Trophy wife, Hidden truths

In Distress

CHAPTER FOUR

The night air was cold, heavy with the damp smell of rain.

Sofia slipped out of The Velvet Room unnoticed, the dim red lights fading behind her as the door shut. No one called her name, no flashes went off, no whispers followed her which gave her relieve. Only the steady hum of the city, the hiss of car tires on wet roads, and the echo of her heels on the pavement could be heard.

She slid into her car, the leather stiff and unwelcoming, and shut the door. For a moment she sat still, her hands locked around the steering wheel, her chest rising and falling too fast.

She knew she should have driven away but she just couldn’t. The house she used to call home no longer felt like hers. It had become a prison, her role reduced to shadows while Isabella played the wife and lover both in the open and real life.

The tears came suddenly, burning and spilling before she could hold them back. She leaned forward, her forehead pressed against the wheel, her sobs filling the silence around her.

A sharp knock broke through against the glass, terrified Her head jerked up. A figure stood by the driver’s side. Tall. Broad shouldered. A black coat cut sharply against the night, the faint light above catching in his dark hair, touched with silver at the temples. His eyes fixed on her, steady and searching as though he was not seeing her but seeing through her.

Recognition stirred. A memory from few nights ago at the ball with her husband. She had been standing by the balcony railing when he had appeared beside her, asking quietly, “Are you okay?” She had fled from him and his intense eyes and walked away.

She tried to lower the window, tried to gather herself enough to tell him she was fine, but the sob broke out instead, raw and humiliating even to her.

Something shifted in his expression. He moved with a certainty that didn’t invite refusal. The car door opened, the cold rushing in with him, and suddenly he was there, filling her space. Without asking and without hesitation, he slipped his arms beneath her and lifted her.

Her body resisted for a moment, stiff with surprise, but exhaustion betrayed her. She had nothing left to fight for, he was free to kill her as far as she was concerned.

“Take her car,” he said over his shoulder, to someone her tear filled eyes couldn't see,, his voice was low and harmoniously sweet almost like candy but also sharp and carries authority, "who is this man" she thought to herself, Another man appeared, she assumed was the driver, neat in gloves and slid into her car without a word.

“This isn’t…” she tried, her voice catching.

“Save your strength,” he murmured, his gaze ahead, not down at her.

She should have resisted, demanded to be put down, but she didn’t. The scent of him, his musky cologne with something darker, sharper underneath wrapped around her. Her head fell against his chest before she could stop it.

When she opened her eyes again, it was not her bedroom ceiling above her.

The room was large, dressed in muted colors that absorbed the firelight flickering from the hearth. Heavy curtains framed tall windows, the gardens outside washed silver by the moon. The air was different, quiet and airy with the weight of power in every detail. This was not wealth for display. It was deeper, ingrained, unquestionable, the kind of wealth she only sees in movies.

She pushed herself up slowly, her muscles reminding her of how she had been carried. The bed beneath her was too soft, too indulgent, as though it could swallow secrets whole.

The door opened.

He stood there, framed by firelight. His coat was gone, his shirt sleeves rolled slightly, but the same sharpness clung to him. His eyes locked on hers steady but unreadable, she wondered what he's thinking about her.

She parted her lips, but no words came.

"its okay, you don't have to say anything, take a shower and I'd make you breakfast, also, you’re safe here,” he said at last, his voice even and final.

Something in her wanted to doubt him, to demand answers. But sitting there in the heavy silence of that room, she found herself almost believing him, she pulled the covers over head and slept off, its been so long she felt safe.