Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

The noise inside came to a sudden halt.

Sophie never thought the person who'd show up would be Richard. She wished she could just vanish.

"How much for these broken dishes?" Richard's voice was cold, with a hint of disdain.

The owner, knowing Richard was about to interfere, didn't care that he was a regular. He snorted, "At least five or six hundred bucks."

Richard pulled out his wallet, quickly counted out six hundred dollars, and tossed it

over.

"I'll cover it! Pay her what you owe her. I doubt you want to keep her around," Richard sneered.

The owner, knowing better than to mess with Richard, reluctantly settled Sophie's wages.

As Richard walked out, Sophie hurried after him, clutching the money tightly.

Richard hopped on his motorcycle and glanced at Sophie standing there.

"Get on, I'll take you home," he said.

Looking back, he always thought he must've been crazy to help a stranger. Was he really a nice guy?

Sophie looked up, her tear-filled eyes wide with surprise.

"Three."

"Two."

Richard started counting down impatiently, and Sophie clumsily climbed onto the back seat.

The motorcycle roared to life, and she clung tightly to his waist to avoid falling off. Richard's back wasn't broad, but it was warm, and her tears flowed uncontrollably. She felt wronged; she had narrowly escaped an assault and was then saved by Richard. Her emotions were all over the place, and all her past grievances came rushing back.

At that moment, she thought he was the best person she had ever met.

Sophie cried harder, forgetting who she was holding onto, just instinctively hugging him tighter.

"Damn, are you trying to choke me?" Richard cursed.

Sophie quickly loosened her grip a bit but didn't dare let go completely because Richard was driving too fast, and she was scared of falling off.

"Sorry!"

She apologized softly but kept sobbing.

Richard suddenly braked hard, and Sophie, unprepared, bumped her nose against his back.

"Get off!" Richard ordered.

Sophie got off the motorcycle, rubbing her sore nose.

They were on a deserted street with hardly anyone around.

Sophie looked around, confused about why he had stopped there.

Did he live nearby? But with his generosity, he didn't seem like someone who lived in such a rundown area.

A sinister glint flashed in Richard's eyes as he walked closer, pinning her against the wall.

"You really are naive. I told you to come with me, and you did. Aren't you afraid I'll..."

he deliberately slowed his speech, adding a sinister tone.

But Sophie showed no fear, instead looking at him calmly.

"I have a gut feeling that you're not a bad person."

"Is that so?" Richard seemed to find the word amusing.

He withdrew his arm, took a few steps, leaned against the red brick wall opposite, and lit a cigarette.

"Keep crying. When you're done, you can leave. Otherwise, if your family sees you later, they might think I bullied you," Richard said.

Not far away, there was only one streetlight.

Sophie stood in the shadow of the wall, using the darkness as cover to openly observe Richard. She found him very attractive when he smoked.

Richard seemed aimless, but she always felt he was different from the other boys who hung out with him.

By the time he finished his cigarette, her emotions had calmed down, and she got back on the motorcycle.

He didn't drive as fast as before, and she didn't dare hug him again, just tightly gripping his clothes.

Sophie's uncle actually lived not far from that street, and they arrived quickly.

She got off the motorcycle, intending to thank him, but before she could speak, he had already sped off.

After that night, Sophie never went back to work at that small restaurant, and Richard never went there to eat again.

They ran into each other a few more times but never interacted.

Until one day, Sophie came home and saw Richard fighting with someone.

She shouted, "The police are coming," and the group scattered.

Richard had a small injury on his face, and his jacket was torn.

He didn't seem to care, but Sophie looked very concerned and told him to wait for her.

The place was not far from her home, and she ran back in less than five minutes. She was out of breath, probably afraid Richard wouldn't wait for her.

They sat under the only streetlight, and she applied ointment to his wound and asked him to take off his jacket so she could sew it.

Richard watched her sew with great care. They didn't talk, but he thought she was quite skillful.

Girls her age rarely knew how to sew, but Sophie seemed very familiar with it and sewed with such meticulousness that it was almost unnoticeable.

"Sorry!" Sophie suddenly said while sewing.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"One of the guys you were fighting with earlier, I've seen him before. He's a relative of

the restaurant owner. The owner must have sent them to get back at you."

Richard scoffed, saying with a sneer, "Them? Get back at me?"

