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

have contained more helpful details,” I explained, and Noah voiced a

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

but she would have called me if it

of a

the enemy and needs to secretly

leave her no choice but to send a text message, Li,” he argued, and

then asked me to share my theory if I didn’t believe the message was from Sophia,

establish communication

without any word from her, making

it would have been sent to

about her well-being before

put my mind at

we spoke was

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 to ensure I

wouldn’t risk sending a message to a line that might still be switched off,” I concluded, and Charlotte nodded

I had a gut feeling that I

you’re right; this message doesn’t provide much information,” Charlotte

on the other hand, had a

communication has been opened between

where it leads us,” she suggested, using air quotes when saying ‘Sophia,’ which elicited a

as Sophia must have

should engage in conversation and share specific details

wait

cleverly mislead

she knows we’re searching for her, and her

wise for her to mislead them in her answers to help us uncover what’s really going on,” Josephine explained, perfectly

her, and

about my feelings when it

friend,

have male friends too,” she added, but I could sense that Alex

to keep my

my momentary unease, but it was

safe,” Marvin expressed, echoing my

won’t dispose of

they won’t dare harm her, and if they have

alive until they accomplish whatever they have

gave me some sense of comfort, but the idea that Sophia couldn’t reach out to me when she wanted, troubled me

concerned about her safety and prayed that we could resolve this situation

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

did they do?” he inquired, and we all laughed because it was

smart

and making it a casual conversation, it wouldn’t be considered

couldn’t accuse us of