Sophia’s eyes quivered. That seemed to be the exact spot where the roof beam had fallen.

The roof beam of a prefab building wasn’t heavy enough to kill someone, but it was covered in nails and screws. Getting hit by it would be anything but pleasant.

After a moment’s hesitation, Sophia followed him out.

Vincent Grant went into another room.

The moment Sophia walked in, she saw he had already taken off his jacket, revealing a shocking splash of red on his white shirt underneath!

Vincent Grant didn’t notice Sophia and was struggling to pull his shirt up.

The blood had stuck the fabric to his skin. As he pulled, the wound tore open again, and fresh blood gushed out.

Sophia gasped when she saw the wound, which covered nearly Vincent Grant’s entire back.

"You’re so badly injured. Why didn’t you get a doctor to bandage it?"

Vincent Grant tilted his head and saw Sophia. His fingers paused for a moment before he picked up a roll of gauze and started wrapping the wound himself. "I haven’t had the chance yet."

Sophia then remembered how he’d frantically rushed Old Master Sloan to the hospital, then bustled about getting food and arranging for his protection. He really hadn’t had the time.

"I’ll go get a doctor for you."

"Sophia." The man’s lips tightened, and that same hurt look from before surfaced in his dark eyes. "I don’t like being touched by strangers!"

Sophia was speechless.

It was obvious that just bandaging his wound wasn’t enough.

But the wound was on his back, so he couldn’t apply medicine himself.

"If there’s nothing else, you should go," Vincent Grant said. "My grandmother called me from thousands of miles away just to tell me not to pressure you into repaying me for my help. I won’t put you in an awkward position."

Sophia was at a loss for words.

Nevertheless, she walked over and took the gauze from his hand. "Let me do it."

Her fingertips brushed against his hand, cool and soft. Vincent wanted to stand his ground, but his fingers disobeyed and let go of the gauze.

He hung his head in sullen silence, letting Sophia unwrap the gauze, fold it into pads, and press them to the wound.

The two of them were very close.

He could clearly smell the faint, refreshing scent on Sophia.

Her every breath washed over his skin like the sweep of a cat’s tail, making his heart flutter.

His heart hammered as if it were about to burst, and he silently tensed his entire body.

He glanced back slightly and saw Sophia’s face, gentle and innocuous, angled downward. Her eyelashes fluttered as her soft fingers set aside the blood-soaked gauze. She then expertly irrigated the wound with saline, disinfected it, and began to bandage it...

She was throwing his heart into utter chaos, yet she herself remained completely focused on the task.

It was just like when they were teenagers. He’d be beside her, heart pounding like a drum, while she’d be lost in an aerospace book, turning one page after another.

"Sophia, where did you go afterward?"

Sophia froze at Vincent Grant’s question, realizing he was asking about their time in school.

This was the part of her past she was least willing to talk about, something she still lacked the courage to face even now.

She said faintly, "I was sick for a while, and then I transferred schools."

Vincent Grant focused on the "then I transferred schools" part.

Her mother’s reputation was terrible, and on top of that, she was being bullied. For the Sophia of back then, transferring schools really had been the best option.

Vincent Grant looked like he wanted to ask more, but Sophia quickly changed the subject. "Don’t get the wound wet, and avoid any strenuous activity."

She wasn’t yet in a place where she could casually reminisce with her ex-husband about the past they had shared.

Those memories were too beautiful, too precious. They were completely incompatible with the messy disaster their relationship later became, and she didn’t want to tarnish them.

Vincent’s gaze dropped to her hands as she skillfully tied off the bandage. "Do you do this often?"

"Mhm."

Sophia nodded.

"People in my field are always heading into desolate deserts. Injuries are inevitable, so mastering basic first-aid is a minimum requirement."

Vincent Grant stared at her hands, his mind racing. ’These same hands must have pressed against Levin Sawyer’s body countless times, touching and tending to him... just like she’s doing for me right now.’

A stifling frustration immediately filled his chest.

"This is no place to recover from an injury. You should head back soon," Sophia said coolly, already trying to usher him out.

The sour pangs of jealousy in Vincent’s chest turned to bitter misery before they even had a chance to fade.

When Vincent returned to the doorway of Old Master Sloan’s room, Sophia was leaning against the frame, on the phone. "Yes, my mentor was incapacitated with an anesthetic. It was nearly a disaster, but thankfully, we rescued him in time."

"He’s okay now, and I’m fine too. We have people here protecting him, and NASA is sending a team soon to relieve the Cathan special forces. Don’t worry."

"How can I not worry after something like this?" Levin Sawyer’s voice on the other end was frantic. "No, I have to come see for myself!"

When Sophia took over Old Master Sloan’s project, he had been at another base. She left in such a hurry that he hadn’t been able to get away.

By the time he rushed back, Sophia was already gone.

He’d planned to come immediately but got tied up with other matters.

At this point, Levin Sawyer couldn’t care less about his work. "I’m going to find out for myself who the hell dared to touch our mentor!"

He was coming for Old Master Sloan, so Sophia had no reason to stop him. She just replied, "Alright then, I’ll wait for you."

Those four words, "I’ll wait for you," though spoken without a second thought, pierced the listener’s heart like a dagger.

Vincent’s knuckles whitened, clenched so tightly they looked distorted. Veins bulged on the back of his hand, the tension running all the way up his neck.

A moment later, he took out his phone and dialed a number. "Grandma, do me a favor..."

Old Master Sloan woke up not long after.

However, he was still weak, the toxins not yet fully cleared from his system, and his movements were stiff.

The doctor recommended he stay in the hospital for a period of observation.

After lunch, Sophia got a wheelchair from one of the doctors and took Old Master Sloan out for a stroll.

The hospital was small, a single white building set amidst a cluster of low-slung, dusty-gray structures.

The other buildings were dilapidated, eroded by years of wind and sand, and caked in thick dust. Piles of loose dirt and sand were everywhere.

A group of children with stick-thin legs ran about between the buildings, their dark, grimy faces already etched with the lines of hardship.

Their wide, curious eyes peered through an iron fence toward Sophia and Old Master Sloan, shining with wonder.

"The vast majority of children in this area will spend their entire lives in places just like this. This hospital is likely the only world they’ve ever seen that’s any different."

Old Master Sloan lamented.

Neither of them was a stranger to poverty, as their work often took them far from major cities, but their hearts still ached for these children.

Living on the same planet, yet leading completely different lives.

Sophia, Old Master Sloan, and her uncle, Yancy Shaw, had always been involved in philanthropy, but their efforts had always been focused within their home country.

Sophia suddenly had a thought. ’If we could build a science center here, wouldn’t that at least show them a wider world? It would also be a way to give back for using the local resources.’

She voiced this idea, and Old Master Sloan was quite supportive.

"Poverty knows no borders, and neither should charity. Besides, you’re right. Since we’re conducting our experiments here, we ought to make a contribution to the local community."

A preliminary concept began to form in Sophia’s mind. She decided to draft a formal proposal to discuss with Old Master Sloan and her uncle.

Just then, a beautiful melody suddenly rang out.

Both Sophia and Old Master Sloan started, but the children seemed to know exactly what it was, immediately running off in a single direction.

The music was so enchanting that Sophia and Old Master Sloan found themselves drawn to it, following the sound out through the hospital gates.

Not far off, they saw the children gathered around a girl playing the violin.

The children were watching her quietly—watching her, her violin, and the way she played. Their clamorous world had suddenly fallen silent.

"It’s her!" Sophia exclaimed, recognizing the girl.