Chapter 6 Playing Along With His Game
1054 Words
Sophia's POV
By the time I finished the handover at the office and walked out, the sky was dark.
I stopped and looked back up at the building. Hundreds of companies stacked inside that glass tower, and three years ago I had started with a few small rooms. I'd worked my way up to an entire floor. I had poured myself into this place.
Like I had poured myself into Wyatt. It was real, the feeling. Even walking away from it — especially walking away — hurt in a way I hadn't fully expected.
"Sophia, don't be sad," Aurora said quietly.
I let myself feel it for exactly one moment. Then I put it away.
Onto the next. Better things ahead.
There were good men in the world. Wyatt had never been my only option. I'd just made the mistake of acting like he was.
I drove home. Opened the front door.
The lights were off. The floor was covered in rose petals. Candles lined a path straight to the living room, and at the end of it — Wyatt, in a blazer, down on one knee, holding a bouquet.
"Sophia. A proposal should come from the man. It should've been me asking."
If I hadn't heard what I'd heard, if I hadn't seen what I'd seen — maybe this would have reached something in me. Maybe.
But I knew exactly what this was. I thought about how many other women had gotten this version of him, and felt nothing but a cold, humorless contempt.
"Pathetic," Aurora muttered.
I smoothed every bit of that from my face and played my part.
"What is all this?"
Wyatt's eyes were warm, his expression serious. "Sophia. Will you marry me?"
A genuinely romantic setup. And all I could see behind it was the image of him and Ivy, pulled from his secret phone like evidence at a trial.
My stomach turned. I smiled anyway.
"Yes. I will."
He slid a ring onto my finger. Seven carats, no question about the price.
So he'd decided to show his hand.
"Sophia —" He moved closer.
I stepped back and made a point of looking at the ring instead. "Wyatt, this had to cost a fortune."
He took the opening. And then he did what I'd been waiting for — he told me who he really was. Everything I'd already known for three years, delivered like a confession I was supposed to find overwhelming.
I performed shock exactly as required. Wide eyes. A hand to my mouth. The whole thing.
"So you're the Silvermoon heir," I said carefully. "Does that mean you'd take me back with you?"
"Sophia, I love you. Of course I want that. But I'm young — I need to establish myself in the pack first. Give me a few more years. Once I'm settled, I'll marry you properly. In front of everyone."
I made my face uncertain. "You're not just telling me what I want to hear?"
"Have I ever lied to you?" he said, without a trace of irony. "Sophia, from the first time I saw you, you were the woman I wanted to go home to."
The compliments kept coming. And then, right on cue, the property deed — this house, already purchased.
"You always wanted a place of your own. I've bought it. I can transfer the title to your name whenever you're ready."
"No — I can't accept this, it's too much —"
"What's mine is yours." He pulled out a card. "And this. One million a month. No limits."
His thumb traced my cheek. "Sophia. I told you I'd take care of you. You don't have to work so hard anymore. I can give you connections, resources, everything. All you have to do is be mine."
What a beautiful story he'd written for himself. A fairy tale about keeping a mistress.
"Disgusting," Aurora said flatly.
I let a single tear fall. Just one, perfectly timed. "Wyatt..."
He leaned in to kiss me.
Any other woman — handed a proposal like this, handed a ring and a deed and a promise — might have genuinely melted. I'll admit it was well executed.
But I had already spotted the camera. Tucked inside the stuffed bear in the display of roses. He wanted proof. Documentation of a victory to show his friends.
I put my hand on his chest and pushed, gently but firmly. "Not tonight..."
Something cold flickered across his eyes. He kept his voice patient. "Why?"
"I've been staying up late, not eating right — my period came early. It's irregular." I looked up at him with wide, apologetic eyes. "You're not upset, are you?"
"Of course not." The smile he gave me took visible effort. "We have plenty of time."
I looked down. "Plenty of time," I said, very softly. "If only that were true."
"What?"
"Nothing — I just —" I shook my head and looked flustered.
His phone rang. His eyes slid away from mine as he stepped to the side to answer it. When he came back, he said he needed to step out for a bit.
I grabbed his hand. "Can't you stay tonight? Just tonight?"
He ruffled my hair. "Donny's having a rough time after the breakup. I'll just check on him. Be good and wait up for me."
"He's going to Ivy," Aurora said, furious.
I knew. My body wasn't available tonight, so naturally he needed to find his entertainment elsewhere.
"Okay," I said. "Don't be too late."
He left.
I waited until I was sure he was gone. Then I went to the trash bin, poured a little prop blood onto some tissue, and dropped it in near the top. I covered it loosely with a clean tissue, leaving just enough of the stained edge visible to be found by someone who was looking.
Then I walked over to the stuffed bear with the camera and sat down in front of it, the property deed in my lap. I let my shoulders shake. I let the tears come. I held the deed to my chest like something precious and looked directly ahead, voice barely above a whisper:
"Wyatt. I just want to stay with you. I just wanted to give you a home."
I have always had a gift for performance.
- Writer
