Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 144

‘My girlfriend’s digging up her father’s grave,’ Nicholas mumbled to himself as his eye twitched.

A mound of dirt lay beside Nicholas, as he watched Sophia wipe some dirt off of her face.

“I know we all grieve in our own different ways, but darling, couldn’t we get someone else to do this. Or perhaps we can ask him ourselves even?” Nicholas reasoned, crossing his arms.

Sophia shook her head, “No, I’m making sure of it myself.”

“And if I were to ask anyone else to do it, that doppelganger of a father would only get them to falsify the damn results,” she said as she shoveled at the spot her father had been supposedly buried.

She used the word supposedly since she hadn’t any idea if he was really in there or not.

Who knew?

Needing to make sure it was actually her father she’d seen and not some creep desperate enough to make him look exactly like her father using cosmetic surgeries and other means, she continued digging.

If her father’s corpse was in his casket then there had to be an explanation to things.

Sophia wasn’t one to believe so easily, especially when her father had appeared – out of nowhere, might one add – in the midst of her grandmother’s funeral.

She was still grieving the loss of her grandmother, and here this man came.

Things were awkward already back at the palace.

“AHAH!” Sophia exclaimed, making a noise of triumph. Her shovel had hit something solid – Nicholas had offered to help speed things up but she’d refused – she wanted to do things independently, and without anyone else’s help frankly. His casket wasn’t buried so far down so it didn’t take too long to finish moving all the dirt someplace else.

Confused as to what Sophia was up to this time, Nicholas could only stand there and watch as his girlfriend searched for her father’s corpse.

What a messed up day it was.

Staring at the casket of his girlfriend’s father. Nicholas offered to open it for her.

To his surprise, Sophia instantly agreed.

“Go ahead,” she encouraged.

Nicholas shot her a sceptical look before he went ahead and opened his casket.

He uttered under his breath, ‘If you really are in here, I am so sorry, sir.’

Fortunately, Sophia hadn’t heard that.

Nicholas shut his eyes once he successfully opened the casket.

Sophia took a peek inside.

Her hand immediately flew to her mouth. She felt like passing out again. Hell, she was minutes away from passing out after what she saw.

In the casket, was nothing more than a couple of wilted flowers and, well…

Nothing.

The casket was practically empty, meaning…

“He’s actually my father,” Sophia mumbled audibly.

How was this even possible?

Her father was dead. The man that had been the reason for her existence was supposed to be dead.

Him, along with her mother.

Sophia blinked, ‘He’s my father,’ she said before unexpectedly… out of nowhere…

She burst into laughter.

“HE’S MY FATHER!” She yelled at the wind.

Nicholas asked her, “Well you seem relatively happy your father’s casket is empty and not freaked out at all.”

Sophia narrowed her eyes, not bothering to answer Nicholas’ comment.

“Maybe I should dig up my mother’s grave as well, who knows, she might appear during another person’s funeral,” Sophia joked.

Nicholas wrapped his arm around Sophia’s shoulder, “We’ve got to get you back to the palace.”

‘I think he’s broken Sophia already,’ Nicholas mumbled worriedly.

And it hadn’t even been a day since he arrived.

They hadn’t even stopped grieving.

__

“You’re supposed to be dead,” Sophia said shakily.

“But here I am,” Raymond responded.

“Where were you all these years, Raymond?” Sophia tilted her head.

Raymond narrowed his eyes – just as Sophia did whenever something came to mind.

He corrected her, “It’s father to you, Sophia.”

Sophia stared at him.

How dare he.

How dare he return after all these years letting his family think he was dead, and how he had the audacity to correct her.

Raymond was the farthest thing from a father figure. Julia had done more parenting than Raymond ever did.

Turning to Nicholas, Raymond raised his brow, “And you must be my daughter’s boyfriend, I presume?”

Nicholas nodded, seconds away from strangling Raymond, “I am.”

‘Sophia’s father. He’s Sophia’s father. It’s one reason not to punch him in the face,’ Nicholas reasoned.

‘He’s Sophia’s father, that’s one reason to punch him,’ a voice in his head argued.

