Chapter5
1101 Words
Sofia’s POV
The morning after I signed my life away to Noah Smith, I woke with the strange sensation that the ground beneath me had shifted.
Sunlight filtered through tall windows I didn’t recognise at first, casting pale gold streaks across a ceiling far too high to belong to my childhood room. I lay still, listening to the quiet hum of a house that breathed luxury in every corner. This wasn’t my parents’ home. This wasn’t Daniel’s world either.
This was Noah’s.
Reality settled slowly, like a second skin. The contract. The signatures. The way Noah’s eyes had lingered on mine after I agreed, as if he’d been waiting for that moment longer than he let on.
I sat up, clutching the silk sheets around me, my pulse skidding. Married. The word echoed strangely in my head. Not in the romantic, breathless way it once might have, but sharp, deliberate, strategic.
A marriage of war.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” I said, forcing steadiness into my voice.
The door opened and Noah stepped inside, already dressed in a charcoal suit that fit him like it had been sculpted onto his body. Crisp. Controlled. Untouchable. His gaze flicked briefly over me, assessing, before softening just enough to unsettle me.
“Good morning, Mrs. Smith,” he said calmly.
The title hit harder than I expected. My fingers tightened in the sheets. “Good morning,” I replied, testing the sound of it.
He moved closer, stopping at a respectful distance. “We have an announcement to make today.”
My brows knit. “Today?”
“Yes.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “Daniel and Daniella will hear about our marriage before the day ends. I prefer not to give enemies time to speculate.”
Enemies.
The word should have frightened me. Instead, something dark and satisfied curled in my chest.
“And my parents?” I asked quietly.
“They’ll be informed as well,” he said. “Publicly. No room for denial. No space for them to pretend you’re disposable.”
That, more than anything, sent a tremor through me.
I swung my legs off the bed and stood, suddenly aware of how exposed I was. Noah’s gaze dipped instinctively before snapping back to my face, jaw tightening as if he were restraining something.
“This changes everything,” I said.
He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “That’s the point.”
---
By noon, the rumour mill was already spinning.
We arrived at his office together, cameras flashing as soon as we stepped out of the car. Noah’s hand settled at the small of my back, warm and grounding, a silent claim that sent murmurs rippling through the crowd.
“Mr. Smith!” a reporter called. “Is it true you got married in secret?”
Noah didn’t break stride. “Yes.”
The simplicity of the answer stunned them.
“And your wife?” another voice shouted. “Why the secrecy?”
He stopped then, turning slightly toward me. His hand tightened, just a fraction. “Because some things are too valuable to expose before they’re protected.”
Every camera swung toward me.
I lifted my chin, meeting the lenses without flinching. For the first time in a long while, I didn’t feel small.
---
The fallout was immediate.
I found out an hour later when my phone began vibrating nonstop. Missed calls. Messages. Voicemails stacking like debris after a storm.
My mother’s name lit up the screen.
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I watched Noah from across his office as he spoke calmly into his phone, issuing quiet instructions that sounded less like requests and more like laws. This was his world, and he ruled it effortlessly.
Another call came through.
Daniel.
I let it ring. Again. And again.
Finally, a message appeared.
What the hell is this, Sofia?
I laughed softly, a sound that surprised even me.
Noah looked up. “You should answer him,” he said mildly. “On speaker.”
My heartbeat spiked. “You’re sure?”
“I’m very sure.”
I tapped the screen.
“What kind of sick game are you playing?” Daniel snapped the moment the call connected. “Married? To Noah Smith? You expect me to believe that?”
I glanced at Noah. He gave a small nod.
“It’s not a game, Daniel,” I said evenly. “It’s my life. Something you made very clear I wasn’t allowed to have with you.”
A sharp inhale on the other end. “You did this to get back at me.”
“Not everything is about you,” I replied coolly. “That was your mistake.”
Noah leaned forward, voice cutting in like steel. “Daniel, this is Noah Smith. I’d advise you to be very careful about how you speak to my wife.”
Silence.
Then, strained disbelief. “Your… wife?”
“Yes,” Noah said. “And if you or Daniella continue harassing her, I’ll consider it a personal provocation. I don’t think you want that.”
The call ended abruptly.
I exhaled, my hands trembling despite myself.
Noah rose and came to stand beside me. “You did well,” he said.
I looked up at him. “They’re going to hate me.”
His gaze was unwavering. “They already did. Now they’ll fear you instead.”
---
That evening, the final blow landed.
Daniella stormed into the house I’d once been made to feel invisible in, her face pale beneath her fury. My parents hovered behind her, panicked, embarrassed, desperate.
“You planned this!” Daniella shrieked when she saw me standing calmly in the living room. “You stole him just to humiliate me!”
I tilted my head. “I didn’t steal anyone. I chose someone who chose me back.”
Her eyes flicked to Noah, who stood at my side like a living warning. “You think this makes you better than me?”
“No,” I said softly. “It makes me free.”
My mother opened her mouth, then closed it again when Noah’s gaze landed on her, cool and assessing.
“We’re leaving,” Noah said, guiding me toward the door. “Sofia doesn’t belong here anymore.”
As we stepped outside, the door closing firmly behind us, I felt something inside me finally snap—not in pain, but in release.
I was no longer the girl begging to be loved.
I was Sofia Smith now.
And this was only the beginning.
- Writer
