CHAPTER 3: Sophia’s Last Promise
Before Sophia passed away, she called Elena to the hospital.
At that time, Elena was working as a waitress in a small hotel. She did not expect to hear from the friend she had once grown up with in the charity home.
Sophia was already weak.
Her face was pale, her hands thin, but her eyes were still gentle.
She did not ask Elena for money.
She did not ask for a favor for herself.
She only held Elena’s hand and whispered:
“If one day Oliver can no longer remember my voice, please stay close to him. Do not let him grow up in a house that has only money and silence.”
Elena had cried beside the hospital bed.
She had promised.
After Sophia’s funeral, Elena came to apply for work at the Reed mansion. She did not say that she knew Sophia. She was afraid Alexander would think she was using the past to get close to the family.
She only wanted to stay near Oliver, just as she had promised.
Now, standing in the dining hall, Elena’s voice trembled as she told Alexander the truth.
“I did not come here to become anything. I only wanted to make sure young master Oliver was not alone.”
Alexander asked:
“Do you have proof?”
Elena nodded.
She gently placed Oliver on a nearby chair. The little boy still refused to let go of her hand.
Then Elena removed the small necklace hidden beneath her collar. On the necklace was a very thin silver ring.
Alexander recognized it immediately.
It was the ring Sophia had worn before marrying him.
It was not an expensive ring.
It was only an old silver ring, with two small letters engraved inside:
S & E.
Sophia and Elena.
Elena took off the ring and placed it in Alexander’s palm.
“Madam said that if one day you needed to know the truth, I should give this to you.”
Alexander looked at the ring for a long time.
All the memories he had buried deep inside suddenly came flooding back.
Sophia had once told him that some people were not related by blood, but were still family.
He had heard it.
But he had never truly understood it.
Until today.
Until his son walked past three powerful women to embrace a quiet housemaid.
Alexander held the ring tightly, his voice hoarse.
“Sophia trusted you.”
Elena lowered her head.
“I only did what I promised.”
Oliver looked up and tugged at her hand.
“Mommy…”
Elena closed her eyes, tears falling.
“Young master…”
Alexander watched them, and for the first time in a very long while, the mansion no longer felt large to him.
It felt empty.
Empty because he had allowed his son to grow up in loneliness.
He stepped forward and knelt in front of Oliver.
Every servant in the room was shocked.
Alexander Reed had never knelt before anyone.
But at that moment, he knelt before his son.
He placed a hand on Oliver’s shoulder, his voice so gentle it nearly broke.
“I am sorry.”
Oliver blinked.
Alexander continued:
“I thought giving you the best of everything would be enough. But I was not there when you needed me most.”
Oliver did not understand all the words.
But he could feel that his father’s voice was different from usual.
Not cold.
Not distant.
The little boy lifted his small hand and touched Alexander’s cheek.
“Daddy…”
That one word almost broke Alexander’s composure.
He pulled his son into his arms.
For a long time.
Elena stood beside them, silently wiping her tears.
From that night on, everything in the Reed mansion changed.
The wife selection dinner was canceled. News that Alexander Reed had cut off three powerful marriage connections spread quickly, but no one knew the real reason.
The press guessed.
High society whispered.
Some said Alexander was too arrogant.
Some said the three women had not been worthy enough.
But Alexander did not care.
For the first time in years, he turned off his work phone at eight in the evening.
He personally took Oliver to bed.
At first, Oliver still needed Elena to sit beside him.
Alexander did not force anything.
He sat in a chair near the door and silently watched the way Elena read bedtime stories to his son. Her voice was gentle and slow, not perfect like a professional teacher’s, but full of warmth.
Oliver lay among the soft pillows, his eyes growing heavy.
One hand held Elena’s hand.
The other held Alexander’s finger.
It was the first time father and son were in the same room without silence standing between them.
The next day, Alexander called Elena into his study.
Elena walked in nervously.
She thought he would move her away from the position of housemaid. Perhaps he would give her money and ask her to leave, because her presence made everything too complicated.
But Alexander only placed a folder on the desk.
“I want you to become Oliver’s official emotional caregiver.”
Elena was shocked.
“Sir, I do not have professional qualifications.”
“I will hire specialists to support you. But my son trusts you.”
He looked at her seriously.
“From today on, you are no longer a housemaid in this mansion.”
Elena quickly shook her head.
“I do not need a position, and I do not need money. I only want Oliver to be safe.”
“I know.”
Alexander pushed the folder toward her.
“That is why I must make sure no one looks down on you while you take care of him.”
Elena looked at the folder, her eyes burning with tears.
It was not just a contract.
It was recognition.
A recognition she had never demanded, but deserved.
Alexander added:
“And I want to apologize to you.”
Elena looked up.
“You do not need to—”
“I do.”
He interrupted, but not coldly.
“I need to. For seven months, you did what I should have done. You stayed beside my son while I hid inside work. You kept your promise to Sophia better than I did.”
Elena stayed silent.
After a while, she whispered:
“Madam never wanted you to suffer forever. She only wanted you to live on. With Oliver.”
Alexander looked out the window.
The back garden was filled with sunlight.
Sophia had loved that place. She once said she wanted Oliver to grow up among white roses and laughter, not behind cold walls.
Alexander slowly said:
“Then help me learn how to become a better father.”
Elena looked at him.
For the first time, she saw that the proud billionaire no longer looked like a marble statue.
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He looked like a man who had lost his way.
And had finally admitted he needed to be guided.
