Chapter 3: My Name is William, Don't You Remember?

"Sophia?" He looked at her in confusion, his tone laced with a tenderness that Sophia did not notice.

"Are you calling me?" Sophia pointed at herself, uncertain.

His gaze grew more puzzled. At that moment, Sophia could not care about anything else and walked over to ask him directly, "Are you James?"

"Why did you suddenly call me that name?"

Upon hearing this, Sophia quickly inquired, "Do you have another name?"

He tilted his head, his narrow eyes blinking under his glasses. His long lashes were striking, and that innocent, bewildered look was undeniably charming to women. After a moment, he said, "Sophia, are you playing a new game with me?"

"What new game?" Sophia was momentarily stunned but quickly regained her composure, frowning at him as she demanded, "Stop with the nonsense! I’m asking you!"

"Haha." He couldn’t help but chuckle softly, bringing his hand to his lips, his gaze tender as he looked at her. "You haven’t changed at all. James is my stage name; I’m William Mason. Don’t you remember?"

"William Mason?" Sophia frowned, pondering for a moment before asking, "What’s the spelling?"

Seeing she was serious, though unsure of her game, he took her hand and began to slowly write the letters of "William" in her palm with his finger.

His fingers were beautiful—long and fair, with neatly trimmed nails. Sophia almost lost focus, captivated by his hands. Once he finished writing, she mimicked his name on her lips: "William."

A thought suddenly struck Sophia—could it be that the reason she couldn’t find any information about James online was that he went by William instead?

As this idea formed, her pupils widened in shock. She abruptly pulled her hand back and staggered a few steps away from him!

Sophia was left with two possibilities: either she was dreaming (and the pinch she gave herself certainly hurt!) or she had somehow lost her mind!

"Oh no! I watched this man all night and now I’ve gone crazy over him…" Sophia covered her face, pacing anxiously in place, feeling as if she might lose her mind.

"Watching a man?" William raised an eyebrow, his voice dropping a notch. "Who were you watching?"

"You!" Sophia snapped back, taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down.

Unbeknownst to her, when she said that, a smile crept onto the man’s face as he gazed at her. "Sophia, what gift did you bring me this time?"

Sophia opened her eyes wide in confusion. "A gift?"

William looked slightly exasperated but smiled and shook his head. There was no hint of reproach in his eyes; rather, they radiated indulgence and helplessness.

"It’s fine," he said with a smile, removing a watch from his wrist and placing it on her hand. "This is something I wanted to give you, but since I didn’t know when you’d come, I wore it until now. Finally, it’s back with its rightful owner."

The watch had a rose gold case and a brown crocodile leather strap, with an automatic mechanical movement. Its vintage style suggested it was quite valuable.

As she put it on, Sophia felt the warmth of the watch; it wasn’t cold at all. She was utterly bewildered—she didn’t know him, yet he seemed to know her so well!

"Sir… oh? Miss Sophia is here!"

Just then, a voice came from behind. Sophia turned to see an elderly man with a kind face enter the room, dressed in a suit and holding an old-fashioned camera.

William’s lips curled into a smile as he greeted, "Butler Tristan."

Sophia furrowed her brows. If it was just him, she could rationalize it as a dream, but where did this Butler Tristan come from?

Sophia rubbed her chin, puzzled. She had no idea what was happening and felt a dissonance, as if she didn’t belong there—like when she first traveled abroad, everything around her was unfamiliar.

"Sophia, look at the camera!"

Suddenly, Tristan’s voice snapped her out of her daze. Sophia looked up to see him aiming the camera at them.

She realized she had unwittingly positioned herself behind him. When she saw what she was wearing, it hit her, and she gasped!

"What’s wrong?" he immediately turned, concern etched on his face.

Sophia, filled with excitement, hurriedly said, "I’ve seen this photo before!"

"Hmm?" The man’s eyes remained puzzled.

"I’m talking about our photo! It was taken right here! I was standing like this!" Sophia quickly mimicked the pose she had seen in the photo, crossing her arms and flashing a playful, smug smile.

With a click, Butler Tristan captured the moment he had been waiting for. The flash was intense, and Sophia instinctively closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was stunned—she found herself back in the car!

Sophia was dumbfounded, realizing she was in the vehicle but had released the steering wheel.

As she was about to crash into the car in front of her, she jolted in alarm, quickly grabbing the wheel and turning sharply to avoid a collision!

At that moment, she glanced to the side and saw a car roll down its window. A man in sunglasses made a gun gesture toward her, signaling her to pull over.

Seeing this, Sophia was astonished. What was happening? Wasn’t this exactly what had occurred before her accident? Why was it happening again?

When she didn’t stop, the other car charged toward her again, just as before.

Though Sophia had no clue what was happening, she sensed that they were challenging her for the second time. This feeling left her frustrated!

Without hesitation, she pressed the accelerator! As she sped past, upon reaching the intersection, Sophia suddenly yanked the steering wheel!

The tires screeched violently against the pavement, producing an ear-piercing sound, as if the tires were crying out in despair. At high speed, she narrowly avoided a collision with the car that shot out from the intersection!

With a firm grip on the wheel, she regained her composure and didn’t stop, speeding off into the flow of traffic, successfully shaking off the car behind her.

Once she reached the police station, the tension in her body finally eased. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, Sophia turned to glance at her bag resting in the passenger seat, rummaging through it, only to find that the old photo was missing.

Sophia froze. The photo… was gone?

She searched around but couldn’t find it, which made her think back to what had just occurred. What was going on?

Feeling a headache coming on, Sophia instinctively pinched the bridge of her nose, only to notice her wrist feeling heavy. Looking down, she was stunned to find that she was wearing the watch that man named William had given her!

Sophia silently pinched herself again—ouch! Remembering the surreal scenes she had just experienced, she felt as if she might just lose her mind.

With her forehead resting heavily on the steering wheel, Sophia, utterly bewildered, muttered to herself, "James… William… what on earth is happening?"