Sophia Adams' life was near perfect. She was about to get married to her fiancé, and she had a successful career. Until one day, her life falls apart and she loses everything she's worked for. She decides to move back to her home country, where she encounters Ryan Caddel again. From being friends to lovers, and now strangers, their painful past and memories that had been put away for eight years begin to resurface.
Lihat lebih banyakSOPHIA
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking." A voice broke through my deep train of thoughts. “We are currently descending and will be landing shortly. Please ensure your seatbelt is securely fastened and your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position." I pulled up the window blind and looked outside the plane. Under the clouds, the tall buildings in the city were now visible. This was it. I was back in California. I never thought I'd come back for anything. I left with that intention, but, I guess life has a way of humbling you. In my case, I was insanely—no, I was brutally humbled. I'd never wish what life did to me on anyone else, anyone except Jake and Naomi. I had been living the life people would die for. After graduating fashion school, I started my very own clothing line, and I had worked really hard and brought it to the top with blood, sweat, and tears. Well, my life had been going pretty fantastic until it all hit me like a rock. The third ever incident in my life that has succeeded in breaking me, and I promised myself it would ever be the last. It all started two weeks ago, on a not so beautiful Monday. Two weeks ago... Toronto, Canada. "Oh, Aimee, it better not be something that you can handle yourself,” I grumbled as I walked into my office, my personal assistant coming in behind me. I dropped my bag on the sleek desk and took off my sunglasses. I tilted my head to the left and then right to release the tensed muscles in my neck before giving attention to her again. “I left my house today when I planned to sleep through the day. This better be good.” I was a bit taken aback to see that my usual cheerful personal assistant, Aimee, was not exactly smiling like she used to. Did something happen? The small smile wiped off my face as I straightened up. “Is something wrong?“ “Everything is wrong.” “We've been getting hundreds of calls from our partners since morning, and it's all because of the news going around.” “I know you don't use your phone a lot, but did you not check?“ Even though I tried to act composed, I felt my heart start beating two times faster. I could feel a sudden cold rush up my legs. "Aimee, stop beating around the bush and tell me what's wrong.” “If I knew, would I be asking?“ She sighed and tapped on something on her iPad and handed it over to me. My eyes quickly glazed over the headlines. ' POPULAR CANADIAN CLOTHING LINE CEO, SOPHIE ADAMS, EXPOSED TO HAVE DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE IN CLOTHING PIECES. IS THIS WHERE HER CAREER ENDS?' A sigh of relief escaped my lips as a smile crossed my face. I thought it was something that serious. "Aimee, are you for real? I told you many times to ignore shitty articles like this that are only after clout.” “Who'd believe this trash?“ I chuckled and thrust it back into her hands. I headed for my seat. She rushed to me immediately. “People. On the internet!“ I looked up at her at once. “What?“ “Not just dangerous substances this time, child labor in production accusations, being mean to your employees, threatening your fiancé, and looking down on your best friend, Naomi.” “And as ridiculous as you think that sounds, there is a lot of evidence. Even I start to question if you've been mean to me when you've not.” “That's bullshit!” I scoffed, shaking my head. She exhaled and walked over to my table, where she dropped her iPad once again. I grabbed it immediately and opened the articles. It wasn't a lie. Aimee wasn't joking with me, as much as I wanted her to. The more I read the article, the more frustrated I became. There was no way something like this was happening. This was my peak. Why was something this disastrous and scandalous coming up now? I returned the iPad to Aimee. “Phone my lawyer now and call the broadcasting and media company we partnered with; I'm debunking this with immediate effect. I cannot have anyone ruin my hard work.” “Yes boss,” She grabbed the iPad and walked out. Immediately she did. I picked up my phone and dialed Jake, my fiancé's number, but it didn't go through. My best friend Naomi was suddenly unreachable too. Whoever did this was just plain nasty. They didn't stop at my work; they moved on to my relationship. Threatening Jake? Noami? What a joke. Why would I do that to the only people I have here when I was not insane? I clicked on the article on my laptop and began to read the comments. ' I knew she was up to no good.' ' She was always pretending to be a sweet soul.' ' Act like an angel but is the devil in disguise. I feel bad for her fiancé and best friend. ' ' That voice recording is just nasty.' My hands hovered above the mouse at the last comment. “Voice recording? What voice recording?