s more of a phone

the enemy and needs to secretly

her no choice but to send a text message, Li,” he argued, and many others seemed

asked me to share my theory if I didn’t believe the

someone is trying to establish communication with me while

too long without any word from her, making this message seem

her, it

also contained more details about her well-being before asking me

to put my

last time we spoke was

tone of this message seems off, as if we’ve been in frequent

I’ve recovered my line, so she would likely have sent the message to Charlotte’s phone

a message to a line that might still be switched off,” I concluded, and Charlotte nodded

I had a gut feeling that

your point, Li, but you’re right; this message

other hand,

a line of communication has been opened between us and whoever

us,” she suggested, using

as Sophia

should engage in conversation and

we can wait for her

held captive, she might cleverly mislead her

certain she knows we’re searching for her, and her

answers to help us uncover what’s really going on,” Josephine explained, perfectly

at her,

don’t have to worry about my feelings when

just your friend, nothing

too,” she added, but I could sense that Alex

I managed to

she noticed my momentary unease, but it was our inside joke, and the others remained oblivious to our unspoken

hope she’s still alive and safe,”

won’t dispose of her

for them, they won’t dare harm her, and if they have some

alive until they accomplish whatever they

comfort, but the idea that Sophia couldn’t

and prayed that we could resolve this situation

back after seeing the Gamma and the Beta off, and we

all laughed because it was clear that Justin had cleverly left us alone with the

a smart

conducting the questioning and making it a casual conversation, it wouldn’t be considered an official

way, they couldn’t accuse us of treating them