After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 06

After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 06

Early the next morning, Sophie came downstairs and found Ryan waiting in the living room.

He sat on the sofa with a dark expression, his voice hard.

“Sophie Whitfield.”

She could hear how angry he was.

Still, she had no intention of soothing him, and there was no warmth in her response.

“Morning.”

“I’m actually on my way out to meet my boyfriend, so I won’t be entertaining you. Make yourself comfortable.”

The anger Ryan had been holding in for days ignited at once.

He shot to his feet and seized her wrist, shadows gathering in his eyes.

“What boyfriend?”

Sophie didn’t answer, nor did she look intimidated.

The fire inside Ryan burned hotter. His grip tightened without him realizing it.

“Did you lose your voice? Answer me.”

Sophie tried to wrench free, but his fingers had already left her skin red.

“What does it have to do with you? Don’t you think you’re overstepping?”

The argument was about to explode when Helen came downstairs and hurried between them.

“She’s only saying that because she’s upset. She doesn’t have time for a boyfriend right now. If she wants to date, it’ll have to wait until all this is over. You two grew up together. There’s nothing you can’t talk through, so stop fighting.”

With an elder in the room, they both restrained themselves and sat down.

After Helen left, Ryan realized he had gone too far.

Once his temper cooled, however, her words began to bother him.

Sophie didn’t have time right now?

What was happening?

Why would dating have to wait until later?

Unable to make sense of it, he asked, “You were lying just now, weren’t you?”

Sophie glanced at him and moved to a chair in the corner.

“Did you come here for something?”

Her refusal to answer told Ryan that the boyfriend had been nothing more than an attempt to provoke him. Relief loosened his chest, and he turned to the real reason for his visit.

“Why aren’t you coming to my birthday?”

“I’m busy.”

Her coldness infuriated him all over again, and his voice rose.

“Busy doing what? What could possibly be more important than my birthday? You used to look forward to celebrating it more than anyone.”

Sophie took a sip of water, her voice perfectly calm.

“Things are different now. You have a girlfriend. That’s something you should say to Isabelle Monroe, not to an outsider like me.”

For reasons he couldn’t explain, the word outsider made Ryan deeply uncomfortable.

He crossed one leg over the other and clasped his hands.

“I don’t care. You’re coming this year. Do you remember the three wishes you promised me? The first was knitting me a scarf. The second was climbing a mountain with me. You’ve already fulfilled those two. I’m using the third one now. You have to attend my birthday.”

This time, Sophie didn’t snap back. She lowered her head.

Her silence frustrated him, and his tone grew colder.

“Did you forget why you promised me those wishes?”

Sophie remembered perfectly.

Three years earlier, they had gone to the beach when the tide suddenly surged. Her leg cramped, and the current dragged her into deep water.

Ryan had jumped in without any thought for his own life and pulled her back to shore. He nearly drowned from exhaustion afterward.

Sophie had cried so hard beside his hospital bed that she almost passed out. For one terrible moment, she had even thought she couldn’t live if he died.

When Ryan woke, he gently wiped away her tears.

“You’re crying so hard anyone would think I died.”

“I was worried sick about you, and you’re still making jokes like that?”

Sophie hit his arm in anger. Ryan apologized and soothed her at the same time.

“Okay, okay. If you really feel that bad, grant me three wishes.”

The memory left Sophie unable to speak.

The room remained quiet for a long time before she finally answered.

“Fine. Once I fulfill the third wish…”

Ryan’s phone rang.

He answered while walking toward the door.

“Good. Then tomorrow, you have to come.”

Sophie watched his back disappear outside and finished the sentence he had never heard.

“…we’ll never contact each other again.”