Before long, a group of Richard's friends arrived.

"Where are they? We've all brought our gear."

"They ran off!" Richard said.

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The friends recognized Sophie and started joking around.

"Richard, when did you start dating her?"

Sophie's face turned bright red.

"Dating my ass!" Richard said.

Yanis Melville chuckled as he said, "If she wasn't special to you, would she be sewing your clothes?"

Sophie had just finished sewing and was cutting the thread when Richard grabbed his jacket and stood up, putting it on as he walked away.

"Let's go," he said to his friends.

A month later, it was Richard's birthday. He had planned to hang out at a bar with his friends, not expecting them to bring Sophie along.

"Richard, we brought her."

As soon as Sophie walked into the private room, she looked extremely uneasy. She probably had never been to a place like this before.

Richard was a bit annoyed, and one of his friends changed the subject, sitting down behind Richard.

Some girls whispered among themselves as they watched Sophie.

"Is she Richard's girlfriend? No way."noveldrama

"She doesn't have the looks or the body. Why would Richard be interested in her?"

"Exactly, you must be joking."

The girls who were there spoke in jealous tones, all expressing their disdain for Sophie.

Richard said, "You, come here!"

Sophie caught his gaze and, realizing he was talking to her, slowly walked over.

Richard pulled her, and she reluctantly sat next to him.

The girls' eyes nearly popped out.

"Richard, is she really your girlfriend?"

Richard smirked.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

The group of friends started to cheer, and Sophie had no choice but to raise her glass

and toast Richard, wishing him a happy birthday.

After that, she couldn't join in their conversation and mostly stayed silent. But from

their talk, she gathered they weren't up to any good.

When he was taking her home, she mustered the courage to ask what he did and told

him not to do bad things.

"Damn, since when do you get to tell me what to do? You really think you're something? I was just using you as a shield to keep those women away from me.

You're even more nagging than my parents."

That night, they parted on bad terms.

The next time they met was on New Year's Eve.

He didn't like staying home for New Year's, so he wandered around and coincidentally

saw her selling glow sticks in the square.

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New Year's, a time for family, and it was snowing. There weren't many people in the square.

She was trying to sell her stuff to everyone who passed by, but few stopped for her.

She didn't expect to see him on New Year's, feeling happy inside, but remembering what he had said last time, she didn't dare show her joy or greet him.

It was Richard who greeted her, probably because he needed company on New Year's

Eve too.

He treated her to spaghetti, one bowl each, and she picked out all the meat from her

bowl and gave it to him.

"What are you doing?" Richard asked.

Sophie smiled at him, saying, "I don't like meat."

"No wonder you look malnourished," Richard said.

Sophie laughed, genuinely happy.

After they finished the spaghetti, she planned to continue selling her stuff.

Richard simply bought all her items and handed them out to the children going in and

out of a nearby fast-food restaurant.

Later, Richard walked her home.

He asked, "Are you that short on money? Not going home early for New Year's?"

Sophie said somewhat sadly, "For me, New Year's isn't much different from any other day. What about you? Why aren't you going home?"

Richard replied indifferently, "I don't want to go home. For me, New Year's is worse than usual. Normally, I have my friends with me, but they all go home for the holidays."

When they reached Sophie's place, she asked him to wait and went inside.

Richard stood outside and heard a sharp female voice scolding her.

After about ten minutes, he thought she wouldn't come back out and was about to

leave when she did.

Her face was red as she handed him a pair of knitted gloves.

Richard was shocked, saying, "You made these just for me?"

"Yes."

"Why are they so ugly?"

Sophie didn't expect him to be so blunt, and her face turned even redder as she

stammered.

Sophie explained, "I unraveled one of my sweaters and used the yarn to knit them."

Richard noticed she was dressed thinly, with frostbite on her ears and hands. He felt a

bit touched but still said harshly, "If I wear these, people will laugh at me."

"Sorry, I didn't knit them well," Sophie said softly.

Richard stared at her, asking, "Why are you giving me these? Do you like me?"

Sophie bit her lip and didn't say anything.

Richard said, "I'm telling you, you're not my type."

Despite his words, Richard stuffed the gloves into his pocket and remembered to toss

them into his closet when he got home.

Richard thought about this, then got up and rummaged through his entire closet, finally finding the gloves in a corner.