Liam wanted to call Sofia and tell her about what he knew regarding the investigation but upon realizing that this was against the law, he pocketed his phone and ignored the small voices in his head. He wouldn't let private relationship affect his work.
'Private relationship? Do you have relationship with her?' A small part of his brain questioned which made him pause for a little while.
'We should be considered friends, right?' he questioned inwardly, trying his best to defend himself. 'I honestly like her but I don't think I see her like how I see Janella. They should be in different light.'
Seeing the changing expression on his face, the other officers were looking at each other, wanting to as what was happening to officer Hughes. In the end, they decided to keep their mouth shut, thinking that he must be exhausted from the difficult task he received.
Time passed by quickly and soon the class ended. It should be the same time for Liam to end his shift as well but because of the reinvestigation, he decided to work over time. His colleagues were leaving already while he was still flipping through the pages of the documents.
On the other hand, Sofia arrived home after an hour. Instead of going inside her room to change, she stayed in the living room, waiting for Niko and for Yusef to come home. She was also checking her phone to see if there's any message coming from Liam but she was bound to get disappointed.
'What should I do to help?' she asked herself when she remembered the bruises on her school mate. It's not that she's nosy but she hated it when people get's bullied. She hated it when someone stronger threatens the weak.
"Young mistress?" one of her subordinates called for her attention.
"Yes?"
"An invitation arrived." He handed a black envelope to Sofia and just by looking at the stamp, she knows where it came from.
"Thank you." Her smile bloomed on her lips and she immediately ran towards her room to check on it. And just like what she expected, it was indeed and invitation for the upcoming race. It will be held in three months which gave her time to prepare and still enjoy her life. 'Shall I invite Liam to watch this race? Well, I don't think he'll go since he forbids me to do this thing again. But, it's not like I can stop now.' She shrugged her shoulder and sighed helplessly. 'Never mind.'
Not long after, Yusef and Niko came home with some works. Niko's face was dark and he looked exhausted. For the very first time after a decade, she sees him tired.
"What has happened?" she asked as she walked down the stairs. She has changed her clothes already into a set of leggings and t-shirt. She was planning to spar with them before dinner will be served which will be about two hours.
Niko loosened his necktie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt. "Your beloved officer is reinvestigating the case."
"About the hit-and-run as well as the kidnapping?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." Sofia sat in front of him and grinned. "You didn't leave any evidences, right? As long as there are no evidences that would lead back to us, you don't have to worry that much."
"Easy for you to say. How about you handle it yourself?"
"Sure. I'll deal with it." Sofia stood up and reached her hand to Yusef. "Thanks."
"What's that for?" Yusef asked after giving her the flash drive. "Don't tell me you've caused trouble in school? It's not even a week yet?"
"Of course, I didn't but I think I will." Sofia stated. "Anyway, I'll be fine."
"You will surely love the result of my investigation." Yusef winked at her and stood up to leave. "Want to spar before dinner?"
"Lucky! I'm planning to vent my frustration today. Who wants to go first?" Sofia walked ahead of them to the basement where the punishment room as well as the gym or training room was located.
Niko instantly gained his energy back as he followed behind her. He likes to spar with her and see her growth, pretending he's not good against her but in truth, he can easily take her down. He just wants to see her smile every time she wins against him.
"I'll take a rest first. Viktor should do it today since he only guarded you the whole day."
"I don't mind." Viktor removed his coat and wrist watch. Without waiting for Sofia to get prepared, he started attacking her. Despite the clothes he was wearing, his movements weren't stiff or slow. His punches and kicks were strong as ever and he always block Sofia's attack on time. "Come on baby girl. Is this all you have? Love isn't really a good thing. Look at you, now you're getting rusty."
"Rusty my face." Sofia retorted and smirked. She suddenly raised her leg and wanted to do a vertical kick from the top of his head but Viktor evaded at the last moment and caught the back of her feet. Instead of taking her foot back, she used this leverage and kicked him with her other leg, making a backflip and landed on the ground steadily.
Viktor touched his chin, he wasn't hit by her but the momentum and the blow of the air left a faint sting on his chin. "I'm taking back what I said." He started approaching her and this time, his attacks were stronger than earlier.
Sofia was bruised black and blue but she didn't flinch from the pain. It felt nothing to her. And she wasn't sweating as well. She seemed relax and there was a faint smile on her lips.
After half an hour, Viktor was already panting and Sofia's forehead was also dotted with sweats. "This is not fair! How come I'm sweating a lot while you're not?"
"It's because you've got more fats than me. Stop eating fatty foods. It's not good for your health which is why I'm helping you burn it up."
Yusef stifled his laughter after her remark but he didn't know that he will be the next victim. And it was Viktor's turn to laugh at him.