When Love Fades to Ashes

Sophie Queen and William Locke were engaged for four years when Lily Manse, a woman whom William's been in a one-sided infatuation with, returned to the country.

Every day, William would feed her and accompany her until she fell asleep.

One day, Lily schemed to have both herself and Sophie poisoned by toxic gas, and she was happy when William kicked Sophie away to come to her rescue.

Despite all this, Sophie refused to shed a single tear, but instead chose to silently disappear from his life.

Yet, for some reason, William would later have Lily thrown into jail just so Sophie would give him another chance…

One morning, Sophie Queen sat in her bedroom, speaking on the phone with her aunt, Julia Queen.

After thinking for a long time, Sophie finally said, "I've made up my mind, Aunt Julia. I will return in a month and marry Elliot."

"Finally! I've been waiting for you to say this for so long!" Julia exclaimed.

"You and William were engaged for four years, but there were never any plans to finalize the marriage, and I know how much you suffered at the hands of those jerks.

"On the other hand, Elliot's been your neighbor since you were kids and would protect you the moment he found out you were in danger. He even asked me about how you're doing a few days ago!

"Looks like your parents were right when they thought he'd be the perfect match for you!"

Though initially surprised by the news, Julia soon laughed in relief, happy that her efforts to persuade Sophie into marrying Elliot hadn't been in vain.

She quickly hung up and prepared to call Ariana Mott, Sophie's mother, and Elliot to share the good news.

Almost immediately, Sophie's bedroom grew quiet, and she could hear the commotion and laughter downstairs.

That was the day Lily Manse, a woman William Locke had been in unrequited love with for the longest time, was returning to their country.

The Locke family was close with the Manse family, so they were planning to welcome Lily back home.

Sophie let out a long sigh and drew a cross on her calendar.

'Only 29 more days to go…' she thought.

Suddenly, she heard William's cold voice behind her. "What are you doing?"

In truth, William didn't care what Sophie was doing and spoke his true intentions before she could respond. "You're my fiancée. It's only natural for you to come welcome Lily with me."

Sophie was caught off guard by William's rare, ungentlemanly behavior—he hadn't even knocked before entering.

Perhaps fearing Lily might overthink the situation if they were late, William dragged Sophie off her bed and downstairs.

Although William remained calm, Sophie could tell there was scorn in his tone.

The sound of laughter ceased when Sophie sat at the dining table.

Gloria Hall, William's mother, spoke her mind as usual. "Perfect timing, you jinx."

William's father, Alistair Locke, stopped eating when he heard that, while Sophie simply pursed