Con

CHAPTER 26.

Elijah’s POV

“H–How did you know about Sabrina?” I asked, astonished.

“It doesn’t matter, Elijah,” Sophia quekly answered.

“But who told you about Sabrina?”

“Let me tell you the truth,” she said with a sigh. “I never went missing as a child.”

“Are you absolutely sure? Maybe you just forgot…”

“I’m not Sabrina, okay?” she cut me off, anger flashing in her eyes. “And whoever she is, I don’t care. She’s not a part of my life and neither are you!”

Her last words were so painful that I felt as if someone was literally squashing and twisting my heart.

Sophia furiously pressed the elevator buttons, eager to move away from me. After a short while, she let out a cry of frustration and headed toward the stairs. I went to follow her.

“Sophia, please let’s talk about this,” I cried. She didn’t bother to turn around. Instead, she went faster, almost running away from me. “I need to know the truth…”

“I already told you!” she shouted when she finally reached her floor. She turned around to face me angrily. “I told you many times before, Elijah! Get the hell away from me and leave me alone!”

With that, she rushed to her door and slammed it behind her, leaving me stunned.

I gave out a loud sigh, feeling dejected and hopeless. Trudging away, I decided to just let her cool down first before trying again. Maybe I should give it a few days before I try to contact her again.

In the days that followed, I immersed myself in my business. At times, Serena was with me, but I tried to avoid her as much as I could.

One morning, I got a message from Connor, saying that he was able to squeeze out Sophia’s new phone number from Kayla. Suddenly I was filled with renewed hope. Perhaps she’ll be more willing to talk to me over the phone first?

I tried to call her several times, but unfortunately, there was no answer. I couldn’t

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take anymore. I have to go see ther

It was Sunday and I knew that she usually stayed home on this day. Hence I was hoong to catch her when I arrived at her apartment. I knocked several times, looking forward to speaking to her, rehearsing my opening lines in my head so that she wouldn’t reject me at once.

No one answered the door. I knocked harder en calling her name. Was she just ignoring met

Suddenly, the next–door neighbor came out from her unit. “Are you looking for Miss Bernen

Inodded. “Yes.”

“Oh, she moved out yesterday

When she said that it felt like I’d been pushed off from a cift. I plunged into darkness, left without even a try glimmer of light. “What do you mean?”

“She moved out for good from what I could tell. She even thanked me for being a good neighbor”

I felt my heart jump out of my chest. My knees began to buckle. I held on to the wall for support, affaid that I would collapse on the ground. And somewhere deep inside me confusion tumed to wrath. It bubbled to the surface, filing every inch of my Body, awakening all my senses.

Sophia had once again left me without a word!

While making my way down, I rapidly dialed Kayla’s number. “Sophia’s not here anymore!” I couldn’t help yelling over the phone.

“What do you mean?” Kayla wondered, sounding quite concerned.

“She has moved out of her apartment! Surely you know where she transferred.”

“Oh! But she hasn’t told me anything. We haven’t spoken for a week because we’ve both been so busy.”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to compose myself. “Please, Kayla, you know how important this is for me,” I said slowly but with emphasis. “Just tell me, I need to tak to her.”

‘I don’t know where she went,” Kayla insisted, sounding annoyed. “I already gave you her new number, and you know she’s going to get angry at me about it. Why don’t

yo

FURT 4

you use that to call her?”

“She isn’t answering!” I said with frustration

“Well, then, I guess that sends you a very clear signal, right?” she said sarcastically.

This woman was imitating. I let out a big sigh ist inform me when you find out where Sophia went.” I reluctantly ended the call, though I still didn’t believe Kayla,

I dialed my assistant’s number. “Connor,” I said as soon as he picked up. “Please cut Kayla out of the projects she’s involved in.”

“What? Why, sir?”

“Now. Do it now.” I was adamant and angry

“Uh, right away, sir.” He was probably hesitant because Kayla has become one of our best designers so far. But I didn’t care at this time.

That night, I kept on turning and twisting in bed, unable to sleep. I fell into a slumber perhaps around three or four in the morning. And then I woke up with a heavy heart and a headache,

I need to find out where Sophia is, I thought with determination, quickly climbing out of bed and heading to the shower. After taking a bath, I tried to dial her new number again. It just kept on ringing. That made me even more determined to head to the Goldwell Institute of Art and try to look for her there.

1 went straight to the administration office, where I was met with shocking news! Apparently, she’d taken a leave of absence and they didn’t know when she would be back

Damn! I thought, banging my fist on the counter. The woman sitting there gave me an odd stare. I excused myself and hurried out.

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, my phone rang. It was Kayla, and she was angry, “Why did you suddenly take me out of the Sinclair Realty projects?!”

I tried to remain calm and cool. “Kayla, I got feedback from the board and we all came up with that decision. Your services are no longer needed. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, right!” She sounded really furious. “You just decided this after I couldn’t give you Sophia’s new address?!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be compensated for the last work you accomplished,” I assured her, though I knew it wasn’t about that. “We’ll get in touch with you when we need

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25 INCHES

you again.”

“You know that this is part of some personal vendetta you have! I can’t believe you’d stoop this low!” she cried over the phone.

I refused to feel guilty about it. I did not want to do this, but I needed to pressure her.

“Fine!” she suddenly shouted. “You want to know where Sophia is?”

My heart leaped as I waited in agitation for her to continue.

“My best friend is lying in the hospital right now, about to get rid of the baby that connects her to you.” Kayla said harshly.

“She has suffered enough because of you. She doesn’t want the baby.”

CHAPTERST