Nicholas studied Raymond from a safe distance.

Sophia bore a striking resemblance to her father, inheriting his dark ravenish-black hair, the shape of his chin and the size of his cheekbones.

They looked alike, not identical to each other but incredibly similar.

“Interesting,” Raymond said, studying Nicholas carefully, looking him up and down.

“And who must you be?” He questioned, raising his brow.

“Other than my daughter’s boyfriend, of course,” he nodded, still regarding Sophia as his daughter.

Sophia shook her head in disapproval, he was still calling her his daughter.

God, how long had it been since she last saw him?

She watched as Nicholas and Raymond gave each other looks. It was as though they were having a silent stare-off or something.

They were having a silent conversation, Nicholas and Raymond.

Sophia couldn’t fathom what was going on.

Some sort of tension was there, one she couldn’t lay her finger on.

She looked back and forth between her father and her boyfriend.

Clarisse walked in the living room, hoping to finally get a chance to speak to her friend.

Looking at where Sophia had gotten herself in, Clarisse knew she had arrived at the right moment.

“Can I talk to you?” Clarisse asked, pulling Sophia over to one side.

“If you’re going to tell me all that nonsense stuff like, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss’ while giving me a pat on the back, I beg of you, don’t,” Sophia warned, only to watch Clarisse shake her head.

“That’s not why I came here,” Clarisse admitted.

“And besides you were in a tight spot, what with Nicholas and your father staring each other down to the death,” Clarisse nodded.

“What?” Sophia raised her brow.

Clarisse stared at her, “Do you not understand what was happening in that room?”

“Your father met your boyfriend, Soph.”

“I still don’t get anything.”

“God, don’t you realize? Your father met your boyfriend for crying out loud!”

“Even if he hasn’t seen you in years he’s bound to get a bit overprotective.”

Sophia crossed her arms, “He has no reason to get overprotective.”

“He doesn’t know that,” Clarisse reasoned.

Sophia frowned.

Clarisse’s gaze softened.

“So how are you doing? It’s been a week since I’ve last seen you,” Clarisse asked.

Sophia remained silent when did asking someone how they were doing ever help things?

Besides, a known fact was that she wasn’t fine.

“Do you expect me to answer your question with, ‘Yes, I’m doing great after the death of my grandmother and the sudden appearance of my father during my grandmother’s funeral.’”

Clarisse looked at her apologetically, “Right, you have a point, my bad.”

Sophia shrugged, “Besides, I’m dealing with things my own way.”

“You know I’m here if you ever need anything,” Clarisse reminded her.

Sophia nodded appreciatively, “I know.”

“But I need space to process things.”

“And to get away from the stranger that barged in the funeral – the same stranger that happens to be my father,” she admitted, twirling her hair with her finger.

Wondering if she shouldn’t have left Nicholas and her father alone, Sophia told Clarisse she had to check up on the two of them.

By then, Raymond had been… interrogating Nicholas.

At the same time, he didn’t seem to care, not until Sophia entered the room.

He hadn’t once acknowledged her – except for when he corrected her.

Poor Sophia.

She assured Clarisse she’d be fine being left alone with the two of them.

Clarisse sighed before deciding to check up on Louis.

She knocked on Louis’ door.

“Louis?” She asked from the other side of the door.

Silence. No one answered her.

Deciding to knock once more, Clarisse was faced with silence – again.

“Louis, you there?” Clarisse creased her brows.

Once she got nothing as her reply, she whipped out her phone.

“Where are you?” She texted Louis.

Louis replied to her text almost instantly, giving her a vague reply, “I’m still at the church.”

“Where’s Raymond?” He asked her.

“He’s talking to Sophia,” Clarisse responded.

Louis went offline.

Clarisse became worried.

Convinced Sophia and Louis needed space above else, she began regretting the decision to leave them this way. They were her friends. Sophia was her best friend, Louis was her childhood friend.

How could she have done something like this?

She could’ve stayed with Sophia and comforted Louis – she shouldn’t have stayed away like someone terrified of facing his fears.

She heard a beep from her phone; she quickly read the message Louis had sent her.

“I’m coming over.”