Chapter 8

Caleb's pupils shrank, and he swiftly picked Christine up. With a closer view, he saw the crimson gash on her face. The ground was littered with shattered glass, stained with blood. His head snapped back up at Sophia. "Sophia Lane! What the hell did you do?" Sophia's face had gone completely pale. She hadn't expected Christine to go so far. "I didn't do it." She clenched her fists and met Caleb's eyes. "It wasn't me." However, Caleb wasn't listening at all. Without hesitation, he strode toward the exit with Christine in his arms. This was when his group of friends snapped back to their senses. "Cal, what about Sophia? What do we do about her?" Caleb stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. Coldly, he ordered, "Teach her a lesson for me." With that, he left without looking back. The rest exchanged glances. "Teach her a lesson? So basically... we can do whatever we want with her?" In actuality, they had been eyeing Sophia for the longest time. After all, compared to Christine's beauty, Sophia's outward purity and hidden wildness were far more tempting. With alcohol clouding their judgment, reason completely abandoned them. They pinned Sophia down. She struggled and screamed at the top of her lungs. "What do you think you're doing? Let go of me! Or I will call the police!" But the drunken young men didn't care. "Stop pretending! Everyone knows how many times Cal has had his way with you already. What's the big deal if you have a little fun with us too?" "Yeah, you hurt Christine! We're only teaching you a lesson on Cal's behalf!" "That's right. At the very least, we should take some pictures to commemorate this moment!" They howled in laughter, holding her down as they began tearing at her clothes. Sophia fought back with everything she had, but she was no match for so many men. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "Caleb..." she called out internally. "How could you do this to me, Caleb..." Just as her shirt was about to be ripped apart, the door to the private room burst wide open. Caleb stormed back in. Without another word, he flung the men off her one by one. He landed punch after punch until they all collapsed. Then, he scooped Sophia into his arms. "Sophia!" By then, she was so overwhelmed with terror that her vision went black, and she lost consciousness. "Sophia Lane!" … Sophia woke up again to find herself in the hospital. Seeing that she had come to, the nurse spoke gently, "You're fine. You just fainted from the shock." She asked, "Where's the person who brought me here?" The nurse broke into a smile. "I suppose you mean that handsome man. He went off to be with his girlfriend after sending you here." Then, she added, "You didn't hear this from me, but that young man isn't just good-looking—he's devoted too. His girlfriend only suffered a minor scratch to her face, but he's been worried sick. He's stayed by her side this whole time. Sophia froze for a moment but quickly connected the dots. Caleb was by Christine's side again. By then, her heart was already numb. She handled her own discharge paperwork and returned to her dorm. It was one more sleep until the day she was flying off. By the time she finished packing, night had fallen. As she was bidding her roommates farewell, one of them walked to the window and gasped. "Oh my God! Sophia, look! It's your boyfriend!" Startled, she went over and found Caleb standing below. Thousands of roses were neatly arranged on the ground. Accompanied by candles, they formed a glowing heart and the word "SOPH" in the dark of night. Caleb knelt on one knee, looking up at her window. When Caleb saw her, he broke out into the biggest grin and shouted, "Sophia, I was wrong. Please forgive me!"