Sophia’s Point of View.
Was I destined to never be happy?
That might have been the thought that popped into my head if I hadn’t been consumed by incandescent rage that flowed swiftly through my veins.
I raised my hand to hit Reid but he easily caught my hand midswing.
“You are despicable.” I cursed but my voice broke on the words, tears banking in my eyes.
Tears of anger, pain and humiliation.
Reid was unmoved.
“Sign the papers, Miss Evergreen.”
I had gambled and lost it all. For this, I only had myself to blame.
Jerry’s many warnings suddenly had a ring of truth to them.
‘Reid is just using you… you don’t know what he is like, Sophia.’
‘If you keep this up you will only end up being a casualty in this war between Reid and I.’
‘Reid Prescott is more calculating than you think. Your marriage to him cannot have a happy ending.’
For once Jerry hadn’t been lying to me. Oh, the irony.
I wanted to scream and I wanted to cry and only my sheer will force and pride kept me from crumbling.
I knew it was only a matter of time but I would be damned if I broke like this in front of Reid. I had gone through one divorce before. I could do it again.
My bottom lip quivered and my eyes burned. Had I truly misunderstood it all?
Where did that leave my children? Our children.
‘You didn’t actually think I would raise Jerry’s bastards, did you?’
What kind of life would my children lead with a father who would see them as mistakes I had used to trap him in a marriage he saw only as a deal?
I pulled my hand out of Reid’s grasp and I picked up the pen with shaky fingers.
I knew what it felt like growing up with a bad father, my children would not. It was the least I could do for them.
I signed our divorce papers.
Then I turned to face Reid. I took him in, took in the sight of the man I loved and thought loved me as well.
The man who had broken me in ways I wasn’t even aware I could break.
My chest ached. I ached.
“I thought you were different from Jerry,” I said with a soft smile. “I was wrong.”
I turned away from him.
“I’ll have the help fetch your things.” Reid said but I was already walking away.
I didn’t want anything from this house. Didn’t want anything he had touched.
And as I walked out, I knew I was never going to return.
I wished I could have seen Nana one last time before leaving. I wished I could go back in time and never accept Reid’s deal. I wished my heart would stop hurting.
I passed the gates of the house, ignoring my driver and limo parked waiting for me. My mind felt numb and my tears filled my eyes but refused to fall.
I wasn’t thinking. I couldn’t think. The pain was so much that it threatened to swallow me whole if I even dared contemplate it.
I didn’t know where my feet were taking me but I kept moving. I bumped into a petite woman startling me out of my daze.
Mumbling a semblance of an apology, I looked around and my heart squeezed uncomfortably in my chest.
I was in my former neighborhood. The one I had grown up in. The one I had lived as a normal girl in an abusive family before my life was upended.
The building was vacant as it was currently undergoing renovations but even if it hadn’t, I didn’t have a home to return to.
Father was on the run from the law, Mom was dying and me? I wasn’t sure where I was.
My phone buzzed and I looked at the screen. It was a notification from my bank. Mr Prescott had sent way more money than what we agreed on.
I let go of my phone and it fell to the ground shattering as I looked up into the beautiful LA sunset.
How could the world be so beautiful while my life was falling apart? Tears burned in my eyes but still, they refused to fall.
I took a step forward. Then another. If I stopped walking, I would break. But I was already broken, wasn’t I?
“Watch out!” I heard someone yell behind me but it didn’t register until I felt a strong grip at the back of my shirt pulling me to the sidewalk.
I landed on my backside, a vehicle speeding past where I had been just a second ago.
I almost got hit by a car. I hadn’t even noticed I was on the road.