Sophia looked deeply at Edward, who was currently engrossed in bribing the Almond Banana Tart in front of him. The two of them were in a bistro not far from Sophia’s residence.
From the frown on her forehead, it was obvious that the woman was currently deep in thought. She was confused about where to start or what to say about her plans to join Tristan on a week-long business trip in Dubai.
Sophia knew that Edward would be both angry and disappointed. It has been an open warning if you don’t agree, such as Sophia accepting Tristan’s request to come along. But it can’t be helped. In the end, she had to be honest with him. Instead of lying, which in the end made Edward even more disappointed.
“Sophia,” said Edward, who had noticed the woman in front of him was silent and didn’t even touch the red velvet on his plate. “What are you thinking? Poor cake that you ordered. You’ve been screaming for a moment to be touched,” Edward teased later.
“Y-yes,” Sophia stuttered. She was pretty surprised when the dimpled man suddenly reprimanded her. “I was just thinking about something.”
Edward continued to feed the cake on his plate. While licking the cream stuck to the outside of the spoon, the man nodded his head and then asked again.
“What is it that is bothering you?”
For a few seconds, Sophia chose silence. She silently said a prayer while choosing the right words to convey to Edward. I hope that tonight God will help her so that she can speak well and not in the slightest ignite the anger of the man who is busy eating her cake.
“It’s about Tristan.” Sophia’s guess was correct.
Edward looked up as soon as he heard the man’s name slip from his lips. Still biting the spoon in his hand, the man lifted his chin shortly after asking Sophia for more explanation.
“Why again with Tristan? Has he been in trouble with you recently? What has he done to you, Sophia? Just tell me.
“Ed, calm down,” Sophia pleaded. Her breath was almost caught. She was really confused where to start to tell Edward the truth. “Tristan didn’t do anything. You don’t have to worry.”
At the same second, Edward leaned over. Nailed Sophia’s blue bead, then the next question escaped the man’s lips.
“If you don’t do anything, what’s bothering you?”
“It’s a matter of …”
“About what?” Edward chased. “Why are you being so weird, Sophia? What’s going on?”
Sophia took another breath. Consolidating himself, he then returned to continue his sentence which had been delayed. “Tristan requests that I want to come with him to Dubai.”
“Okay, then what about Dubai?” Edward’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“I agreed to Tristan’s request to come with him to Dubai next week,” Sophia said in one breath. From the corner of her eye, Sophia could see very clearly how Edward’s expression, which was originally bright, suddenly darkened.
Silently, the man seemed to be holding back his anger, trying not to get emotional in front of Sophia.
“You must be joking, Sophia,” he shook his head in disbelief as he laughed blandly. “You can’t go with Tristan to Dubai. Even for a week. You must be teasing me on purpose, right?” Edward kept trying to deny what he just heard.
“I’m sorry, Edward. But this time, I’m serious,” Sophia squeaked quietly.
Honestly she was afraid to even look at Edward’s face. From the flash of his eyes, she could see that the man wanted to express his frustration if only the cafe wasn’t as busy as it is now.
Edward took a deep breath. Once again his face moved closer to Sophia’s position and soon the man whispered.
“Don’t be crazy, Sophia. Don’t you realize what you’ve done? Don’t you remember all the bad things Tristan did to you?”
Sophia nodded. Unknowingly the woman also replied in a whisper as well. “I know, Ed. I’ve thought it through. I’m doing all of this purely to help Foxtail. I’m sure you understand that the company’s performance will decline if their partner leaves, right?”
“I know,” Edward replied. “But whatever happens to Foxtail, it’s not your responsibility. Why should you bother thinking about them? If I were in your position, I might be happy to see Tristan go broke and suffer,” Edward said bluntly. He didn’t care if he was considered a brave man.
“Because I have a heart, Edward. I can’t let other people suffer because of my selfishness. Besides, Tristan has promised not to do anything. He’s even willing to be reported to the police if he acts outside the agreement.” ”
But, Sophia. It’s too risk, you could —”
“For God’s sake, Edward. This decision doesn’t mean I want to try to return to being Tristan’s wife. You don’t need to worry,” Sophia insisted.
