Chapter 646: Courage

~ At Mt. Calypso Mountain Resort ~

Lots of things have happened in the City of Empire lately. Tristan's surprise proposal for Zhen-Zhen got delayed. It was pushed forward to another date.

Sophia and Matthew had been staying in the mountain resort for several days now. They kept on waiting for Tristan.

The first reason it was pushed back was when Tristan and his cousins helped Andrew with his proposal to Alveena.

The second time was when something happened in the Davis Mansion because of Hannah's evil scheme. Zhen-Zhen almost lost her baby and FaMo was sealed in the crystal.

And now, Tristan couldn't proceed with his proposal since FaMo was still missing. This was not the right time to do it.

Unfortunately, they had to move the date of his proposal once again although everything was all set on Matthew's side.

Sophia, Matthew, and Tristan's four cousins were already in Mt. Calypso, waiting for Tristan's decision.

Sophia and Matthew were hanging out in the mini-forest of the resort when Jake and Blake approached them.

"Hey, we've been looking for both of you. Are you having a date today because we are free?" Jake blatantly asked the couple.

Sophia blushed when she heard that. She felt like they were caught in the act by the twins.

Matthew, on the other hand, chuckled at Jake's remark. He didn't deny it.

"What if we are having a date? Are you going to leave us alone? If you already knew then why did you still come here?" Matthew raised his eyebrow at his friends.

"Hahaha, easy Matt! We don't have any intention to disturb you. It's just that we received a message from Tristan so we came to inform you," Jake reasoned out.

"What did Tristan say?"

"Sigh. The proposal is postponed again," Blake said, sighing deeply.

"Huh, what happened? What is the problem this time?" Sophia asked them worriedly.

That was the time Mark and Daniel joined them.

"Hey, did you hear the news?!!" Daniel butted in.

The twins and the couple gave Daniel a questioning look.

"What news?" Matthew asked.

Mark sighed deeply, showing them his phone. On his screen, they could see a news article about Hannah, Andrew, and Alveena.

"Hannah was brought to the hospital last night! The news article said she tried to commit suicide because of Andrew!!" Daniel informed them exasperatedly.

Matthew, Sophia, and the Twins were bewildered after hearing that shocking news.

"There's more!" Mark said, looking at them intently.

"Hannah's parents released a statement to the media telling them that Andrew cheated on her with his personal assistant Alveena. They also accused Alveena of seducing Andrew, thus breaking Andrew and Hannah apart."

"What?!! How could they accuse Andrew and Alveena?! It was Hannah's fault that Andrew was taken away from her," Jake said, feeling annoyed.

"That's true! She even tried to poison Lillie to cause miscarriage. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to Little Davis! They almost got blamed for that!" Daniel said through his gritted teeth as they were almost blamed for what happened.

"I agree. If Tristan didn't back us up, Grandpa Lu would have mistaken us as the culprits." Mark supported Daniel's claim.

"I still couldn't believe that Hannah could do that despicable thing just because of her hatred and jealousy," Blake shared his thoughts with them. He was saddened that Hannah ended up like this.

"But… is it true? Did she commit suicide? For real and not for show?" Sophia asked them, feeling doubtful about Hannah.

They couldn't blame Sophia for thinking like that. Hannah had done despicable things against Zhen-Zhen and Tristan. So she wouldn't be surprised if they just made it look like a suicide to gain sympathy from the public.

Now, Hannah's parents were targeting Alveena and Andrew as part of their revenge.

"Let's not jump to conclusions first," Matthew said.

"Now, we understand why Tristan postponed his proposal again. It seems that lots of things keep on happening in the City of Empire. Did he ask us to come back?" Matthew asked the twins. 

He was wondering if Tristan needed their support to fix the problems in the City of Empire.

"Hmm, Tristan said we can return if we need to go back to work. But you and Sophia can take your time here," Mark answered him.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" Sophia choked upon hearing Mark's remarks.

"That means… your boss is giving you an advance honeymoon leave!" Jake said, teasing the couple.

