A Wife for the Billionaire
Chapter 84: SOFIA

Chapter 84: SOFIA

I didn’t even acknowledge Vera as I dashed out of there.

I was late and the last thing I needed was for Alicia or her daughters, depending on who got home first, to start sniffing around.

Charlie, I may have told to cover for me, but that had been in case Alicia called. He wouldn’t fare so well on a face to face confrontation.

Charlie wasn’t a good liar. One stutter and Alicia or her evil daughters would smell the lie.

It took me years and a whole lot of practice to be able to make my lies believable for their ears.

Charlie won’t stand a chance.

By the time I got to the elevator, it was packed and ready to descend. So was the one on the right.

Cursing inwardly, I dashed for the stairs. It was a foolish decision, but the mind can barely think right when it’s in a panic mode.

Floor after floor, I practically jumped the stairs. My mind might not be thinking straight when it was in a panic mode, but the body steers to whatever course it charts. And with a shit ton of adrenaline too.

I checked the elevator on every floor, but they were yet to arrive and even if they were, there were a lot of people waiting to get onboard.

It was hard running and jumping with my skirt, but I pushed the flexibility of the fabric, testing it to the stretchest of its ability.

I was on the 45th floor and it was yet to fail me. But I could feel the fabric waning and only a fool would test it further. I was in a rush, but I didn’t want to lose my appearance in the course of it.

Besides, even if I make it on time, what explanation would I have for Alicia and her daughters when they got home or came to check up on me at Charlie’s Vet.

Unless, I could try telling them that a rabid dog, fanged or clawed at it. It was believable, but not for someone as smart as Alicia or her daughters.

From the 44th, I began sliding down the rails.

People yelled, they screamed, they pointed, but I didn’t care. I had to beat the time to avoid a repeat of what had happened some years ago.

People may say that I feared Alicia and her daughters too much, but they won’t understand. It wasn’t just fear, Alicia held the power to restrict my movements for a very long time.

All she had to do was say the words,

"This is Sofia Reed, daughter of the criminal, Simon Reed."

And that would be it, everything I’ve worked for and all I dreamed to be and become, will vanish into thin air.

As something of a public figure, no one would doubt her, she had told me several times how much I looked like him. Same hair, same eyes, same lips and basically everything.

All I got from my mom was her body shape, her nose and a huge percentage of her morals.

Don’t be mistaken, I’m still my dad’s daughter, there are times those evil qualities of his reflect in my life. Like a bubble rising to the surface, not constant, but it’s always there.

Like yesterday’s morning when I had wanted to steal a man’s breakfast. It may have been like a joke, but I knew what it was.

Unless one was having a life and death run, our hearts barely keep up with the adrenaline coursing through our veins. And so was my case as I slid down the stairs of the 38th floor.

My heart was pounding, my head seemed to be under water and I gasped for breath.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

One of the Wellington staff asked me,

I looked up at the figure, and her image blurred before my rushing vision.

"Here" she said, leading me to what must be the relief table for workers. She poured me a glass of water, which I drowned in one go.

"Okay, you are thirsty" she handed me a bottle of water and urged me to take a rest.

"No, I have to keep going... I can’t be late" I managed between breaths.

The last time I had come home late, Alicia had ordered the servants to rid me of my clothes and leave me outside until morning, in nothing but my underwear.

I had almost died of cold that night and fear did things to my mind as well. Every scrap, every hush, every whisper and every sound had me imagining the worst.

I was only 14 then and it wasn’t my fault that I had come back from school late.

Her evil daughters had teamed up against me after Jake, the hottest boy in our class then, winked at me during Biology class.

Our teacher, Mr Campbell, had been talking about reproduction in mammals. Humans, to be precise and the class had been giggling and laughing their hearts out as Mr Campbell tried to teach the topic without mentioning the essential parts.

I had been crushing on Jake then and in that intense moment when everyone’s thoughts hovered on sex, Jake winked at me.

