Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 59

“Finally,” Sophia said, discharged from the hospital, after a few days of board games, icebreakers, hospital food, and undesired conversations, leaving Sophia miserable.

She’d gotten herself discharged, even despite the protests of her family and friends, even Nicholas.

“I feel perfectly fine,” Sophia reassured, relieved she was finally able to get back up on her feet without having to lug a machine along with her, as well as have tubes attached to her body.

She longed to be able to walk again, for the sun glaring down at her whilst she took a stroll down the gardens. She was just grateful not to be confined to a bed, and not have to eat hospital food anymore.

Bartholomew’s punishment would be handed to him sooner or later, she had the whole kingdom at her side, after all, she need not punish him, the justice system would do it for her, attempted murder was weighty in any kingdom, Sanguis was no exception. He’d get life imprisonment or be executed at most.

“So you’re staying in Sanguis?” Sophia asked Nicholas, the two of them outside Sanguis’ best hospital.

She hid a frown when Nicholas nodded.

“Yes,” Nicholas confirmed.

“There’s still some business for me to attend to,” he stated.

Sophia nodded.

“Alright,” she said.

Looked like she’d return to Beldovia without him.

“I suppose I’ll return to Beldovia without my partner in crime.”

“You called me your partner in crime,” Nicholas noticed.

“Well, you did nearly take a bullet for me,” Sophia said, sticking her hand in her suit’s pocket.

“Seems fitting,” she shrugged.

“So I’ll see you around?”

“Mhm.”

Sophia heaved a sigh of relief.

“Alright then.”

“See you around,” she greeted.

“So long Sanguis,” she said, as she walked past the hospital threshold, and right to a royal car already waiting for her. A bulletproof one, Sophia wouldn’t take any chances.

Sophia turned around right after her chauffeur opened the car door to have one last look at Nicholas.

He could’ve sworn he’d seen her winking at him.

He narrowed his eyes; he watched Sophia enter the bulletproof car and watched the chauffeur slam the door shut.

He sighed before he exited the hospital as well, entering his car.

“Destination, the palace,” Nicholas mumbled, starting the engine and adjusting his mirrors.

__

Sophia had nearly died once, this was the second time, during the same month. Cause of near-death? A hug.

“You’re alright,” Clarisse said, incredibly glad.

“Claris, stop, I’ve already nearly died once,” Sophia said, scoffing.

Clarisse backed away.

“I thought I made a point to stop calling me that, Sophie,” she said, eyes narrowed.

She despised being called Claris; she’d stuck with Claire nearly all her life, that and Clara, which was her family’s sobriquet for her.

“You’ve lost your sense of humour over the past weeks, Claire, it’s depressing,” Sophia facepalmed.

Clarisse was taken aback.

“You know what else is depressing?” Clarisse asked.

“Finding out my friend’s in the hospital after being shot, by a poisonous bullet, after two days in Sanguis. TWO. DAYS.”

“The ONLY place I can’t step foot on because it’d likely start an international war,” Clarisse added.

“So, excuse me if I’m being depressing,” she said.

Sophia patted her friend on the shoulder as a response.

Out of everything, Sophia was grateful to be able to be discharged from the hospital and be rid of hospital food, as well as her family and friends not discovering that the bullet was actually meant for Nicholas instead of her, and that she’d used her body as some human shield, taking the bullet for him. That would’ve been an all-out disaster.

How’d she explain herself, she too didn’t know.

She hadn’t told Nicholas why she’d taken the shot for him either, she wondered why he didn’t bother to ask her.

Nevertheless, she was relieved to be back at Beldovia, until… she came.

She shoved past Clarisse, her nose in the air. She hadn’t an entourage with her, but her presence alone was enough to perturb both Sophia and Clarisse.

“So, you’re back,” she snarled.

“I am,” Sophia nodded, satisfied her presence was enough to ruin Emilia’s day. It was a gift.

Emilia rolled her eyes, she told Sophia, as though expecting her to be aggrieved, “The two weeks you were at Sanguis were the absolute greatest.”

“There were fewer nuisances roaming the palace,” Emilia added.

Sophia inhaled sharply.

She retorted, “Even if I spent them in the hospital, unconscious, the same could be said for me, nearly three weeks without you were heaven on Earth.”

“I didn’t have to worry myself over pain in the ass stepmothers wandering around either.”

She wondered why she couldn’t have dreamt about nearly killing Emilia instead.

Compared to Emilia, Bartholomew was nothing, attempted murder aside.

Emilia then asked her, “Why couldn’t you have died when you were shot?”

“Did you need to return to my kingdom?” She demanded.

Clarisse gasped. She’d gone there.

Sophia gaped.

She raised her hand, slapping Emilia.

“You bitch!” Sophia shrieked, lunging for Emilia’s extensions.

Emilia shoved Sophia away with all her might, something that proved unsuccessful.

Sophia managed to rip a large chunk of hair out of Emilia’s head.

Emilia gawked at the hair she’d lost before she yelled some sort of battle cry.

Clarisse knew she had to intervene and break off the fight, but she couldn’t bear to do so.

Even despite doctors warning her to limit movement after she’d been discharged, she’d already gotten into a fight, with her stepmother, in the palace lobby, with no one else but Clarisse watching.

“You insolent brat!” Emilia screamed.

She charged, wanting to do the same to Sophia.

Sophia pushed Emilia away, sending her backwards.

Sophia glared holes at Emilia.

“As if I’m allowing you to touch my hair, you gold-digging-”

Julia would’ve been proud of Sophia’s word usage, it was a shame she wasn’t there.

“And you think you’re any better?” Emilia demanded.

“You’re nothing without your title, you abominable minx,” she said, blowing a stray strand of hair covering her face away.

Sophia glanced at Clarisse as if asking her if she could kill Emilia and play it off as an accident.