“It’s not that!” Edward shook his head slowly. “I was worried that Tristan would hurt you again like he used to. I don’t want him to hurt your heart and body. I don’t know what your heart is made of to try so hard to help him like now.”
Sophia ventured to grab Edward’s wrist. She squeezed it gently as she continued to reassure the man.
“I swear, I’ll be fine. Either way, my decision won’t change to stay divorced from Tristan after we get home.”
Edward took another deep breath. There was no longer any hope for him to prevent Sophia from leaving. After all, considering the status of the woman who until this moment was still legally Tristan’s wife, she had no right in the slightest to forbid it. Here the status has not become anyone.
“Okay, Fine. I won’t stop you. But if anything happens to you, please let me know immediately.”
Sophia nodded. In the end, she could breathe a sigh of relief because Edward wanted to understand that her current position had gone awry.
“I’ll be diligent in contacting you while I’m there.”
Edward laughed blandly again. He also prayed in his heart, asking God to strengthen Sophia’s heart so that she would not turn away from him.
Meanwhile, at the Quartararo family’s residence, Tristan seemed busy re-checking the things he wanted to bring to Dubai later. After ensuring nothing was left, the man closed the black suitcase he had previously placed on the bed.
“Tristan, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming down for dinner?” said Aurora, who was already in the man’s room. She had been waiting for Tristan to eat because he didn’t come down. Aurora took the initiative to check directly in the room.
“I’ll be down in a minute, Aurora. I’ll first tidy up the things in the suitcase,” Tristan said without taking his eyes off. He was still busy taking care of the suitcases to be brought to Dubai.
“Suitcase?” asked Aurora. “Where are you going to carry this much luggage?” The woman was silent for a moment. After remembering something, she immediately shouted softly. “Ah, don’t tell me you’re still going to Dubai,” she guessed then.
As Aurora recalls, Tristan’s official travel schedule for this month is only Dubai. So there was no way the man had gone anywhere else.
“Yes, I am going to Dubai,” Tristan replied, buttoning all the suitcases he had finished checking.
“You went alone?” Tristan immediately shook his head. The man sat beside the bed, beside the suitcase he had just buttoned.
“I’m going three, Aurora.”
“Three?” Aurora’s brows seemed to be deeply wrinkled. He wondered who accompanied Tristan to the country with the tallest building in the world this time.
“Yes, Aurora. I went with Mario and also…”
“Who, Tristan?” said Aurora excitedly. Suddenly his feelings turned nasty when the man in front of him deliberately paused what he wanted to say.
“Don’t beat around the bush. I hate hearing half-assed stories like this. So hurry up and tell me who else you are going to Dubai with this time.”
Tristan stared at Aurora’s face in silence for a moment. Before he could answer, the woman in front of him started babbling again, even with an expression that Tristan had expected.
“Don’t tell me you went with Sophia!” Aurora’s guess was right on target. At that moment, she directly scream.
“Tristan! You’re not going to Dubai with your wife, are you?”
“I did go with Sophia, Aurora,” the man said quietly. His calm and even face made it difficult for Aurora to guess whether Tristan was happy to go with Sophia or vice versa.
“Why?” asked Aurora curtly. He was sure that Tristan would understand where this question was headed.
“Because only Sophia can help me when.”
Aurora shook her head in disbelief. She had helped advise to contact Alabbar about the possibility that Tristan could not come with his wife because he was in trouble.
However, instead of following his advice, Tristan went to Dubai with Sophia anyway. Of course, this pissed him off.
“I swear to you, if I had known it would end like this, I probably would never have wanted you to postpone our wedding, Tristan. Because of your frequent succumbing to it, I’m the one who’s suffering now! No one can guarantee what you two will do while in Dubai. Later. No one knows when you get home, you won’t get divorced, or Sophia gets pregnant with your child in the worst case.”
“Aurora,” Tristan muttered under his breath. “Don’t overthink it like that. This is purely a business trip, not a honeymoon as you might think.”
“Who knows? Can you vouch for that?”
Tristan sighed lazily. Instead of responding to Aurora’s tantrum, the man chose to take a leisurely pace, preparing to leave the dining room.
“I’m hungry, Aurora. You continue to be angry yourself. After all, you know me. I’m the laziest in arguing.”
