Fate's Dark Side Chapter 912

~Liam~

I felt uneasy about how to handle sharing and discussing the text message. I worried that mentioning Sophia might trouble Josephine, even though I knew she was resilient. But I also feared that it could set back the progress we had made so far. Instead of announcing the text to everyone, I decided to talk to Josephine first.

"Hey," I said, linking her, and she turned to face me, her brow furrowing. I expected this reaction, as linking in close proximity was reserved for private discussions.

"I want to show you something," I said, handing her my phone with the text message. She took the phone, read the message, and then returned it to me.

"The team should know," she linked back, and I observed her carefully.

"It wouldn't bother you?" I asked to be sure. I was still new to this relationship thing and didn't want to make any mistakes.

"Not at all, Liam. We had our discussion this morning, and I'm confident that Sophia's name won't bother me anymore. I promise," she said with a smile and playfully punched my shoulder.

"I'm not that petty or jealous, Li," she laughed, and I felt relieved.

"Attention, everyone; Li has something important to share," Josephine declared, and a chuckle escaped me.

All eyes were on me, and I cleared my throat before speaking. I put on a serious demeanour because the situation warranted it. If they had Sophia's mother's phone, there was a possibility that something significant had occurred, and their circumstances might have altered.

Navigating through this with limited information wouldn't be a simple task, but we must exercise utmost caution.

"I just received a text message from Sophia's mother's line, the same line she used to communicate with me," I explained, passing my phone around so they could read the message.

"The last time she spoke to me, it was through Charlotte's phone, as I hadn't recovered my line back then," I added. Marvin was the first to ask a question.

"So why is she asking us not to search for her?" he inquired.

"That's precisely my point. If it were truly Sophia, she would have called instead of sending a text message. The vagueness of the message suggests an underlying agenda. If it was genuinely from Sophia, it would have contained more helpful details," I explained, and Noah voiced a different perspective.

"Have you considered the possibility that she just wants you to stay out of the matter to protect you? Sending a vague message would be the best way to ensure you have nothing to work with," he suggested, and I nodded, understanding his reasoning.

"Yes, but she would have called me if it were really her. Sophia rarely sends text messages; she's more of a phone call person," I explained before Sebastien interjected.

"Not if she's surrounded by the enemy and needs to secretly communicate with you. Her situation might leave her no choice but to send a text message, Li," he argued, and many others seemed to agree.

Josephine then asked me to share my theory if I didn't believe the message was from Sophia, giving me the opportunity to explain.

"I think someone is trying to establish communication with me while pretending to be Sophia. It's been too long without any word from her, making this message seem odd. If it were genuinely from her, it would have been sent to Charlotte's phone. It would have also contained more details about her well-being before asking me to stop searching. Sophia will want to put my mind at ease," I elaborated.

"The last time we spoke was back when we were in Lucland. The tone of this message seems off, as if we've been in frequent communication. Additionally, she isn't aware that I've recovered my line, so she would likely have sent the message to Charlotte's phone to ensure I received it. Sophia wouldn't risk sending a message to a line that might still be switched off," I concluded, and Charlotte nodded in agreement. My thoughts might not have been entirely clear, but I had a gut feeling that I was onto something.

"I understand your point, Li, but you're right; this message doesn't provide much information," Charlotte acknowledged, stating the truth.

Josephine, on the other hand, had a different perspective.

"True, but by receiving this message, a line of communication has been opened between us and whoever sent it. I propose we continue to interact with 'Sophia' and see where it leads us," she suggested, using air quotes when saying 'Sophia,' which elicited a laugh from Noah.

"Whoever is posing as Sophia must have a motive. To confirm if it's truly her or not, you should engage in conversation and share specific details that only she would know. Then, we can wait for her response. Even if she's being held captive, she might cleverly mislead her captors and provide us with hints. I'm certain she knows we're searching for her, and her captors might have informed her about it. So, it's wise for her to mislead them in her answers to help us uncover what's really going on," Josephine explained, perfectly echoing my thoughts. I nodded, looking at her, and she smiled in response.