"Do you have any other questions?" Ned asked after standing there for a long while.
"Do you really like her?" Jonathan asked again.
"Of course. Liking is just liking!"
"Is it the same kind of liking as back then—the same way you liked Yui?" Jonathan finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his heart.
Ned narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean!" Jonathan didn't avoid it.
His own marriage had completely failed; he didn't want his son to repeat the same mistakes!
"Someone once told me that time is the best medicine," Ned replied. "Time not only helps people learn to forget, but it can also make me love my wife more and more, day by day."
Jonathan silently watched his son as he continued speaking.
"As long as there's enough time, love will gradually surpass mere liking," Ned said expressionlessly. "One day, I will fall in love with another woman and forget that past segment of my life entirely."
"But marriage doesn't always live up to the expectations of time. I'm the best example of that," Jonathan tried to persuade his son.
"Your marriage simply cannot serve as a reference. If I may speak disrespectfully, it was you who betrayed the marriage. What you had with Sarah wasn't a pure romance! She couldn't even be considered your mistress!" Ned replied.
"Yui's personality is completely different from Mother's. I had already thought it through thoroughly before choosing her," he added.
Jonathan had nothing more to say.
Ned nodded to his father, turned, and left the small building.
Sitting on the sofa, Jonathan's expression was grave...
Everything he said was right; the facts were indeed as he described.
Moreover, the way Ned had just mentioned Sophie so calmly was worlds apart from the heart-wrenching scene four years ago—when, after the car accident, he had fallen out of his hospital bed and wept in agony, a moment that had shaken Jonathan to his core. The two impressions could hardly overlap at all!
Four years had turned Ned into a completely different person.
Jonathan couldn't judge whether his son's transformation was good or bad, yet it seemed that only in this way...
Could everyone's lives continue peacefully and calmly.
Buzz—buzz—buzz—
Sophie's phone, placed on the small desk, kept vibrating. The apartment she rented was a shared place with several others; each room was tiny, and the soundproofing was poor. So, as soon as she got home, she always switched her phone to vibrate. All her roommates followed the same principle: try not to make any strange noises in the house.
"Hello?" She set down the cardboard box and casually answered the call, glancing at the clock on the desk. It was almost 11 o'clock.
"You haven't gone to bed yet?" Archibald's voice came from the other end.
"No, I'm still packing things up. I found a new place and need to prepare to move."
After hearing this, Archibald fell silent for a moment and said nothing.
"What's wrong?" Sophie frowned when she heard no response from the other end.
"Sophie, do you realize it's been four years? You've been away from New York for nearly four years now," Archibald said, his voice somewhat hoarse.
She lowered her eyelids. "Yes, I know. Four years—it's been a long time. It's just... I have no reason to go back."
"School doesn't start for another two months. Don't you plan to come back for a visit during this time?" Archibald asked, trying to sound casual.
"I need to move, and I have two part-time jobs. I don't have much time," Sophie replied, offering some excuses.
"Those aren't real reasons," Archibald's tone grew heavier. "If you wanted to, you'd find a way to overcome any obstacle. But you don't want to come back."
Sophie let out a sigh. "Let's not talk about this anymore, okay?"
"You're really not considering coming back even once?"
"If I do return to New York, I'll definitely let you know, alright?"
Archibald fell silent. All that could be heard over the phone was the faint static hum, lasting for a long, long time.
Suddenly, he blurted out, "Have you seen the news? Ned pulled off something huge today—the merger between two giant companies. It's all over the headlines, absolutely shocking!" Archibald changed the subject.
"Yeah, I usually check the news online and pay more attention to international stories. I saw this one. After all, it's such a massive energy cooperation merger—it's shocked people both domestically and abroad! He's done incredibly well these past few years. Truly worthy of being the heir to Harrington & Co. International!" Sophie said sincerely.
"Do you know he's getting engaged? The media is reporting that he's dating the heiress of Fujiwara Imperial Tokyo," he told her directly.
After a moment of silence, Sophie replied calmly, "I've seen that news too."
"So you already knew," Archibald gave a bitter laugh. "You know he's about to get engaged, and you still won't come back?"
"I have no reason to go back," she answered faintly.
Archibald raised an eyebrow. "Saying things like that really hurts. Don't you miss your 'ex-husband' at all?"
Sophie laughed brightly. "If you miss me, you can come visit me in America anytime." Over the past four years, Archibald had continued to care for her without fail. She knew she owed him a lot, but right now, she had no way to repay him.
"Are you upset? Seeing the news that he's getting engaged—don't you have anything you want to ask me?" Hearing her laughter, Archibald instead stopped smiling.
"Why would I be upset? There's nothing to be upset about. And I don't have anything to ask," Sophie replied, as if she had completely sealed off her heart—no sorrow, no joy, no ripples, no waves.
"Have you stopped loving him?" Archibald pressed.
Sophie said nothing... The word "love" seemed to have been absent from her mind for a very, very long time.
He hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Why aren't you answering my question?"
Sophie was silent for a long while before responding, "There's no need to bring up the past anymore. I've let it go. I don't want to think about those things again. In these four years, I've come to see everything faintly..."
"Are you avoiding it?" Archibald was getting a little angry. He hated it most when Sophie spoke to him in that world-weary tone.
"Maybe I am," she said lightly. "Since he's already getting engaged, my answer doesn't matter anymore."
"Sophie..."
"I have to hang up now. I have a part-time job tomorrow, and it's too late. I need to sleep."
After putting down the phone, Sophie wasn't ready to go to bed yet. She continued sorting through the empty cardboard boxes piled on the floor.
Her hands kept moving, but her thoughts drifted into memories...
When she first saw the news that Ned was about to get engaged, she had stared blankly at the report, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Isn't this exactly the result you wanted?
Dazed, she picked up a nearby cardboard box and placed the stack of books from her nightstand into it. These books had accompanied her through every night over the past four years. Now that she was leaving, she would take them all with her.
The past was already gone...
At least for the current her, the past was like a fleeting memory, impossible to resurrect.
Time is the best friend for forgetting—she had once thought so, and the facts had proven it true.
Yet forgetting does not mean complete erasure...
She had overlooked that time can only fade the pain, but it cannot erase the scars.
It had been a long time since Archibald last visited the club owned by his brothers, and he certainly hadn't expected to run into Ned here.
"I really didn't expect that a big shot like you would still have time to come to the club for some fun," Archibald said as he walked over to Ned, teasing him with a smile.
"I've been coming here often lately," Ned replied, drinking his beer with little expression. He spoke to Archibald without any unusual demeanor.
"Ned, how long has it been since we last saw each other? Three years? Or four?"
"I often see you in the news, standing right next to the Minister of Commerce, being interviewed together," Ned said indifferently, taking a large swig of beer.
Archibald gave a bitter smile. "If that counts as meeting, then I've often seen you in all sorts of news and media too."
Ned called the waiter over to pour two glasses of whiskey, then pushed one glass in front of Archibald. "Cheers!" He tilted his head back and downed it first as a gesture of respect.
Archibald silently watched him. After Ned finished his drink, Archibald also tilted his head back and drained his glass in one go.
"Good—straightforward! One more!" A smile appeared on Ned's face.