After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 05

After 999 Nights, He Said We Were Never Together Chapter 05

Richard and Grace were about to answer, but Sophie spoke first.

“No one. You heard wrong.”

The older couple looked at her in surprise.

Ryan didn’t notice their strange expressions. He grabbed Sophie’s hand and pulled her toward his car.

“Since you’re already here, I assume you’re done talking. Come somewhere with me.”

Neither of them spoke during the drive.

Only when the car stopped did Sophie realize he had brought her to a luxury department store.

Ryan instructed the sales associates to bring out piles of clothes, shoes, and handbags, then ordered Sophie to try them on one by one.

She frowned in confusion.

“Why am I trying these?”

Ryan pushed her toward the fitting room, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“Just do it.”

Before Sophie could refuse, an associate had already closed the door and begun opening boxes.

Every time she emerged in a new outfit, Ryan took a picture. Then she was sent back inside to change again.

The cycle repeated over and over.

By the time Sophie had tried on more than a hundred outfits, she was exhausted. The high heels had rubbed her legs raw and drawn blood.

Finally, she pushed past the associate and limped toward Ryan on the balls of her feet.

“I don’t need you to buy me all this as an apology…”

“Pack everything except the burgundy gown,” Ryan told the clerk. “Send it all to Miss Isabelle Monroe at the Monroe estate in the Hudson Valley.”

The rest of Sophie’s sentence died in her throat.

She watched him swipe his card without hesitation, her voice turning hoarse.

“You brought me here to try on clothes for your girlfriend?”

Ryan nodded carelessly, a faint smile playing at his lips.

“Exactly. I wanted to buy her some gifts, but I wasn’t sure what she’d like. You two have similar figures, so using you as the model seemed foolproof.”

“After this, we’re going upstairs to the dessert shop, the jewelry counter, and the cosmetics floor. You can test the food, drinks, and products for me. Anything I give Isabelle has to be the best.”

Listening to him arrange her entire day without once asking her, Sophie finally lost control of her anger.

“Ryan Blackwood, I am not a tool for you to use while you court your girlfriend!”

Ryan had never seen her this furious. He looked up in shock and found her eyes bright red.

“Do you know something? I never saw you as some convenient person I could call whenever I was bored. Every time I hugged you, kissed you, or slept with you, I meant it. You don’t have to love me, but you don’t get to trample all over what I felt for you.”

Her voice shook with tears.

Ryan froze, complicated emotions churning inside him.

He opened his mouth to explain, but Sophie had already turned and walked away.

He watched her small figure disappear into the crowd. Something flickered in his eyes.

A second later, it was gone.

When Sophie returned home, she took out her suitcase and began packing.

At dinner, she occasionally heard her parents talking about Ryan.

“I heard he rented out Universal Studios for three days to celebrate Isabelle’s birthday. The roses were flown in from Europe. He really put thought into it.”

“He also took her to the Blackwood family estate to meet his grandfather. Then he bought several antiques with his own money and claimed they were gifts from Isabelle. The old man was delighted. He couldn’t stop praising her.”

Whenever the Blackwoods came up, Sophie remained silent.

Sometimes the faintest ripple still stirred inside her, but it no longer hurt.

She shut out everything beyond the Whitfield house and declined every dinner or party where she might run into Ryan.

A few nights, Ryan got drunk and sent her casual messages telling her to come pick him up.

She never went.

People in their social circle sometimes brought it up after they’d been drinking.

“Ryan, what happened to that friend you grew up with? Why isn’t she following you around anymore?”

Ryan always dismissed the question.

“She’s sulking. Ignore her. She’ll get over it.”

But more time passed, and Sophie still didn’t appear. Eventually, she stopped replying to his messages altogether.

The day before Ryan’s birthday, even he could no longer sit still. He sent her a digital invitation.

This time, Sophie finally answered.

Two words.

[Not coming.]