Ch. 8

🔹️🔹️Crystal Hayes🔹️🔹️

"Ha-Hannah. Hey." I gave a small forced smile but in return she glared at me with her arms crossed over her chest.

"You had gone for your honeymoon, right?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yes. We were supposed to come back tomorrow but when I saw the news headlines, I couldn't get myself to stay there any longer."

She let me come in and as I did, I saw her parents, Megan and Ethan sitting on the couch, looking in my direction.

"Would you like to explain yourself?" Hannah asked while everyone's attention was on me. I wanted to tell everyone the truth but then I remembered the contract.

"I-" Before I could start, Hannah squealed loudly and started jumping like a freak.

"Oh My God! You are engaged to Adrien Russell!! I can't believe this. Why would you hide such a thing from me? You didn't even utter a word when the news came out initially. Oh my god, Crys. I am so happy for you."

I looked at her like she had grown two heads while she kept hitting my arm and shaking my shoulders.

"What are you? A 17 year old?" I rolled my eyes at her tactics.

"Shut up. This is exactly how you reacted when I told you that Ethan had proposed to me." She defended herself. "At least I was the one to inform you, not that you had known it from news and articles, unlike someone." I saw these taunts coming.

"Look, Han. I know I should have told this to you before but I was scared. Adrien didn't want anybody to know and you see, I couldn't take any risk. You have seen how a single picture of ours brought such havoc in his life. This is exactly what we feared." I came up with excuses to convince her.

"Hm. I understand. But now you have to tell me everything. When, where and how did you guys meet? How did you fall in love? When and how did he propose to you? When is the wedding? Every. Single. Thing."

Hannah's ability to change emotions amused me. She literally went from sympathetic to excited to dominating in a minute. She dragged me inside and thankfully, everyone acted pretty normal. They all happily congratulated me. I asked Ethan if he had met or spoken to Evan but he said that they hadn't talked since yesterday.

Everybody was excited to listen to mine and Adrien's so-called 'love story'.They all gathered around me with popcorn in hand to listen to 'How the Prince Charming of Manhattan met his Cinderella from Brooklyn.

Boy, this is gonna be difficult.

🔹️🔹️Third person's POV🔹️🔹️

While the big revelation had become a fiery gossip in the city of Manhattan, people were shocked, few took it in a good way and appreciated the man's courage and few were jealous and worried because of the power he would soon be holding.

But there was one soul that was lost in agony. As the news reached her, she felt her heart break into pieces. She locked herself in her dark room and cried until her body was out of tears.

All Sophie wanted to see, hear and feel was her best friend, the one she had loved with everything in her, all her life. His absence was making her lose her mind. When she was done with crying, she started to bubble with rage. She had already destroyed everything in the house but she wasn't satisfied. She somehow wanted to numb the pain in her heart.

Pieces of a shattered vase attracted her. She picked up a big piece with her right hand and looked at her left hand. Without hesitation, she slit her wrist with no signs of pain on her face. The blood flooded out of her wrist but it didn't bother her. She brushed two of her fingers on her wrist and walked to the nearest wall, sliding down and sitting against it. She traced her blood-covered fingers on the wall, writing something that was in her heart.

His name.

She felt her conscience mocking her for losing him. It called her stupid for being in love with someone who was never meant to be hers. But Sophie would never accept.

"HE IS MINE! ONLY MINE!" Her scream echoed in the room before her head was shot by unbearable pain. Clutching on to her head, she fell on the ground with a thud. Black dots started to appear in her sight.

She could hear some noises but couldn't make out where it came from. A few seconds later, with her faded vision, she saw the door of her room flung open and a tall figure came running towards her.

But before she could understand a thing, her eyes shut and her senses stopped functioning.

🔹️🔹️🔹️

After many long hours of waiting, Sophie finally opened her eyes. She tried to clear her blurred vision as everything around her seemed to rotate. She heard a small familiar faminine voice and tried to call out for her but her dry throat refused to cooperate.

The nurse in the room noticed her small movements and called the doctor who was followed by a blonde lady.

"Thank goodness." Nicole Flores, Sophie's mother sighed in relief. "How are you feeling?" She asked, patting her daughter's hair.

The nurse gave Sophie some water and helped her sit straight. She looked around a little. IV tubes attached to her hand and her wrist covered with bandages. Then it hit her.

She attempted suicide.

But she survived.

It made her mentally scoff at her fate. When she looked a bit more stable than before, Nicole sat on a stool beside Sophie's bed and glared at her. Sophie tried to avoid her eyes that held concern a while ago but now showed anger and disappointment.

"What were you thinking?" Her voice was cold, as she spoke after they were left alone in the room. "How could you, Sophie? How could you be so weak and try to take a step like this?" Her voice cracked as she yelled at her daughter.

"I couldn't take it, Mama." Sophie finally spoke with a raspy voice. "I couldn't take the news of the love of my life marrying someone else. I didn't want to live and watch him kiss any other girl than me at the altar. I had lost the reason to live. I lost Adrien." Trails of tears slipped down her eyes.

"Is Adrien the only one you care about? Did you not think of me once?" Nicole asked. Her heart clenched watching her daughter's vulnerable condition. "Sophie. This is not right. Life is too precious to waste for someone who does not understand your worth." She tried to explain. "Adrien may not love you like the way you do, but you mean a lot to him. He was the one who saved you. He ran for your life as if his own was on stake."

Sophie knew her mother was right. She could never get a friend like Adrien. She was lucky to have him in her life. But she had loved him like crazy for over 20 years. She would never give up on him and settle with just his friendship.

"Try to understand, Sophie. You cannot force someone's feelings. You cannot make him love you. Accept it." Nicole said.

"That's not true, Mama. Adiren is bound by the situation. He would choose me over any other girl." Sophie's voice held desperation. She was trying to make herself believe it more than her mother.

As the door of the room was knocked on, it opened to a face that Sophie cherished the most. 'The love of her life' as she says.

"Welcome back." He passed a sarcastic comment, trying not to show his disappointment in her.

Nicole sighed deeply and left the room before patting on Adrien's arm. They needed space. Adrien, with his hands folded across his chest, walked towards the hospital bed.

He said nothing. Just stood there and glared at her. Sophie avoided his eyes. She had nothing to say to him. When her shoulders shook and she ducked her head, Adrien's eyes softened. He hated to watch her cry.

"Soph-"

"Why did you save me, Adrien?" She cried harder.

"Shut up, Sophie. What you did is was stupid and immature. I thought you were better than this." He schooled her. "I saved you because I care for you. Because you are precious to me. Because you are a very important part of my life. And not just mine, your mom's too. Is that a valid reason to save you?" Adrien was breathing hard, trying to control his anger. He rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Thank heavens to Ms. Stuart who had called me when you went on a destroying spree. If I were a minute late, we could have lost you forever." His voice cracked in the end. It was true. He would break if he had lost his only best friend.

"You don't understand, Adrien. You aren't just a part of my life, you are my life. I have nothing to live for if not for you. It's better to die if my life does not include you."

"You are being an idiot Sophie. This is insane. It is wrong to love someone more than yourself. You will find someone else to love, who loves you back but you will not get your life back." Adrien couldn't help but feel guilty about the situation. He knew it wasn't his fault, yet Sophie's actions and words made him feel responsible for it.

Sophie's tears had no end. Adrien tried comforting her by embracing her in his arms. He didn't know what to do to satisfy her. If he knew that his love matters so much to Sophie, he would have married her. But it was too late. He had lost the chance to make that happen.