A flash of panic crossed Lara's mind. "Is that so? From childhood to now, I've never seen Ned like any girl."
"No way. Yesterday he confessed to me, said he likes me!"
Upon hearing this, Lara suddenly sat up straight, grabbed a cup of coffee in a fluster, took a sip, then scalded herself and quickly spat it out. "Ah! It's scalding me, scalding me to death!" She frantically waved her hand to fan her burned lips.
"How can you be so careless? You really need to fix these impulsive little habits." Even while busily cleaning up the mess, she couldn't help but nag.
"Is what you said true? He confessed to you yesterday? You're not lying to me? You've never mentioned Ned before. Sophie, is this how you treat your best friend?" Lara suddenly questioned loudly.
"What do you mean true or false? What did I say? What's wrong with you?" Faced with Lara's sudden outburst, Sophie was stunned.
Tears began to fall uncontrollably from Lara's eyes. "I was even thinking of blessing you and Archibald, but who knew you were actually coveting your boss. He's mine. I've known since I was little—he belongs to me. I've loved him for 20 years, loved him since the day I was born... How could he confess to you? He's smelly and poor!"
Sophie watched her explosion, completely at a loss. "Lara, calm down. What are you talking about? Who do you love? You've never said anything. You've got me all confused."
"It's Ned, Ned. It's always been only him. He's mine. I've known since I was little that he would be my future husband. What are you even?" Lara was somewhat hysterical.
"What are you saying? I don't understand at all, Lara—" Despite her shock, Sophie still patiently tried to comfort her.
"The day before yesterday at Uncle Harrington's party, Aunt personally told me she hopes Ned and I get engaged soon, marry him soon." Lara glared at Sophie with resentful eyes. "How can you fall for anyone you see? Archibald is also nobility and very rich. Isn't he enough for you? You still have to provoke my Ned?"
"Or is it because poor people like you just want to climb the social ladder? Anyone who's nobility or rich, you all want?" Lara vented her emotions.
"No wonder they say women from poor families are all cheap. Just wait—once they get tired of playing with you, they'll dump you soon enough..." With that, she stormed out of the café without a care for the classmates pointing, whispering, and gawking at the spectacle.
Sophie, still sitting in the sofa booth, was stunned. The Lara who used to eat with her, study with her, chat about everything, share secrets, even go to the bathroom together—how could she suddenly turn on her like this, and in such a dramatic, public way that everyone knew?
After class, to avoid running into Lara, Sophie stayed in her seat for twenty minutes until the classroom was nearly empty before finally standing up and leaving.
Actually, because of their different course schedules, she and Lara didn't cross paths much on campus anyway. Lately, with her mom hospitalized, Sophie often had to take leave to care for her, so their encounters had become even rarer.
During those twenty minutes in her seat, Sophie racked her brain but couldn't make sense of it. Lara had become a stranger overnight. For Ned's sake, she was willing to turn against her and say such hurtful things. Their friendship was irreparable now—she had become the person Lara hated most.
As she walked out the school gate, Sophie's mood was heavy. She wandered blankly toward the bus stop.
"What are you thinking about? You're completely zoned out." Ned suddenly appeared beside her, startling her.
"What? Did you do something guilty?" He chuckled lowly, reaching out to wrap his arm around her waist. "You ditched me this morning, and now you're coming out this late? I've been waiting forever!"
The casual embrace felt anything but natural to Sophie. She instinctively dodged, but Ned only pulled her in tighter.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have to go to C&C?" Her body was stiff, her voice unnatural.
"What am I doing?" He scoffed, as if the question was hilarious. "Obviously, I'm here to pick you up after class!" he answered in a low, gentle tone.
Sophie froze for a moment. "You don't need to pick me up. I can take the bus home by myself."
"Of course I do. Because today, I have a gift for you." Ignoring her rigid resistance, Ned bundled her into the car parked at the school gate.
A gift? The word made Sophie uneasy. Getting a present for no reason felt strange—she wasn't used to it at all.
"What's wrong? You don't seem too thrilled about me giving you a gift," he asked, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
"A gift? Why are you giving me one?" She genuinely didn't feel happy. She actually wanted to visit her mom in the hospital, but didn't want to tell Ned about her family situation, so she felt a bit anxious inside.
"A man doesn't need a reason to give a woman a gift." He fastened his seatbelt, stepped on the accelerator, and the car immediately pulled away from the school gate, heading toward the main street.
"That's true, but I'm not used to it—"
"This gift is special. You haven't even seen it yet; you shouldn't reject it so soon, or you'll regret it," he told her.
Sophie was at a loss for words until he drove toward a Japanese restaurant.
"Are we going to eat?" she guessed.
Ned smiled. "Half right. Besides eating, I'm first taking you to 'see bears.'"
"Bears?" She didn't understand. "But this road leads to a Japanese restaurant. There aren't any bears around here, right?"
He just smiled without answering.
Sophie didn't ask further. Joy was rare in her heart; what filled it more was Lara's accusations from the afternoon, and the feeling of her mom anxiously waiting for her in the hospital. As for the unease and surreal feeling toward Ned, it all seemed so distant.
The car stopped at the entrance of the Japanese restaurant. Ned took her hand, led her out of the car, and then continued holding it as they walked inside...
A row of waitstaff at the door smiled warmly and uniformly bowed to the two of them.
Sophie gathered her thoughts and followed Ned into the restaurant, puzzled. Then, in the next second, what met her eyes was an entire restaurant filled with Winnie the Pooh bears...
She froze at the entrance, unable to move. For a moment, her mind went blank for several seconds.
"To celebrate the first day of our relationship. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine Winnie the Pooh bears here, representing my persistence toward you—it won't change even as time passes."
He stood beside her, his deep male voice like a spell, hypnotizing Sophie's emotions.
Sophie turned to look at him. "So this is the 'bear' you wanted me to see?"
"Do you like it?" Ned gazed at her affectionately.
"I feel terrified," she answered honestly.