Chapter 4

"Sophia."

When I saw Edward, I quickly tucked away my resignation letter and said coolly, "Is there something you need, Mr. Grant?"

Edward's tone softened for once. "Sorry about what happened earlier. Don't hold it against Emily, she's pregnant, so her temper's a bit off. Try to be patient with her. Is your face still hurting?"

He reached out to touch my face, but I dodged him.

"Mr. Grant, you promised me twenty percent of the shares. Are you ready to honor that promise now?"

"Yeah, think of it as compensation."

Edward handed me the share transfer agreement. "I bumped it up to twenty-five percent. Since you're not going anywhere, it doesn't really make a difference how much I give you."

I took the document, and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh inside.

'Who's he kidding? I'll be gone before he even realizes,' I thought.

"Thanks, Mr. Grant. Oh, and there's a document that needs your signature."

I slid my resignation letter over for him to sign.

Edward was just about to check what the document was when Emily walked out.

"Edward, are you done? I'm hungry."

He didn't have time to look it over, so he just scribbled his signature and handed it back.

"I'm coming."

Before leaving, Emily glanced at me with a smug smile. "Ms. Lane, Edward says you're a pretty good cook. My housekeeper's off for a few days, so why don't you come over after work and look after me? I'll pay you extra."

I was about to turn her down, but Edward cut me off.

"Yeah, your cooking's great. Come over tonight and take care of Emily."

I still needed three days to finish handing over my work, so I just nodded. "Alright."

Anyway, after these three days, we're done.

I showed up at Edward and Emily's new place with just a few things.

As soon as I walked in, I saw the two of them sitting on the couch.

Edward was leaning down, his ear pressed to Emily's belly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, baby, it's Daddy. Did you miss Daddy today?"

His smile was so bright it almost hurt to look at, and it made me remember what Edward used to say to me.

"Sophia, when we have a kid, they'll be the happiest in the world. I'll give them all my love."

I couldn't help but pout back then. "If you give all your love to the baby, what about me? Where does that leave me?"

"You're the one I love most. It's because I love you that I love our child too. Sophia, I really can't live without you"

But now, everything's different.

'I'm not the one he loves anymore,' I thought bitterly.

'It's clear now, we'll never have a child together.'

"You're here? What are you just standing there for? It's late, Emily's hungry, go cook dinner!"

Edward's icy voice snapped me out of it. "Emily's pregnant, so her meals need to be carefully prepared. The nutritionist's menu is stuck on the fridge, make sure you stick to it."

I didn't respond, just asked, "Where's my room?"

The maid led me to the staff room on the first floor. "Mr. Grant said this is where you'll be staying."

The room was so tiny, it barely fit a bed.

I let out a bitter laugh. 'So this is what I am to him now, I'm just his maid.'

After all these years of spoiling him, he's forgotten we were just two ordinary people at the start.

For the first dinner, I spent three hours in the kitchen.

I carefully deboned the sea bass and simmered the clam chowder until it was just right.

When I brought the dishes to the table, Emily barely glanced at them before shaking her head. "This is way too bland. I'm not eating it, I want something with a stronger flavor."

"I followed the meal plan exactly. Edward said I have to stick to it."

"Do it over!" Emily snapped.

She knocked the sea bass right off the table, sending the plate crashing to the floor and smashing it to pieces.

Before I even had time to feel upset, Edward rushed over, not even giving me a chance to react, and started chewing me out. "Sophia, are you trying to piss Emily off on purpose?"

"Mr. Grant, you were the one who told me to cook for her! You said to follow the menu, so I did. She just said she didn't want it and made a mess of everything. How is that my fault?"

"Edward, don't blame Sophia. I found a bone in my food, so I accidentally dropped it on the floor. It wasn't on purpose."

Emily burst into tears, looking all pitiful, and Edward rushed to comfort her.

"Forget it, let's just go out to eat! Sophia, clean all this up!"

As Emily left, she flashed me a smug grin.

I ignored her taunting smile, just kept my head down and picked up the pieces from the floor one by one.

'Edward, just two more days and I'll be gone.'