Chapter 4

SOPHIA'S POV~

I speed-walked to my destination, desperate enough to arrive on time but forbearing enough to add confident strides to my walk.

I need to get there quickly and still look put together.

In my past life when I went for this job interview it was James who took me but I would be damned if I let him anywhere near me now.

Not after what happened that day.

~FLASHBACK~

"For the last time Sophia, what is wrong with you?!"

"And for the last time to you too, James. There is nothing wrong!"

I rushed out of the kitchen with James hot on my tail, too tired to have this conversation with him, because the outcome would just be the same as every other time.

Filled with out-of-control shouting and lots of headaches.

"Don't walk away from me, Sophie."

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Because I'm not done talking!"

"But I'm done listening."

"Why are you being so difficult?!"

I stopped walking and spun around to face him, the thought of avoiding confrontation flew out the window as I stared into his anger-filled eyes. If it's a fight he wants?  then it's a fight he's going to get.

"Oh, so I'm being difficult? In case you haven't noticed, James. You're the one being difficult."

"That's because you are acting out on me."

"Because you're suffocating me…"

"Sophie, it's okay."

"...you make me feel incomplete and used…."

"Sophia calm down."

"...I feel like I'm beneath you and that if I breathe the wrong way then you would squash me like a bug…"

"That's enough, Sophia!"

"No, Daisy. It would never be enough. Not after all that she had put me through,  not after what he did to me,  not after…"

My head fell to his chest as he enveloped me in his embrace. Pure shock ran through my form but I wasn't shocked that he moved so quickly. What shocked me was that I had let him hold me.

Why wasn't I fighting back?

He ran his hand over my back in a soothing manner and placed his chin on the top of my head.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. But I can assure you that I never intended to make you feel small or to think less of yourself, all I wanted was to make you feel like the princess that you are…I love you baby and nothing in this world will ever change that."

The dam that held my tears at the back of my eyes burst like a balloon and a tsunami of sadness hit me as I slipped from his arms and fell to the floor in tears.

Sour sobs left my lips as bitter tears fell from my orbs and blood from my soul from the wounds that had slowly begun to heal.

That's not true. None of his words are true.  He's just trying to lie to me again, to get me to calm down.

But my mournful ululation wasn't because of the insincerity of his words but because I was trying to find even a trace of truthfulness in his voice.

I wanted to drown in the comfort of his hold, I wanted to place my lips on his to show that I appreciated his comforting words, I wanted to close my eyes and let my heart call out to him because it believed in the words he said.

But I couldn't, because once upon a time, the man before me broke my very being, and now I can't trust him. Just as I can't trust anyone, not even the air I breathe.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

Today is two weeks since that fateful day.

Two weeks since I let my trauma get the best of me, two weeks since I last spoke to my husband, two weeks since I last saw his face and two weeks since I last spoke to the beast inside me.

I had been avoiding anyone and everyone since that dreadful night, too broken to see him as anything but a traitor and too ashamed to even look at myself,  because whether I like it or not I am Daisy and Daisy is me.

I used the sleeve of my blouse to wipe the tears brimming in my eyes, determined to not ruin my pricey makeup and ruin my chances of getting this job, again.

I walked into the tall building and smiled at the kind-looking receptionist whose face I had once thought I would never see again.

"Good morning,  please I'm here for the interview."

                                                                ~~~

I skipped into the house with a smile on my face and the acceptance letter in my hand. My spirits were on cloud nine and my heart was doing somersaults in my head.

Nothing could bring me down. But alas that wasn't the case. For it seemed that asking the moon goddess for help in my past life gave her full rights to use my second chance life as an ass wipe.

James sat at the couch closest to the door and the moment he saw me,  he jumped out of the chair and rushed towards me then pecked my lips.

Okay, now my day is ruined.

"How was your job interview?"

I held up the letter to his face and his lips formed into a smile.

In the blink of an eye, his hands were on my waist and before I could react, he lifted me into the air, spun me around, and pulled me in for another kiss, an action I couldn't dodge.

His lips glided across my own and I almost gave in if it wasn't for the bile that rose from the pits of my stomach and the voice I heard in the distance.

"Congratulations,  Mrs. Anderson."

I pulled away from him and searched for the source and when I found it, standing in the corner my heart stopped.

Standing away from me was a beautiful woman who had porcelain skin and enchanting silver eyes, eyes that could trap people in the stormiest of blizzards. If I had seen her anywhere else I would have thought she was a succubus on a mission or an angel who'd fallen from heaven but she was in my house.

What is she…

"Honey…"

James pulled me out of my thoughts and I unwillingly peeled my eyes away from her

"...I know things have been hard for you since we got married and I'm here for you if you need me but my help wouldn't be enough so I got you…"

"A therapist. You got me a therapist."

He nodded his head and with all honesty, I wouldn't have minded a therapist. If the said therapist had been anyone except    Isabella freaking Hartley.