Right after Tristan’s image disappeared from sight, Aurora grabbed a pillow and threw it at the door, growling in annoyance. At this rate, how could she get in the way of what the man had planned.
***
Sophia pulled her suitcase from the bedroom into the living room. Before deciding to leave, she first approached Mikayla who was sitting on the sofa intending to say goodbye. There was a real sad feeling, because within the next one week she had to leave her mother alone just stay home.
“Careful, Sophia. Mama, I wish you and Tristan a safe journey until you return home later,” said Mikayla as she hugged her daughter tightly.
“Thank you, Ma,” said the woman. “I’ll let you go first. If you miss, Mama can call me anytime.” Sophia then stretched her arms, leaned her face in, then kissed her mother’s cheeks alternately. “Mama, is it okay if I live alone, right?”
Even though there are many servants or housekeepers in their house, Mikayla must feel lonely because there is no one to talk to while watching television or maybe while watering flowers.
“Mama is fine, Sophia. The proof is that when you were in Germany, Mama was normal when she was at home alone,” Mikayla replied, trying to dispel the anxiety her daughter showed. “Don’t worry about Mama here. You better focus on accompanying Tristan to finish his work. I hope you two are both mature. Don’t hurt each other, let alone fight there.”
Sophia nodded. Once again before leaving, she hugged Mikayla’s body again. She hugged her tightly while kissing both of her cheeks. After she was satisfied, then she said goodbye as she pulled the suitcase of clothes out of the house.
As soon as the door was opened, Alexius was already standing there on standby. As usual, Sophia’s bodyguard immediately greeted her while welcoming the things she was about to bring.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Sophia. It’s great to see you again. Honestly, I miss the nagging you used to say every day when we were together,” said the man with a smile.
Sophia chuckled and soon laughed at Alexius’ words. Alexius who is so obedient to his husband. The bodyguard assigned to look after him always forbids him to do what he likes. This causes Sophia to often get angry and always nag at the innocent man.
“It’s nice to see you again, Alexius. I hope you’ll always be patient with me,” Sophia asked earnestly. “And one more thing, stop being annoying. Once in a while, you have to support me too.”
Alexius chuckled. Not wanting to waste time, the man reached out, motioning Sophia to get in the car as soon as possible so he could leave for the airport as soon as possible. “Where’s Tristan?” Sophia asked as soon as she realized the husband was not in the car. “Your husband still has a few things that need to be done. He and his assistant will immediately follow to the airport after their business is finished.”
Sophia nodded understandingly. However, before she had time to close the car door, she was confused by Alexius’ attitude. put it back in the house.
“Why don’t you put my suitcase in the car, Alexius? Is something wrong?” Sophia asked curiously.
Instead of answering immediately, Alexius closed the door, then walked around to get into the car. While wrapping the seat belt around his body, then the man answered what Sophia asked earlier.
“Your husband is the one who ordered this to me, madam,” said Alexius casually.
“Huh? What? Then if I leave it, what do I wear in Dubai? All my clothes are in the suitcase you returned home. So don’t be crazy!” she cried almost angrily.
“Calm down, madam,” asked Alexius. “All your necessities, be it clothes, bags, shoes, make-up, etc., have been specially prepared by Mr. Tristan. So you don’t have to carry suitcases of all kinds,” explained the man.
“But, Alexius. I have already chosen what clothes I will wear while in Dubai.”
“Excuse me, madam,” said Alexius in a very apologetic tone. “Please protest directly with your husband. I’m just here to carry out my usual duties.”
Sophia chuckled. Folding her lips in annoyance, she could no longer protest when her bodyguards said that. Choosing silence, she complied when Alexius directed the car they were driving to hurry to the airport.
A distance of approximately 13 miles or about 28 minutes, Sophia’s car arrived at London Heathrow International Airport. She was asked to wait a few minutes upon entering the airport’s VIP lounge. After doing a few checks, Sophia was led to go to a particular plane that Emaar had provided immediately.
Climbing the steps of the jet carefully, once, at the top, Sophia found the figure of Tristan standing right in front of the door. Wearing a navy suit, the man lowered the sunglasses perched on his high nose. Without the slightest awkwardness reached out towards Sophia, on purpose, welcomed his wife, and then said softly.
“Welcome, Mrs Quartararo.”