Too Late She Already Married Mr. Right (Sophia) novel Chapter 167

Her heart skipped wildly. Richard was the type of prodigy who’d left to study overseas as a kid and pretty much never came back–he’d only started making waves once he hit Wallinton.

Why would he ever come to Ginkgo Town?‘ Sophia wondered to herself.

Could it be…?‘ A crazy thought popped into her head, making her breath hitch.

“Seven years ago, when Ginkgo Town was struck by that huge earthquake, I came back home to deliver disaster relief,” Richard replied.

‘I knew it!‘ Sophia’s heart thumped wildly in her chest, excitement buzzing through her. She couldn’t take her eyes off Richard, feeling that weird sense of déjà vu.

“No wonder you seemed so familiar the first time we met–maybe we really did see each other seven years ago.”

Richard tilted his head, meeting her gaze directly. “We did cross paths seven years ago.”

Sophia was stunned, searching her memories for any hint of where she might’ve run into Richard back then.

But all she found was a blank.

The only thing Sophia could remember was being trapped deep underground together with Andrew and his wife, plus a few other researchers.

The darkness was suffocating, and the aftershocks kept shaking the earth, making every hope for rescue seem more and more distant.

Some people just couldn’t endure it—they quietly slipped away, their breathing fading to nothing. Others broke down, sobbing hopelessly in the pitch black.

Little by little, even those sounds disappeared. At the start, Andrew and his wife kept talking to her through the darkness, helping her stay alert and not lose hope, urging her to wait for rescue.

But eventually, Andrew’s wife was the first to succumb, drifting off into unconsciousness. Andrew herself wasn’t far behind.

In the darkness, time seemed to stretch on endlessly.

Sophia feared rescue might never come. She drifted in and out of consciousness, only to be gently roused each time by scattered noises in the gloom.

Afterward, she simply went back to waiting in the darkness.

Then, suddenly, a blinding shaft of sunlight pierced through, forcing her eyes shut. She heard someone shouting close by, “There’s a survivor here!”

She was rescued at last.

As she was carried out of the rubble, she caught a faint whiff of ocean air and cool mint.

Sophia forced her eyes open, desperate to see the face of the person who’d saved her, hoping to beg him to save Andrew and his wife.

But before she could make out his features, a pair of cool hands gently covered her eyes.

“You’ve been trapped for seven days. The sunlight outside is too bright–don’t open your eyes yet. Just rest. We’ll keep searching for the others,” the man said softly.

He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, soothing her with gentle words until she finally slumped in his arms, slipping into unconsciousness.

Sophia’s throat went dry as she stared at Richard, lost in a daze. “You…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish.

For seven years, she’d always believed it was Lucas who’d carried her out of the rubble, rushed her to the hospital, and stayed by her bedside until she woke up.

It had never crossed her mind that the person she saw when she finally regained consciousness wasn’t the one who’d actually pulled her from the wreckage.

Richard watched her quietly. “Do you remember now?”

Sophia tried to speak, but her throat was so parched that not a single word would come out.

“I always thought…” she finally squeezed out, her voice barely more than a shaky whisper.

All this time, she’d believed Lucas was the one who had saved her. She never realized she’d gotten it wrong from the very beginning.

Richard arched his brow, prompting her gently. “Hmm?”

Sophia ducked her head in embarrassment, her words tumbling out low and hesitant. “It was me—I confused everything. I had it wrong.”

Richard was the one who had actually saved her.

No wonder–after she and Lucas got married, there was one time she brought up the big earthquake in Ginkgo Town, hoping they’d reminisce about the day they first met.

But Lucas just shrugged and said, “Oh, I just went there with my company to hand out some supplies. It was all for show, really. Just a bit of charity work to comfort the locals.”

He didn’t even remember her.

Back then, she’d thought maybe he was the type who did good deeds and kept quiet about it. Now, looking back, she realized he really had just been going through the motions.

Sophia couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. All those years of swallowing her pride and putting up

with

everything–she’d done it all because she thought Lucas had saved her life seven years ago.

But thinking back now, it was all for nothing–none of that pain was worth it.