Chapter Six : A Promise to Herself
445 Words
Sleep deserted Sophia that night.
She lay awake, staring at the ceiling, replaying every word her father had spoken.
Get married.
The condition echoed in her mind over and over again.
She couldn’t understand it.
What did marriage have to do with running a business?
Growing up, she had watched her father destroy the woman he had promised to love. She had buried her little sister because of his uncontrollable anger. Those painful memories had shaped the way she saw men and marriage.
To Sophia, marriage wasn’t a beautiful union.
It was a prison.
A place where dreams died and promises were broken.
Many men had admired her over the years. Some had asked her out, while others had openly expressed their feelings.
She rejected every single one of them.
Not because she wasn’t beautiful or capable of loving, but because she had built a wall around her heart long ago.
At twenty-five, Sophia had never been in a relationship.
She had never allowed herself to fall in love.
She was still a virgin, not because she was waiting for the perfect man, but because she had convinced herself that no man was worth trusting.
The more she thought about her father’s condition, the more resentment she felt toward him.
“How could he ask this of me after everything he put us through?” she thought bitterly.
The following morning, she called her two closest friends, Cynthia and Bella, and asked them to meet her at their favourite café.
After they settled down, Sophia told them everything—from her father’s decision to the condition he had attached to handing over the family business.
Bella exchanged a glance with Cynthia before smiling gently.
“Maybe this is your chance to give love a chance,” Bella said.
Cynthia nodded in agreement.
“I actually know someone,” she added with a grin. “My boyfriend has a friend who’s kind, responsible, and successful. I could introduce the two of you.”
Sophia shot her a sharp look.
“Never say that to me again.”
Her friends fell silent.
“You both know how I feel about marriage,” she continued. “I’m not interested, and I’m never going to be.”
The conversation ended there.
On her way home, Sophia made up her mind.
If taking over her father’s company meant getting married, then she wanted nothing to do with it.
She would build her own career.
She would apply for jobs at other companies, work her way to the top, and prove that she could succeed without accepting her father’s condition.
As far as Sophia was concerned…
Marriage was not an option.
- Writer