“ My phone began ringing, and I reached for it as fast as lightning, thinking it was Jake or Naomi, but it was just one of my investors. I took steady breaths, praying it wasn't a call concerning the articles. I swiped across the screen. “Good morning, Mr Alan,” I greeted cheerfully. “It's his secretary today. Mr. Alan asked me to inform you that he'll be withdrawing his investments from the company today.” My heart dropped, my grip on my phone almost losing. I tried to control my breathing and sound composed. “Why the sudden decisions? We had lunch last week, and he said he's planning on- ” "Well, that's his decision now. The documents have been sent today; please do well to get them finalized. I'll hang up now.” “No! Please, can I speak with Mr. Alan? He can't do this, not now.” “I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm only following orders.” She hung up immediately after that. The phone slipped from my hand as the implication of the situation slowly began to register in my brain. Mr Alan was one of my biggest investors. Losing him was already one big loss for the company. “This can't be happening.” "No, this cannot,” I repeated as I pushed my chair forward and began to scroll through the new articles coming up. Suddenly there were hundreds of articles and thousands of viral posts about the scandal on the internet. My phone rang again, and I quickly picked it up from the rug. I put a hand on my mouth as soon as I saw the name flashing on my screen. My feet started to tap the floor continuously against my will. Once I picked up the call, I tried my best to sound calm again, but I failed miserably when the reason for the call was the same as the previous. And when another call came in, another came after that, and two more with the same intent, I knew I was officially doomed. “I'm sorry. I'm only following instructions. I hope you understand.” I fell to the chair, my hands dangling by the side. “This cannot be happening.” “It's not even true. How can I lose 90 percent of all my investments within 10 minutes, all for an article that's not even true?“ The door suddenly pushed open, and Aimee came rushing through it while breathing heavily. I sat up immediately and tried to prepare my heart for her next crushing information. Will it finally bring me down? Let's see. “Sophia,” she panted. “The orders for the sets that were just sold out a day ago, everyone has canceled them.” “And our last week successful collections, everything-” “Everything has been returned.” I couldn't move. For about a minute, I just let her words process slowly in my head. I let my brain digest it and gave it another chance to tell me again that I heard wrong. But I didn't. The proof was Aimee standing right in front of me, with a list expression on her face. She didn't stutter. She wasn't making a joke. It wasn't a reality show. There were no cameras. It was fucking real life. I snapped out of the shock and got on my feet, willing myself to move as I slowly advanced towards her. When I got to her, I held her shoulder, forcing her to look at me. “It's a joke, right?“ I asked as I gave a dry chuckle. “Common Aimee, laugh and tell me it's a prank.” She did not. “I'm sorry, Sophia,” she was trying hard to hold her tears. I slowly let go of her, almost stumbling on my feet as I took a step back. “No, no ” I turned around, frantically running a hand through my hair, as the tears I had been trying really hard to hold back began rolling out of my eyes. My grip on the roots of my hair tightened. I jerked back in pain, rubbing my watered nose. I sniffed and turned to Aimee. “Did Naomi come here today?“ She shook her head. I nodded and exhaled repeatedly. “Did you call Mrs. Renee? What of the media company we work with?“ “Mrs. Renee is on our way. I asked her about calling the broadcasting company, but she said it was a bad idea.” “The people hate you now, so that will only fuel it. It's not wise to do that now.” “Do you think I fucking care about that now?!“ I screamed in anger. I noticed her flinch, but I was too overcome by my anger and frustration to care. “I'm losing everything I fucking worked for in the blink of a fucking eye. Do you think I care what she says at this point?!“ I stopped shouting; my shoulders drooped as my voice came down to a whisper. “I can barely even think properly. Aimee, I'm losing it. This is getting scary.” “Jake is not picking up my calls; neither is Naomi. I'm miserable right now,” I whispered in tears. It hurts right here. I swear it does. I do not deserve this. All those accusations? I could never do that. The stories were so perfectly written with the evidence that I even started to question myself if I ever did that. If even I, who knew myself, was getting in doubt, why would people who didn't know me at all not believe the stories? I heard the door open, but I didn't bother to turn around. I wasn't emotionally or physically ready for the bad news that was at the tip of the tongue of the person. That same night... I stood in front of Jake's apartment door. My legs hurt from walking aimlessly. My eyes hurt from crying, and my heart hurt more from the pain of losing my career. I didn't just lose the investors. I was currently swimming in debt. My lawyer told me it was a lost case. I would have to pay a lot for going against the law. I was fined a lot; I could barely remember half the reason at this point. I would have to pay off my workers too. Return the payments of clothes I sold too. The building of my company, my house, and the few thousand I had left in my savings account were the only things with me. But now I needed to meet Jake. I wanted to know what was going on. And why he suddenly went missing throughout today. The lady at the front desk told me he didn't leave the house today, so I was sure he was home. I put in the key, turned the lock, and walked in. I walked into the sitting room, surprised the lights were not on. I didn't bother to switch on the lights and dropped my bag on the couch. “Babe?