Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 75

Sophia couldn’t believe her ears.

Everything around her stopped in time.

It took her all her willpower to not pass out right then and there.

So she did the only thing she thought to do.

Run.

RUN.

Run as far away as possible, to wherever possible at that given moment of time.

She wanted no one by her side, none of her family, or friends, no one.

She didn’t know why she felt this way, this was why she and he partook in this ruse, to benefit off of each other.

But… it was one thing that had her incredibly muddled the entire time.

And now she’d gotten her answer.

It was all for power.

It was his greed that was why he did what he did and acted around her that way.

Was she nothing more than a plaything to him?

She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t think of anything else but him.

Her vision blurred.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Sister?” Louis asked.

“Why are you running in the hallway?” He asked.

His question was ignored, as Sophia kept on running.

Fighting back tears, she ran to her quarters.

Her only instinct was to run.

Once she made it to her quarters, she locked the door behind her.

She sat on the floor, taking a deep breath.

__

Ava had purposely left the door slightly open so she’d be able to see Sophia eavesdropping on her and Nicholas’ conversation.

She knew Sophia, and what she’d do if she discovered her and Nicholas talking. It was incredibly obvious and not too out of character for her.

She smirked as she saw Sophia leave out of the corner of her eye.

Her smirk quickly turned into a frown once she saw the way Nicholas was staring at her.

“You think I’m doing this all for power?” Nicholas asked her, a raging ball of fury on the inside.

His voice increased in volume, slightly scaring Ava, “What kind of person do you think I am?”

“YOU THINK I’M DOING THIS FOR ACCESS TO HER KINGDOM?” He bellowed.

“I care about her, something you should learn to do. Beginning with her.”

“I may have had ulterior motives in the beginning, but that was until I began to get to know her better.”

“Everything was an act until I got to know her better,” he corrected himself.

Ava stayed silent.

Sophia had left by then, there was nothing else that needed saying from her.

She watched Nicholas.

Ava couldn’t care when he left, her plan had succeeded. It’d worked perfectly the way she planned it.

“It worked,” she rejoiced in her success.

She had a pleased look plastered on her face.

“I’ll be seeing you at the reception, Sophia,” she muttered before she left the room to prepare herself for the wedding reception.

__

“I’m coming to the wedding reception,” Sophia convinced herself after the last two-three hours of being locked in her quarters.

She’d promised Louis she’d be there, and she was a woman of her word, no matter what she was going through at the current moment.

Her voice broke as she said to herself, “No matter what Nicholas did either.”

“Nicholas,” she said as she stared at the ceiling.

“Who used me for the power I’m going to hold,” she said without blinking.

She sniffled.

“He used me,” she sniffled again.

She couldn’t get him off her mind. She wondered if everything she felt was a sham if it’d all been a lie Nicholas had concocted to get with her and use her for all she was worth.

She wasn’t angry, she wasn’t resentful, she wasn’t aggrieved, she was hurt.

Deeply, deeply hurt. That he did everything with an objective. Everything behind the scenes was done with an objective.

Use, or be used.

She willed herself to get out of bed and prepare herself for the wedding reception, and before that, a short visit to Louis’ quarters.

Sophia sat up, sitting still and silent, her heart aching. She assumed everything he’d done was all a part of his ‘master plan’. So, she’d act unfazed and walk in the wedding reception unfazed.

She breathed, knowing she’d feel better if she had someone to talk to, although ‘talk’ wasn’t the right word for it.

She sighed exasperatedly, knowing she had to prepare herself for the wedding reception since time was running out.

The tabloids would have had a field day if Nicholas had been spotted at the wedding reception and she hadn’t.

They’d start speculating and it’d be a mess. She usually wouldn’t spare a second thought to speculations but she didn’t want anything to do with him at the current moment.

For the wedding reception, she chose to step out of her comfort zone this one time.

She mumbled to herself encouraging words as she picked the perfect ensemble for the wedding reception in her walk-in closet.

Once she picked a gown, she did her own makeup, choosing the accessories she’d use.

The minute she finished her makeup look for the wedding reception, she entered her closet for a change of clothing to put on her gown.

Sophia slipped on a pair of sky blue suede pumps and grabbed a matching baby-blue clutch bag to go along with it.

For her choice of earrings, she opened a velvet box which revealed a pair of beautiful pearl stud earrings that’d been given to her as a gift. A gift from none other than Nicholas during their elaborate ruse.

She pondered on whether or not to use it, staring at the velvet box as she remembered the moment Nicholas gifted her it. She remembered the time Nicholas gifted her a small, velvet box with a pair of the most beautiful earrings. She loved it.

Knowing she couldn’t let such beautiful earrings go to waste over what she’d just heard, she decided to wear it, reaching for them before she spotted a piece of paper sticking out of the velvet.

She squinted.

‘What’s this?’ Sophia wondered as she pulled out a folded piece of paper from the black velvet box.

She considered throwing it away since it was from Nicholas, but something told her to open it and give it a read. Who knew what it’d entail?

She reasoned, ‘It wouldn’t hurt to read it,’ and unfolded it.

Written on there, was a wall of neat penmanship.

‘It’s a letter,’ she realized.

‘Thank goodness I hadn’t thrown it away,’ she said with a scoff.

She began reading the letter, wondering what it was past-Nicholas had to say.

‘Sophia.’

‘I know there’s unlikely you’ll read this, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.’

‘It might not be a huge deal to you, but it is to me.’

‘I know you don’t believe in it. I know why too.’

‘I know there’s no chance you’ll reciprocate this. Hell, I doubt you’ll get back to me on this, but I’m doing it anyway. It’s now or never.’

‘So… here it is.’

‘I have feelings for you.’

‘And I’ll say it again, I have feelings for you.’

‘The same feelings you don’t believe in, yes.’

‘The same feelings you think are icky and distracting, the feelings that you find… unworth it.’

‘But, for me? I think they are. I think these feelings are worth it. And I think you’re worth loving.’

‘I came to Beldovia with ulterior motives.’

‘I wanted power. I was greedy. I thought of nothing else but power. My ambition blinded me. I was power-hungry and nothing else mattered as much as protecting my kingdom no matter what it took. It was why I started our ruse and even thought of it in the first place.

‘I’m not much of a wordy person, but… I can say with certainty these feelings of mine, they’re real, and they’re not going to cease anytime soon.’

‘I’m not going to start with the reasons why I have feelings for you or why I should, but reasons why I don’t instead.’

‘I don’t love you for your looks.’

‘I don’t love you for the power you hold.’

‘I don’t love you for your amazing personality.’

Sophia stopped reading.

‘I love you for the way you set trends, not follow them.’

‘I love you for the way you smile, the kind of smile that’d easily put the stars to shame.’

‘As cheesy as it sounds, I love you for you.’

‘From, Nicholas.’

Sophia folded back the letter with trembling hands.

She closed her eyes. She couldn’t speak.

Her lips quivered.

Her knees were weak; she fell to the floor, her long gown successfully softening her fall, dropping the letter Nicholas had written for her.

Easier said than done to march in the reception unfazed and completely unbothered, she quickly realized.

‘It’s a part of his plan, what’s written here isn’t true.’

‘It’s all fake.’

‘It’s all fake. Dammit, it’s all fake.’

‘There’s no chance it’s real.’

‘There’s no chance he has feelings for me.’

Sophia had shortness of breath. Her breathing was rapid. She tried holding it back, but she couldn’t any longer.

One tear dripped down her cheek and hit the carpet.