Serena turned to Sophia, her expression slowly darkening. Her eyes flicked to Atticus, lingering with open interest, before shifting to Anabel, who shot her a sharp glare in return.
"Sophia, your pets got loose, so I was just putting them back in line," Serena said, stepping closer.
Sophia didn't respond right away. She looked past Serena and fixed her gaze on the others.
"Shouldn't you all be working?" she asked, her tone firm.
"Well, um, we—"
"What do you expect?" Serena cut in, tossing her hair back. "They're so undisciplined. Honestly."
Sophia sighed and turned fully to Serena. "You too," she said, her voice calm but firm.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have work to attend to as well?" she added.
Serena's frown deepened. "I only came to caution them," she replied, trying to sound composed.
"Now leave," Sophia said flatly.
"What? How dare—" Serena stopped mid-sentence as her eyes met Sophia's. The words died in her throat, and she took a step back without realizing it.
Why does she scare me so much? Serena thought, quickly averting her gaze. It's just one look, yet my body feels numb.
"It's like she's throwing daggers without saying a word," Serena muttered under her breath. "Those eyes… they're terrifying."
Sophia said nothing more. She didn't need to. The silence alone was enough.
"Are you leaving?" Sophia asked, her voice firm and commanding.
Serena hissed under her breath, then glanced at Atticus. She bit her lower lip before stepping closer, her smile slow and deliberate as she slipped a folded piece of paper into his hand.
"Bye, Atticus," she said sweetly, gesturing for him to call. She shot Sophia one last sharp glare, scoffed, and walked away, her heels clicking as she disappeared around the corner.
Once she was gone, Sophia let out a quiet sigh and turned to the others.
"What are you all doing here?" she asked, one brow lifting.
"H–huh? We're leaving," Sarah said quickly, grabbing Ken and Anabel and dragging them off before anyone could say another word.
"I'm sorry, ma'am Sophia, for their behavior," Maya said. "I'll straighten things out with them."
Sophia nodded, then turned to Atticus.
He was still standing there, staring down at the paper clenched in his hand.
"For a man hiding such a big secret from the world," Sophia said coolly, "you certainly know how to attract attention."
Atticus's eyes widened. "What the—" he muttered, completely caught off guard.
"I left you alone for five minutes, and look at the nonsense you caused. Do you realize this isn't some most-handsome-man gala? This is a hospital, and you, Atticus, are disrupting everyone's work," Sophia said firmly.
Atticus stood up, staring at her in disbelief. She was scolding him—him. No one had ever done that before. The audacity. A mere human daring to reprimand him.
"Maybe you should step outside the hospital for now," Sophia continued coldly. "When I'm done working, I'll figure out where to place you."
With that, she turned and walked away, Maya following closely behind.
"How dare she?" Atticus shouted.
Thomas stepped closer. "We should go," he said quietly.
"No, I'm not going anywhere," Atticus snapped, dropping back into the chair. "She can't order me around."
Thomas sighed in frustration, grabbed the back of Atticus's chair, and dragged it toward the hospital exit.
"Thomas, what are you doing?" Atticus demanded, trying to stop him while stubbornly refusing to stand.
Thomas finally stopped at the garden. Atticus scowled.
"How dare she," Atticus kept muttering. "She scolded me—a human."
"Well, technically, she can," Thomas said as he sat on a bench. "She's your employer."
"I'm not her employee," Atticus shot back. "She didn't employ me."
"Then what do you call this?" Thomas replied. "You work as her bodyguard, and she pays you by granting you access to your immunity."
"We made a deal," Atticus said sharply.
"Same difference," Thomas shrugged.
"No, it's not," Atticus snapped. "One means I'm obligated to listen to her. The other means I answer to no one—I'm in charge of myself."
Thomas sighed, shaking his head. "You really don't understand business, do you?" he said almost pityingly.
Atticus frowned.
Sophia walked out of the dressing room; she took a deep breath.
Maya walked up to her. "We are done for today, ma'am," Maya said.
Sophia smiled as she began making her way to the door. "What did Atticus say about the contract?" Sophia asked.
"Well, he hasn't said anything,"