“ I called and headed for the room. The door to every room, I opened, but he wasn't there. Out of all things, I certainly did not expect to come back into the living room and see my fiancé making out with a woman on the balcony. First, my brain did a quick reset. I opened my eyes and closed them back quickly, but the scene didn't change. I forced my legs to move, and a gasp escaped my lips immediately I caught the face of the woman. The face of the last person in this world I expected to be having an affair with my fiancé. Naomi. My best friend. I stumbled backward. “This is not real” the words escaped my lips in a whisper, trying to convince my eyes that I was just seeing things. I took another step back, and another, till I was backed up against the wall, but the distasteful image didn't clear off. It was still there, glaring directly at me. Taunting every part of me. My fiancé was cheating with my best friend. I felt a tear slide down my cheek and I slowly touched my face. My breath felt shaky as I stared at the tears that now stained my finger. I felt a lump in my throat and before I broke down completely, I willed myself to grab my handbag and dash out of the house. I didn't want them to see me there. I wasn't ready to face them yet. I wasn't ready to listen to them lie or try to deny, or even worse, accept their actions. I thought my life was ruined seeing my career come crumbling down, but my fiancé cheating with my best friend was just the right definition of my life being ruined. The memories we spent together, the promises he made, the plans we made for our wedding and our home, kept rushing through my head as I took the stairs down. Tears poured down my eyes, and I felt my legs lose their strength as I forced them down the stairs, until I couldn't take it anymore. My knees buckled and my legs gave in, I fell on the last stairs in that path. My body jerked repeatedly as I let the tears out. My hand found their way to my knees, gripping them tight I could feel my fingers digging into the little skin there. I cried till there was nothing left. Till I felt the pain reduce, till I was numb and couldn't move. Because it hurts. It really did.SOPHIA Five years later “Oh, Aimee, it better not be something that you can handle yourself,” I said as I walked into my office, with her rushing in behind me.“I'm here when I'm supposed to be getting gifts for Ryan since he's returning today. This better be good,”“It is,” I paused as soon as she said those words.I recalled the day the news came out about me.Those were the similar lines of words that I spoke. But now things are different. How much everything has changed from then, never fails to amaze me.I had reached and even exceeded what I never thought I would in my business. Though we've had some setbacks, I still didn't let it stop me. I had also given birth to the cutest little girl and she just turned four years old a week ago.I was the luckiest to have such a happy family.“What is it?““Jerls has agreed to partner with us,”I turned to her immediately. “Don't play with me,”She turned the iPad so I could read the words on the screen. “I'm serious,”“Wow,” I burst
Two weeks laterSOPHIAI was writing down all I needed to do for the day, on my iPad. My wedding with Ryan was already just a day away. We didn't want something extra, after everything that happened so our only guests were family members and close friends. I also invited the team from the office and Aimee.Apart from making preparations for the wedding, I was also preparing for the opening of my company here and I almost forgot how much it takes to put everything into place, especially since we didn't have a building yet.Ryan had offered to help with that but I refused. I wanted to do it on my own, and if I eventually found it hard, I promised to tell him.Also, after the wedding, I'd be moving in with Ryan. And we were leaving this building, to the house that he bought. It was just about twenty minutes ride from here. Since Aimee was staying with me for the next time, Ryan offered his apartment for me to use once we finally moved into the new house. And I was grateful for that.I h
TWO DAYS LATERSOPHIAI felt someone hold my hand and suddenly it felt like I was being pulled out of a deep hole. And then all of a sudden, I forced my eyes open and I was immediately welcomed with a bright light. I groaned as I tried to adjust to the sudden light I was exposed to.After a few seconds, I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the white ceilings. I groaned a bit as I looked around, taking note of my surroundings and then everything came rushing back.I survived. I was alive and I didn't die. I looked down at who was holding me and a small smile formed on my face when I saw Ryan. His hands held mine tightly but he was fast asleep. I wonder if he slept at all. I didn't know for how long I was out.I slowly raised the hand he wasn't holding and gently brushed through his hair.At that moment, he raised his head a bit and immediately he saw that my eyes were opened, and his eyes widened.“Sophie!“ He exclaimed as he sat up properly. I smiled.“I survived,”Tears well