I had blushed a deep red, and I didn’t notice that the twins saw.

They had locked me in the bathroom after I stupidly fell for the prank that someone had written something incriminating about me and Jake on the mirror of the bathroom. It was Erel, one of those girls who were considered truthful back then, who told me.

Of course, I believed her and rushed to go wipe it off, when they locked me in.

I stayed there yelling my voice out until the janitor came and rescued me, but by then it was already 7pm whereas I should have been back at 4pm.

I told Alicia what had happened, but she didn’t believe me. She already believed her girls who told her that I went home with Jake.

I cried, I begged, even pleaded with her to call the school and ask them, but she didn’t believe me.

I guess that’s the kind of blind loyalty that binds family, and perhaps that was what landed my mom in jail.

In spite of my tears, she ordered the servants to strip me of my clothes, leaving only my mismatched underwear.

Like a hardened criminal, she went to sleep that night and slept like a babe while I shivered and stayed awake till morning.

I remember praying to die from the cold, to leave this existence in the cold blistering hands of death. But as the sun rose over the horizon, I discovered that my wish wasn’t granted.

She had warned me that she would do far more worse any day I came home after her.

Erel had told me that the twins had threatened to deal with her if she didn’t comply and I believed her. Mirabel and Annabel were the devil’s incarnate just like their mother.

Only a fool would test the words of Alicia Blake, it may be ages since it happened, but I’m certain she would remember every word of her threat and follow it to the latter, no less.

"You really should rest," the kind staff said again, blocking me from dashing off again.

My heart might be pounding, but remembering that night outside was all the motivation I needed to keep going.

"I’m really sorry," I called as I shoved her aside.

I was just about to slide down the rails when I heard the elevator dinged from behind me. Like a madwoman chasing after a morsel of bread that fell out of the baker’s tray, I dashed for the elevator.

People were meticulously making their way in when I rushed in, knocking some of them backwards.

"I’m... so... very... and... terribly sorry" I gasped, gripping the rail on the side of the elevator, before they could thunder at me.

"Why are you in such a haste?" The man closest to me asked.

"Allow her to catch her breath" a woman reprimanded.

The doors of the elevator dinged shut and I almost sagged to the cold metal floors with relief.

"Give her space, she needs air," the same woman said as the elevator started moving.

They listened and as the elevator dropped with alerting speed, I gasped and panted for air.

Nobody spoke to me as the elevator dropped to a halt at the lobby, only the woman who had reprimanded that man earlier, who lent me a hand as we exited the elevator.

Holding me steady as my head swarmed and my heart started to return to normal beats, she led me to the revolving doors.

With my head bent, Erica didn’t see me and I was glad.

I thought she would leave at the entrance to catch a ride, but the compassionate lady even against my protests of being fine to walk on my own, led me to her car.

It was a red Toyota Camry, the latest model. It gleamed gold-red in the setting sun and she insisted that she would drop me off.

"No, I can’t." I stupidly said, one of those stupid things that people do even when they know for sure that they desperately need the help being offered.

"You’ve done more than enough" I added, even as my mind screamed,

"Idiot, just fucking enter the vehicle! You know it could take time before you get a cab"

Softly yet coercively, she said,

"I insist, please just take my offer"

"Thank you" I said, and entered the car.

She just inquired where I was going, nothing more throughout the 5 minutes drive to Leek Park. I didn’t want to risk her dropping me off in front of the mansion.

"Here" she said, offering me her card, as I alighted from the car, "take it, you can call me and properly thank me later"

I chuckled as I took the card.

"It’s Hermosa," by the way.

"Sofia" I supplied, taking in the face of this kind lady.

She had jet black hair, icy blue eyes that glinted with kindness and lips, a deep shade of crimson. She had to be around 40 or 45, Alicia’s age and yet she had been unquestionably kind to a stranger. Something Alicia would never, ever do.