CLOSE TO YOUR HEART ( WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE MY QUEEN)

Sophia packed her bags, her hands shaking slightly as she zipped up her suitcase. She took one last look around the room that had been her prison for twenty years. The cold, sterile walls seemed to mock her, reminding her of the emotional distance her foster parents had always maintained. "Sophia, you're making a huge mistake," her foster mother, Mrs. Jenkins, said, her voice dripping with disdain. "Those people you're going to aren't even wealthy like us. You'll be trading in comfort for poverty." Sophia's foster sister, Emma, chimed in, "Yeah, Mom's right. You're just going to end up struggling. Why bother?" Sophia's eyes flashed with determination. "I'm doing this because they're my family, and I deserve to know them." " Well, you can live if you want after all, you have never been of help to us just a burden " Mrs Jenkins replied with disdain written all over her face . "ha " Sophia chuckled, " a burden?, me a burden? is that how you all have been seeing me in this house, as just a burden? alright I will leave! when she made a move to step out, Emma blocked her. " Hold on Sophia" "What now"? Sophia replied, but Emma proceeded to grab her suitcase and opened it. " just making sure you didn't mistakenly drop my stuff in your bag while packing. Sophia stared at her condescendingly " are you trying to insinuate something? now zip up my suitcase and give it back". Sophia made a move to snatch the suitcase but Mrs Jenkins intervened. " "well, Sophia just let her search, or are you hiding something? Sophia could not believe her ears " You guys are unbelievable "! she exclaimed fine, go ahead and check, but make sure you rearrange my stuff's just as you met them" she could not be bothered to argue with them, from this point on they meant nothing to her after seeing their true colours. Sophia who never knew the Jenkins couple were not her biological parents, grew up doing whatever they wanted her to do. her life had revolved around taking care of Emma, whom she assumed was her junior sister, Mrs Jenkins had fed her the narrative of being a protective elder sister to Emma, at first she had thought it was normal until her 13th birthday when Mr Gray Jenkins her foster dad had bought her a dress for her birthday, but Emma insisted she wanted the dress, instead of Mrs Jenkins letting Emma understand the occasion why she can't have the dress and also reprimand her, she had asked Sophia to give the dress to Emma instead. And she ended up celebrating that birthday in her old worn out dress. As she was thought not to cry but to be strong for her sister, Sophia had withheld her grievances through out the event which was poorly done. But only she knew how she had weeped alone that night, but there was no one she could complain to , after many occasions she had tried to complain and ask for support but couldn't get, she had learnt to grow stronger, without relying on any body. Just when Emma was about zipping the suitcase she noticed Brian the young master of the Oswald family, one among the three top richest family in B town. He walked towards them looking handsome as always with his well polished leather shoes worn under a well tailored blue suit jacket and a black pants. When he smiled, his eyes crinkled to crescent just like the moon, Emma's heart hitched just watching him walk, he was betrothed to the elder daughter of the Jenkins family, which is supposedly Sophia, but luckily she had convinced her parents to expose the true origin of Sophia, after all they were not related at all . And now she would be the one marrying him as the next madam Oswald, she smiled to herself imagining the beautiful future ahead. So she decided to cause some drama inorder to embarrass Sophia Infront of Brian. She hiddenly retrieve a platinum necklace from her dress pocket and dropped it in the suitcase before exclaiming...,.... "Oh my goodness Sophia !, what is this doing in your box? if you liked this necklace you should have said so earlier instead of stealing it " she said while pulling out the platinum necklace. Sophia raised her eyebrows knowingly while staring at the necklace, before she could utter a word mr's Jenkins interrupted her with a slap..... "You good for nothing girl, after raising you for so many years, you repaid us by learning how to steal aren't you ashame?" "Mum do you seriously believe I stole that?" Sophia asked.... " If not you, are you claiming I intentionally dropped it there to frame you?" Emma replied... Sophia raised her brow a little and chuckled before saying..... "isn't that the case"? "You" ! Emma was so riled up, mum did you hear her?" . Sophia continued." If you think I stole the necklace, what am I going to use it for? " "To wear it off course, I know you lack such stuff, so you hiddenly took it, isn't that obvious" Emma said, giving her a look of provocation , but Sophia was not bothered, she casually walked closer to Emma, then spoke up, " look everyone" she stretched her arms out and then continued " Are there any sores on my arms? " she asked, making the onlookers confused..... "Sophia what trick are you trying to play this time, don't even think about denying the theft" Emma said. Sophia smiled and replied " Relax dear sister, am not about to play magic, just gonna showcase the truth so everyone can see". Emma became internally panicked, what truth is she trying to proof? she had always known that Sophia was a lot smarter than her in terms of everything even far prettier than her, and this had always made her so jealous that many at times she had thought of ruining her looks. Not being able to control her emotions she yelled out " Sophia just admit the truth you are a thief" Everyone turned to stare at her surprisingly, she had always acted so demure and reasonable before now, avoiding any foul words, so what's going on today..... Although this thoughts ran through their minds no one dared to utter a word. At this point, Brian who had kept quiet from the beginning suddenly stepped forward pushed Sophia aside shielding Emma from her then spoke " Sophia enough of the nonsense! we all know this was the necklace I bought for Emma on her 18th birthday, we know you have always wished for one , but stealing is bad, you should have asked instead of stealing, you"............. But Sophia interrupted his speech ," I was about admitting to something, so you guys should quite down let me continue " Emma having Brian stood up for her and thinking Sophia was about admitting to the theft had a smug look on her face..... Sophia continued..... "you can all see that my hands are clear of any rash nor sores" she proceeded to take the necklace from Emma and held it in her palms then said " you all should observe for some seconds " and all of a sudden some red bumps began forming on her fair arms causing those areas to look rough. One of the onlookers exclaimed " my goodness what's going on? Sophia proceeded to explain "Well as you all can see, am allergic to platinum, a little contact with it will create rash on my body as you are seeing now" everyone became shocked, even mr's Jenkins could no longer keep her face straight cause she didn't know of Sophia's allergy as a mother, some of the rich ladies who had come visiting earlier before stumbling upon such scenes could not help but give her pointed looks and shaking their heads.. " So Emma do you still think I stole your necklace to wear" ? before Emma could reply she cut her off " or are you going to say I stole it to sell it out for money? " Emma being seen through her plots became flustered so she stammered " wel. .l.l..well, then how did it end up in your suitcase everyone here saw it" Sophia rolled her eyes " because you put it there yourself" "no....no oooo.way " Emma stammered but Sophia couldn't be bothered to further argue with her, it was clear to everyone around that Emma had orchestrated the whole theft drama making herself look pathetic" That's your business, now get down and rearrange my stuffs, you just wasted our precious time, next time act better.." Emma was about retorting but her mum having been embarrassed enough halted her and urged her to rearrange the suitcase to prevent further embarrassment. Emma reluctantly bend down and rearrange them with furry clearly showing on her face. Sophia collected her luggage and made a move. As Sophia turned to leave, Mrs. Jenkins handed her a small envelope. "Here's a check for the clothes and food we've provided you over the years. You can repay us when you're rich, I suppose." Sophia's face burned with anger, but she took the envelope, knowing it was futile to argue. She walked out the door, feeling a mix of emotions: excitement for the unknown, sadness for the life she was leaving behind, and anticipation for the family she was about to meet.