Their other cousins laughed seeing the embarrassed expressions of Matthew and Sophia.

"Hey, stop teasing us! You are making Sophia uncomfortable!" Matthew scolded Tristan's cousins.

They stopped laughing when Matthew shot them a sharp glare.

"We are going back tomorrow. We just hope Tristan will be able to do his proposal soon. Poor, Tris. He prepared so much for this, but things were hindering him." Blake mumbled while shaking his head.

"How about Andrew? Do you think he can handle this?" Mark voiced his concern about Andrew.

"Don't worry too much, cousin! Andrew and Tristan are both smart. Remember, even though you schemed several times against Tristan, you never won against him! Now that the two brothers are working together, they can solve anything." Jake said, teasing Mark and Daniel.

Mark and Daniel had the urge to seal Jake's blabbering mouth. He was so frank sometimes that they found him annoying.

"Hahaha, truth hurts right?! But don't worry. We are on the same side now. I'm glad the two of you already changed!" Jake added, tapping the shoulders of both Mark and Daniel.

This time it was Sophia's and Matthew's turns to laugh at them.

"Alright! If you don't have anything to say, go now! Leave us alone here. Let me enjoy my private time with my girlfriend!" Matthew said, sending the other men away.

Sophia pinched Matthew's arm. But he just let out a husky laugh. Mark, Daniel, and the twins finally left, giving the couple the privacy that they wanted.

Jake: "Enjoy!!! Don't spread too much honey here. There are lots of ants in this forest!"

Daniel: " Too bad! We are kicked out right away. I wonder how much sweetness Matthew can do here!"

"Both of you, Shut Up!" Matthew yelled at them. 

Mark and Blake just shook their heads. Anyone would be having a headache once Jake and Daniel combined their playful behavior.

Mark and Blake just dragged those two men away before Matthew could throw stones at them.

Matthew heaved a sigh of relief when those four men disappeared from their sight.

"Are you okay? Please forgive their playfulness. Don't listen to them." Matthew brought his attention back to Sophia.

Sophia giggled. "It's alright. No need to apologize. At least now, we can see that they are getting along very well, unlike before."

Sophia was aware of the conflict between the Davis cousins. Zhen-Zhen and Matthew mentioned it to her before.

Matthew nodded his head in agreement. 

"Hmm, so what do you think? Do you wanna go back to the City of Empire or stay here and spend your vacation with me?"

Matthew was asking Sophia but deep inside, he wanted to follow Tristan's advice and stay here for a while together with Sophia.

He didn't say the word but his expression alone was telling Sophia that he wanted to spend more time with her in this place.

"We can stay here for three more days before going back. How about that?" Sophia suggested to Matthew.

His face brightened up with a glowing smile.

"Yeah. I like it! Why don't we make it five days?" 

Sophia giggled before nodding her head. Matthew held her hands and thanked her for agreeing with him.

Because of too much happiness, Matthew couldn't stop himself from pulling Sophia closer to him. He hugged her.

Sophia hugged him back. For the past few days of staying together, Sophia became more comfortable with Matthew. 

She was no longer feeling shy when showing her affection to Matthew. Matthew was glad because of that. He felt like their relationship was getting stronger and sweeter as time went by.

"Sophie…"

"Yes, Matt?"

"Once we return home, will you be okay if I bring you to my family? I want to officially introduce you to them as my girlfriend."

Sophia fell silent for a moment. She had to admit she was still worried about meeting Matthew's family. But she would do it for Matthew's sake.

"Okay… we can meet them once we return home."

"Really??!" Matthew cupped her face as he couldn't believe that Sophia finally agreed.

"Yes, Matt! I will do it… for you!"

"Yeees! Thank you, Sophia! Thank you, my love!" Matthew hugged her again, rejoicing.

Sophia was so happy seeing Matthew like this. He never forced her but she knew that Matthew was waiting for her to be ready in meeting his family.

Sophia finally found her courage. She would not run anymore. She would have to face his family to conquer her insecurities. As long as Matthew loved her, then she wouldn't care about other things.