CHAPTER SIX
1438 Words
AUTHOR’S POV
“Sonia!”
Margaret’s voice echoed sharply down the hallway as she hurried after her.
The sound of the door slamming still lingered in the air, vibrating through the walls like a warning.
By the time Margaret reached the corridor leading to the guest wing, Sonia had already disappeared inside one of the rooms. The door was half-closed, trembling slightly from the force with which it had been pushed.
Margaret didn’t knock.
She pushed it open.
“Sonia…”
Her words stopped.
Sonia stood by the window, her back turned, shoulders shaking. One hand pressed tightly against her mouth as if she was trying to hold something in, something too big, too painful.
A sob slipped through anyway.
Raw and broken.
Margaret’s expression softened instantly as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
“Oh, my poor girl…” she murmured, walking closer.
At the sound of her voice, Sonia turned, and the moment Margaret saw her face, something twisted deep in her chest.
Tears streamed freely down Sonia’s cheeks, her eyes red, her composure completely shattered.
“I didn’t think it would be like this…” Sonia whispered, her voice trembling. “I thought… I thought if I came back…”
Her voice broke.
Margaret reached her quickly, pulling her into an embrace.
“I thought he would at least look at me,” Sonia continued, her words spilling out between sobs. “I thought we would talk… that we could fix things…”
Her fingers clenched into Margaret’s sleeve.
“But he didn’t even hesitate,” she cried. “He didn’t even care.”
Margaret’s eyes darkened.
She tightened her hold on Sonia, her gaze turning cold as she stared ahead.
“He’s being forced,” she said firmly. “Don’t mistake that for indifference.”
Sonia shook her head weakly. “No… you didn’t see him. He didn’t argue. He didn’t fight it. He just stood there… like it didn’t matter.”
Her voice dropped, quieter now, but more painful.
“Like I don’t matter.”
Margaret pulled back slightly, gripping Sonia’s shoulders.
“Don’t say that,” she said sharply. “You know that’s not true.”
“Then why her?” Sonia whispered.
The question hung in the air.
Heavy. Unavoidable.
Margaret’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“Ava…” she said slowly, the name laced with disdain. “Is nothing.”
Sonia let out a small, broken laugh. “She’s not nothing if she’s the one standing beside him.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“That girl is only there because of Nicholas,” she snapped. “Without him, she wouldn’t even be in this house.”
Sonia’s tears didn’t stop.
“But she is here,” she said softly. “And now… she’s going to marry him.”
The words seemed to echo in the room.
Margaret’s jaw tightened.
“No,” she said firmly.
Sonia looked up at her.
“No?” she repeated faintly.
Margaret’s eyes gleamed with something sharp.
“This marriage will not happen.”
Sonia’s breath caught.
“What do you mean?”
Margaret stepped back, her posture straightening, her composure returning, but this time, it wasn’t warmth that filled her expression.
It was resolve.
“Do you really think I would stand by and watch that girl take your place?” she asked.
Sonia hesitated.
“My place…?” she whispered.
Margaret softened her tone slightly, but the intensity remained.
“Yes,” she said. “Don’t you understand? You were always the one I chose for Lucas.”
Something flickered in Sonia’s eyes.
Hope. Fragile, but there.
“You and him… you had a history,” Margaret continued. “A real connection. Not this… arrangement.”
Sonia swallowed hard.
“But things ended,” she said quietly. “He left. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain…”
“And whose fault was that?” Margaret cut in sharply.
Sonia froze.
The question lingered between them, uncomfortable, unresolved.
Margaret exhaled slowly, regaining control.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. “What matters is what we do now.”
Sonia’s fingers tightened at her sides.
“What can we do?” she asked, her voice uncertain.
Margaret’s lips curved slightly, not into a smile, but something colder.
“We remove the obstacle.”
Sonia’s eyes widened slightly.
“Ava…” she said under her breath.
Margaret nodded.
“She’s the only reason this is happening,” she said. “Take her out of the equation… and everything falls apart.”
Sonia looked away, her emotions flickering across her face.
“That’s not so easy,” she murmured. “Grandfather trusts her. Lucas doesn’t care about anything, but… he’s not going to oppose this.”
Margaret let out a quiet scoff.
“Lucas doesn’t need to oppose it,” she said. “He just needs a reason to reject it.”
Sonia turned back to her slowly.
“A reason…?”
Margaret’s gaze sharpened.
“Men like Lucas don’t tolerate complications,” she said. “Especially not ones that threaten his control.”
Sonia’s breathing slowed as she listened.
“You mean…” she began carefully, “we make Ava the problem?”
Margaret’s smile deepened just slightly.
“Exactly.”
Silence filled the room again.
But this time, it wasn’t heavy with grief.
It was filled with something else.
Something darker.
Sonia hesitated.
“She doesn’t seem like someone who would cause trouble,” she said quietly. “She barely speaks.”
Margaret laughed softly.
“That’s exactly why she’s dangerous,” she replied. “People like her… they win sympathy without doing anything.”
Sonia frowned slightly.
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to,” Margaret said dismissively. “Just remember this, if we don’t act now, she will take everything that should have been yours.”
Sonia’s expression shifted.
The hesitation in her eyes slowly gave way to something else.
Something firmer.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
Margaret studied her for a moment.
Then she stepped closer, lowering her voice.
“We don’t rush,” she said. “We don’t act carelessly.”
Sonia leaned in slightly.
“We observe,” Margaret continued. “We wait. And when the right moment comes…”
Her voice dropped even lower.
“We make sure this marriage never happens.”
Sonia’s heart pounded in her chest.
“And if that’s not enough?” she asked quietly.
Margaret’s gaze darkened.
“Then we make sure she’s the one who walks away.”
—————————————————-
Outside, the house continued to buzz with preparations.
Everything looked normal.
Everything felt like a celebration.
But inside that room, something had shifted.
Something had begun.
Sonia walked slowly to the window, staring out at the vast estate.
Her tears had stopped.
Her expression was no longer broken.
It was calm.
Too calm.
“Ava…” she murmured softly.
Her fingers curled slightly against the glass.
“If you hadn’t come into this house…”
Her voice faded.
Margaret watched her carefully.
“Don’t hesitate,” she said quietly. “Hesitation is how you lose.”
Sonia didn’t respond immediately.
Her gaze remained fixed outside.
Unmoving. Unblinking.
Then finally, she spoke.
“I won’t lose.”
———————————————
Downstairs, Ava stood in the middle of the chaos, unaware.
Unaware of the eyes now watching her.
Unaware of the plans already forming.
Unaware that what had started as a forced marriage…
Was slowly turning into something far more dangerous.
Upstairs, Margaret reached for her phone.
Her expression was cold.
Calculating. Deliberate.
“It’s time,” she said quietly.
Sonia turned slightly.
“To do what?”
Margaret’s lips curved faintly.
“To remind everyone… exactly who Ava is.”
Her thumb hovered over the screen.
Then pressed.
She dialed a number without hesitation.
The line connected almost immediately.
“I need information,” she said, her voice calm and controlled.
“Everything you can find on Ava.”
Then…she paused.
Her gaze shifted slightly, thoughtful.
“And listen carefully,” she added.
“If there’s nothing worth finding…”
Her lips curved faintly.
“Make sure there is.”
She ended the call.
Slowly. Deliberately.
Then looked up at Sonia.
“This marriage,” she said quietly, “will not happen.”
Outside, the wind brushed softly against the windows.
But inside…
Something far more dangerous had just begun.
- Writer
