Chapter 239.

After knowing Mrs. Sinclair, Emilia hadn’t realized how much she needed that until it was offered.

"Thank you for having me," she said.

Sophia tilted her head.

"You make it sound as though I’ve invited you to a board meeting."

"She does that when she’s nervous," Adrian said.

Emilia turned to him. "Whose side are you on?"

"Mine, generally."

Sophia laughed again. "I was worried you might be too sensible for him."

"She isn’t," Adrian assured her.

"Adrian."

"What?" He chuclked. His gaze rested on Sophia. "She can argue with me and cry for twenty minutes because I said her favorite book had a terrible ending."

"It did have a terrible ending." Emilia defended herself.

Sophia watched them with a look of quiet amusement. Then she leaned back against her pillows.

"Oh, I like this."

Emilia glanced at her.

Adrian’s expression became suspicious. "Wonderful. I’ve brought an ally into my own family."

"You brought her yourself," Sophia pointed out. "You have no one to blame but yourself."

Then unconciously, Sophia’s gaze drifted toward the infusion pump beside her bed.

The change was small, but Emilia noticed it. The smile didn’t disappear entirely. It simply became quieter.

"Today’s treatment was supposed to begin two hours ago," Sophia said. "Apparently, my blood work has decided to become difficult."

Adrian’s attention sharpened. "What did the doctor say?"

"That my blood counts need to be watched closely and that they’re adjusting the schedule."

"Why wasn’t I told?"

"Because I was going to tell you when you arrived."

"You could have called."

"And you could have been doing something important."

"Nothing is more important than—"

"Adrian." Sophia didn’t raise her voice.

He stopped.

She reached for his hand.

"I am all right at this moment. The doctors are watching me, and they know what they’re doing. If something changes, you will be told."

His jaw tightened. "That’s not the point."

Sophia regarded him for a moment. Then she smiled sadly.

Emilia watched him look at his mother, and suddenly she understood something about him that had nothing to do with money or power.

He couldn’t command leukemia to leave his mother alone. He couldn’t negotiate with uncertainty.

And he couldn’t protect Sophia from every bad day, every frightening test result, or every treatment that failed to work as they hoped.

Perhaps that was why he held on so tightly to the things he could control.

Sophia’s fingers brushed his wrist. "Look at me."

He did.

"I’m trying something new," she said. "The doctors believe it may help, and I’m willing to give it a chance. That’s all we know right now."

"Are you afraid?"

Sophia went quiet.

Emilia watched the question settle between them.

For a moment, Sophia looked not like a wealthy woman in a private hospital, but simply like a mother who had been asked to admit something she had spent a long time hiding.

"Sometimes," she answered.

Adrian lowered his gaze.

Sophia squeezed his hand. "But I’m also hopeful. Both things can be true and coexist, darling."

He nodded once.

"And I need you to remember something."

"What?"

"I am still your mother. I am not a glass ornament you have to keep from breaking."

His mouth tightened. He didn’t answer immediately.

Sophia smiled faintly. "Sit down. You’re making the room anxious."

Emilia pulled a chair closer to the bed, but Adrian remained standing for another moment.

Finally, he sat beside her.

Sophia turned toward Emilia.

Emilia smiled.

Then Sophia asked about Kylie.

The question caught Emilia off guard.

"How is she?"

"She’s going through a difficult time," Emilia answered carefully.

Sophia’s expression became attentive. "Is she the young woman who’s been all over the news with Christian?"

Adrian’s face changed. "Mother."

"What? I have a television."

"That doesn’t mean you need to watch the news."

"Darling, I have leukemia, not a lobotomy."

Emilia bit back a laugh.

Sophia turned to her again. Her voice softened. "Is she all right?"

Emilia considered the question.

She could have said yes. She could have offered the convenient answer that spared everyone the discomfort of admitting how badly someone was hurting.

Instead, she said, "Not entirely. But she’s trying."

Sophia nodded slowly. "That’s sometimes all a person can do."

Emilia looked down at her hands.

Sophia continued gently.

"People are often far too eager to decide what someone else’s life should look like. They forget that the person living it is the one who has to wake up every morning and carry the consequences."

Adrian was very still beside her.

Emilia glanced at him.

Sophia noticed the exchange, but she didn’t comment on it.

"Whatever is happening between those two," she continued, "I hope they remember that love is not supposed to be another place where a person loses their voice."

Something inside Emilia tightened.

She thought of Kylie in the old apartment. Of her shattered phone. She had only left the door of the aoartment when she heard moans coming from the living room.

Sophia’s words felt painfully close to home.

"You’re right," Emilia murmured.

Sophia reached for her hand again. "And if she’s important to you, then I hope she finds her way through it."

"Thank you."

"Don’t thank me. I haven’t done anything."

"Sometimes, saying the right thing is enough."

Sophia studied her for a moment, then gave her fingers another gentle squeeze. "You have a kind heart, Emilia."

Emilia wasn’t sure what to say to that.

She had spent so much of her life trying to become someone who could survive the things that had happened to her that kindness sometimes felt less like a virtue and more like a decision she had to keep making.

"I’m not always kind," she admitted.

"Good."

Emilia blinked.

Sophia smiled. "Perfect people are exhausting. And usually dishonest."

Adrian chuckled under his breath.

Sophia pointed at him. "That includes you."

A knock sounded at the door.

Before anyone could answer, it opened, and a young woman stepped inside carrying a paper bag and a bouquet of pale pink flowers.

She stopped when she saw Adrian. "There you are."

Adrian glanced at his watch. "Hello, Rowan."

"Don’t hello me. I called you."

"I was in the car."

"Then you could have answered."

"I was driving."

"You have a driver."

"I was sitting in the back seat."

Emilia stared at her.

Rowan looked at Sophia. "He’s been annoying you, hasn’t he?"

"Constantly," Sophia replied.

"Excellent. I brought you flowers. I can take them back if he’s made you suffer."

Sophia held out her arms. "Come here, you ridiculous girl."

Rowan crossed the room and bent to kiss her cheek before placing the flowers on the bedside table.

Then she noticed Emilia. Her gaze moved from Emilia to Adrian, then back again.

"Hey."

Adrian closed his eyes briefly.

"Rowan." Emilia gave ger a brief smile.