SOPHIA Two days later…Two days had passed since the release of the game and I wasn't even expecting the amount of success that it had but it was just perfect.Everything was working out well.We were currently having a team dinner. Even though I had quit, Ryan thought it only made sense that I was there, since I was a part of the project.Ryan got on his feet.“Everyone has worked hard and given their best despite the pressure and challenges that they faced,”“RSC won't be standing without our hardworking staff members,”“So I want us to pat ourselves on the back for working hard,”I smiled.“Cheers to the success of our project!“ Ryan said as he raised his glass. We all got on our feet too, raising our glasses.“Cheers!“We took turns to clink glasses and I clinked my glass last with Ryan, he smiled warmly at me and I returned the smile.We spent the rest of the night talking and we left almost at midnight.“See you tomorrow, “ Ryan said as he hugged me.“Are you scared?“ I was g
SOPHIAFOUR DAYS LATERI pulled up my hair into a ponytail and then began to climb the stairs to the top of the yacht I put on my slippers as I sat on one of the benches.The wind was blowing a lot but I liked it even more. There was just something beautiful about it that made me happy.I tucked the stray strand of her that was blown to my face, behind my ear.A few days had passed since Jake went on the news. There had been various posts talking about me and finally, I wasn't being insulted or ridiculed. I had also received countless texts and calls from colleagues and so-called friends who were quick to leave after everything came down, not wanting us to go out for lunch or talk, but I had politely turned all of them down.Now everyone was waiting for what I wanted to do next. I was even waiting to see what I would do.After sitting on the upper deck for a while, I decided to go to the back of the yacht to dip my foot in the water.It was the night before the start of a new year, a
SOPHIA“How were you able to find me?“ I asked Ryan as we got into his car, he drove closely behind the police.“Well, he was smart but not smart enough. We tracked the location on your phone,”I nodded. “Thank you for coming to find me,”He interlocked my hand in his.“It's the least I can do after you risked your life trying to get evidence,”“I'm proud of you, my little ninja,”I chuckled. Well, I was proud of myself too. I never thought I'd make it out alive. I didn't even spend one night in his house. “So, does this mean it's over now?“ I asked.He nodded. “He would get his lawyer and want to defend himself but we have the best lawyer in the state and enough evidence so yes, we can say it's over now,”“If he's in jail, the contract is no longer valid,”I exhaled in relief, and a small smile formed on my face.Finally, the peace I hoped for was here.'Not entirely, remember?' The little voice spoke in my head but I shoved them aside.It wasn't the time to think of that.I dozed
SOPHIA'My head hurts,' was the first thing I thought of when I felt myself regaining consciousness. I opened my eyes and had to squint them back at the sudden brightness.How did I get here? I tried to recall what had happened.I went into the kitchen to get a drink, and Lucas offered me a drink, I settled for orange juice instead, feeling myself getting dizzy, the smirk on Lucas face and then I passed out.I was in a huge mess. How long had I even been out?I looked around. I was in an almost empty room. The only thing in the room was an old TV, a worn-out couch, a rocking chair, and wooden table that had begun to wear out, and then the chair I was tied onto.Lucas was going far.How did he even find out? I was silent all through the time he walked in. Or was it my scent? Or was there a CCTV camera in the room?It had to be that. Shit, how did I not think of that?I looked around me again.This didn't look like I was in his house. Where had he taken me?The door opened and I looke
SOPHIA I put it in and surprisingly it unlocked and the door slid open. My eyes widened.Okay, this was crazy.I placed the picture back in its place and walked into the study room. The doors closed on its own.I found the light switch and flipped it on.There was a long wooden table with chairs, at the center of the room, like the ones in the meeting room, taking up almost all the space there.By the side there were two wooden chests, staying side by side, and then a shelf with glass doors. The shelf had antique objects like vases and cups in it so I didn't bother wasting my time checking it.I turned to the wooden chest instead. They looked like something that would have what I needed.I went on my knees and pulled it open.My eyes widened and my hands flew to cover my mouth immediately I saw what was in them.Freaking guns! How did he get this? Did he sell them? I opened the second one and I frowned when the first thing I saw were teddy bears and fluffy toys, but this wasn't th
SOPHIATwo days later…“You made the right decision,” Lucas said as I walked towards his car while pulling my luggage and holding one bag in my hand.I rolled my eyes.If only he knew what I had in stock for him. He'd regret ever liking me.He took my bag from me and placed it in the back seat and before he could hold out the door for me, I had already pulled it open and got in.I don't need his stupid act of service. He got in the car, started it, and drove off.“I'm surprised you agreed so fast. I was thinking I'd have to do one or two things to get you back on track,”Just one minute into the fake marriage I was already losing my mind and feeling like strangling him. I hope I won't blow my cover.“Don't worry I'm going to treat you better than any of your exes have,”Any of my exes? But he sent the second one as a spy and he's nowhere on the level of Ryan.“Oh, I see you don't want to talk to me,”It was better he caught on fast.“You'll come along soon,” he added and then turned
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