Chapter 6
When Sophie woke up again, she was staring at the stark white ceiling of a hospital room.
“You’re finally awake!” The nurse sighed in relief. “With injuries this severe, we need to contact your family immediately.”
She paused, then couldn’t help but add, “Look at Miss Evans next door–same accident, but her injuries were much lighter. Yet Mr. Sinclair hasn’t left her side, treating her like precious treasure. Where’s your family? It’s been two days and no one has shown up…”
ut she
Sophie’s lips curved slightly, but she said nothing.
Just then, the hospital room door was violently kicked open.
Elliot stood in the doorway with a dark expression, his gaze cutting into her like a blade.
The nurse was startled, seeming confused about why Mr. Sinclair would appear here, but seeing his terrible expression, she quickly retreated.
The moment the door closed, Elliot swept the medicine tray off the bedside table. Glass bottles shattered with a piercing sound, pills scattering across the floor.
“Did you push Phoebe into the sea?” His voice was ice cold.
Sophie was stunned.
She didn’t understand why Phoebe would frame her again, feeling only waves of exhaustion. “I didn’t.”
“Still lying?” Elliot grabbed her wrist, his grip so tight it could crush bone. “Phoebe told me herself! Weren’t you so gracious before? Why did you suddenly change?”
He laughed coldly, as if understanding something. “Unless… your previous tolerance was all an act? Just to get my attention?”
Sophie’s face went pale with pain, but she just looked at him calmly, not even bothering to explain.
That look completely enraged Elliot.
He violently released her hand. “Fine. Since you won’t admit your mistake, face the consequences yourself.”
He turned to leave, his voice bone–chillingly cold. “From now on, no medical staff will care for you. Bear this pain yourself!”
The next few days were exceptionally difficult for Sophie.
No doctors made rounds, no nurses changed her bandages. She could only drag her battered body to the medicine cabinet, trembling as she applied medication to herself.
Several times she collapsed to the floor, her knees bruising purple, but still gritted her teeth and crawled back up.
Elliot probably thought she, this “Albright family heiress,” couldn’t endure such torment.
But he didn’t know–she wasn’t Isabelle, wasn’t a socialite raised in a greenhouse.
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Stand–In Bride’s Escape: No More Chains, Only Freedom
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Chapter 6
She was Sophie, who grew up rough in that coastal town, abandoned by her parents since childhood, having to endure even illness
alone.
What was this pain compared to that?
A few days later, Sophie had just finished her discharge paperwork and was packing when her room door was violently kicked open.
Elliot stormed in with a dark expression, grabbing her wrist. “Come with me.”
“For what?” Sophie frowned.
“Phoebe’s been kidnapped by Liam Hawthorne.” Elliot’s voice was tense. “He specifically asked for you as an exchange. Three days, then he’ll let you return.”
Sophie’s heart trembled.
Liam Hawthorne–that notorious pervert in their circle. Every time he saw her, his cold, slimy eyes made her sick.
“I won’t go.” She refused directly.
Elliot’s gaze turned ice cold. “You don’t have a choice.”
He stared at her, then suddenly softened his tone. “Liam is interested in you–he won’t hurt you. Just behave, and after this, I’ll agree
to any condition you want.”
Sophie looked up at him and suddenly smiled. “Alright, then I want a wedding.”
Elliot was taken aback. “What?”
“We only got the marriage certificate back then, no wedding.” Sophie said softly. “I want you to make it up to me.”
This was part of her plan.
When Isabelle returned, she needed a grand wedding for everyone to witness the handover of “Mrs. Sinclair’s” identity.
Elliot was silent for a long time, finally nodding. “Fine, I agree.”
When Sophie was delivered to the Hawthorne estate, Liam was lounging lazily on the sofa, smiling at her.
“Mrs. Sinclair, long time no see.”
His fingertip traced her face. Sophie suppressed her disgust and didn’t pull away.
The first two days of torment were relatively “mild“-Liam just had people draw her blood, vial after vial.
She’d grown numb to the needle pain, but watching her blood fill glass tube after glass tube, her heart couldn’t stop trembling.
Until the third day, when she heard the bodyguards whispering outside in her half–conscious state:
“Has the young master lost his mind? He’s really going to drain all her blood for a specimen?”
roung m
“Shh, keep it down… The young master said she’s too beautiful–only by making her into a specimen after death can he preserve her
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Chapter 6
forever…”
Sophie’s blood instantly froze.
This was what Elliot promised would be “safe“? She was about to lose her life!
Bone–chilling cold shot up her spine. She bit her lip hard until she tasted blood, barely suppressing her trembling.
Taking advantage of the guards‘ negligence, she grabbed a crystal ornament from the bedside table and smashed it against the window with all her strength.
“Crash!”
Glass shards scattered everywhere. She used the sharp edges to cut through her ropes, and when she leaped from the second floor, her right ankle made a sharp “crack.”
The pain made her vision go black, but she didn’t dare stop.
Dragging her sprained ankle, she stumbled away from the Hawthorne estate and ran all the way back to the Sinclair mansion.
When she pushed open the living room door, she saw Elliot kneeling on one knee, carefully applying medicine to Phoebe’s ankle.
“Elliot…” Phoebe’s eyes were red. “Miss Albright has been gone so long, aren’t you worried at all?”
Elliot’s movements paused, his voice incredibly gentle. “I only worry about you. Why didn’t you tell me you sprained your ankle? Are you trying to break my heart?”
Sophie stood in the doorway, soaking wet, her ankle swollen badly, but she didn’t receive even a glance.
She walked past them expressionlessly.
“Sophie?” Only then did Elliot notice her, jumping to his feet. “You…”
