Chapter 50

Sophia

I was pacing in Owen’s room, my nerves fraying with every tick of the clock. The faint hum of the home me did little to mask the sound of my own heartbeat thundering in my ears. Where was Alexander? What was taking him so long? He’d left so quick…for Lauren.

The door creaked open, and there he was. His broad frame filled the doorway, his expression cold, eyes piercing. I tried to smile, to look composed, but his glare cut through me like a blade.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was low, a menacing growl that sent a chill down my spine. The restrained fury in his tone churned my stomach, threatening to pull me under.

I forced myself to stand tall, though my knees threatened to buckle. “What do you mean? This is our home? Where’s Owen? Where have you been—”

He stepped into the room, closing the door with deliberate force. His smirk was cold, devoid of humor. “Don’t. Lie. To me, Sophia.”

“I’m not lying!?” I snapped, but my voice wavered as I took an involuntary step back. His presence was suffocating.. “He’s my son!? I have every right to be here! What are you even talking about?! Are you in one of your moods?!”

“Your son?” he echoed, his voice sharp enough to draw blood. “Do you even hear yourself? You’ve been spinning your web of lies for so long, you’ve started to believe them, haven’t you?”

I froze, my heart pounding in my chest. No. He can’t know. He can’t possibly know. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, though the tremor in my voice betrayed me.

Alexander’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing with lethal precision. “Lauren and I know everything,” he said, his tone deadly calm. “About Owen. About what you did. And now, I want the truth, Sophia. Every. Last. Detail. How far do your lies go? How much have you stolen from us?”

My pulse thundered in my ears. Stay calm. Think. Deny everything. “You’re upset,” I said, my voice trembling. “You’re looking for someone to blame, and you’re turning it all on me. But I haven’t done anything wrong!”

His laugh was harsh, hollow, and devoid of mercy. “Wrong? You don’t even know what that word means, do you?” He took another step toward me, his towering frame casting a shadow that swallowed me whole. “I gave you the benefit of the doubt for years, but now? Now, I see you for what you are.”

“Stop it,” I pleaded, my voice breaking as panic clawed at my chest. “You don’t understand—”

“Then make me understand!” he roared, his voice thundering through the room. “Explain to me how my son ended up with you. Explain why Lauren spent years mourning a child she thought was dead while you paraded him around as your own. Why did you take him, Sophia?! Leave her for dead!? Why?!”

The room spun around me, the walls closing in. My chest tightened, my breath coming in shallow gasps. “I was trying to protect him!” I blurted out, my desperation spilling over. “You don’t know what it was like, Alexander. I did what I had to do!”

“Protect him?” His voice dripped with venom, his disbelief cutting through me. “From what? His real mother? His real family? Or was it just from your own twisted sense of justice?”

Tears streamed down my face, but I shook my head furiously. “Lauren was unstable! She couldn’t handle him! You! You deserved the best! You both did! I did what was best for Owen. I gave him a chance at a better life!”

“Don’t you dare talk about Lauren like that,” he snarled, his fists clenching at his sides. His voice dropped, colder than I’d ever heard it. “You’ve done nothing but manipulate and destroy everything you’ve touched. And now? It’s over.”

His words struck like a thunderclap, and the ground beneath me seemed to give way. “What do you mean?” I whispered, though I already knew.

“You’re done, Sophia.” His tone was final, each word a death knell. “You’re no longer part of this pack. You’re no longer part of my life. From this moment on, you are nothing. You’re a rogue.”

The word slammed into me, a sentence more brutal than any blow. Rogue. Cast out. Forsaken. Stripped of everything.

“You can’t do this,” I said, my voice trembling as the weight of his declaration crushed me. “You can’t just throw me away! You have no proof!”

“Watch me,” he said coldly, his eyes burning with contempt. “You’ve caused enough destruction, Sophia. It’s time you faced the consequences. And trust me—you’ll feel every one of them.”

My lips parted to plead, to beg, but the unyielding finality in his gaze silenced me. There was nothing left to say, no argument strong enough to undo what had been done.

Without another word, Alexander turned and strode out of the room, leaving me behind in the wreckage of my lies and shattered dreams.

The door slammed shut, and the sound echoed through the silence like a gavel sealing my fate. For the first time in years, I was truly alone.

I stormed into my room, slamming the door so hard the frame rattled. My chest heaved, and my breath came in ragged bursts, rage coursing through me like fire. Alexander’s words echoed in my head, each syllable a dagger slicing deeper. Rogue. The word twisted, mocking me, a searing brand of betrayal.

My hands trembled as I tore through the room, the force of my anger leaving chaos in its wake. Clothes were yanked from drawers and flung into a suitcase, my movements wild and uncoordinated. My vision blurred—not with tears but with fury. How could he? After everything I had done, every sacrifice, every sleepless night spent plotting to secure him—us!

A guttural scream ripped from my throat as I grabbed the nearest photo off the wall. It was a picture of us, smiling like fools, oblivious to the disaster that would follow. The frame shattered against the floor, glass shards spraying like jagged stars. I didn’t stop. One by one, I tore them all down—memories I had built, lies I had crafted to keep him close—and smashed them into oblivion.

“I gave you everything!” I shrieked, my voice echoing through the empty house. My fingers clawed at my chest, as if I could rip out the festering wound he’d left behind. “I bled for you, Alexander! And you threw me away. For her. Always for her.”

I collapsed to my knees amidst the wreckage, my chest heaving with sobs that turned into bitter laughter. I grabbed a photo from the rubble, our faces staring back at me—so perfect, so damned perfect. My nails scraped against the glossy surface as I tore it in half, then into shreds, the pieces falling like ash around me.

“You’ll regret this,” I hissed, my voice venomous. “You think you can just walk away from me? From everything I’ve done for you?” My laughter turned manic, a sharp, jagged sound that cut through the silence. “No, Alexander. You don’t get to destroy me and walk away unscathed.”

I stood, shaking but resolute, and zipped up the suitcase with a ferocity that left the zipper screeching. The room was a war zone—broken frames, ripped clothes, the shattered remnants of what I had once fought so hard to create.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. I’d been pushed down before, but I always rose. And this time, I wouldn’t just rise—I’d burn everything in my path.

As I stepped into the icy night, suitcase in hand, the cold air bit at my skin, but it couldn’t compare to the inferno raging inside me. Alexander had made his choice, and he’d see what it cost him.

The world might have thought me defeated, but they were wrong.