Dear Uncle wants to Ruin Me

Sophia POVThe church was half-empty. Not that I expected a crowd. My father wasn’t the kind of man people loved, he was the kind they feared, respected and tolerated at best.The air was thick with incense and fake condolences. I sat on the front pew, stiff in a borrowed black dress that clung too tightly to my chest, and tried not to choke on the weight of silence around me. When the priest mumbled the final amen, I stood before they even lowered the casket, heels clicking sharply against the marble floor. If I didn’t leave, I’d scream. Or laugh. Neither would go over well.“Miss Sophia,” a man in a charcoal suit stepped into my path as I reached the doors. “Mr. Hartwell’s office is ready for you.”Of course. The will was the real reason I showed up in this funeral dress. Closure didn’t matter. Money did. I didn’t have enough left to pretend otherwise.I followed him into a sleek black car waiting at the curb, and twenty minutes later, I was sitting in a leather chair opposite my

I wasn’t sure if it was the architecture of Xavier’s fortress of a mansion or some strange electrical current running through the walls, or if I was just starting to lose my mind. It had only been four days…. four days since I walked into this house. Four days of silence, stiffness, and eyes that followed me like shadows I couldn’t shake.Xavier didn’t speak to me unless it was necessary, but he looked at me. God, he looked at me. Whenever I passed the sitting room where he read the paper, when I stood in the kitchen pouring coffee I didn’t even want, when I wandered into the library and pretended I didn’t feel his presence before I saw him, there was always that brief pause, that moment of stillness, like he was fighting something and losing.I wasn’t winning either.I wore shorts to breakfast, tiny ones, black and soft, clinging to my hips like a second skin. I paired them with an oversized white t-shirt that hung off one shoulder, exposing the strap of my bra. Let him say something

Sophia’s POVI stepped into the dining room and froze. Xavier was already there, watching me like he could see everything I was trying to hide.“Sleep well?” he asked, voice casual, but there was something in his tone.“Perfectly,” I replied, forcing a smile.He didn’t move his eyes away from me. “You look flushed.”My fork slipped. I caught it quickly. “Must be the weather.”He smirked slightly. “Or the dreams.”I tried to keep my voice steady. “I don’t dream about you.”He folded the paper slowly. “Good to know.”He gestured to the seat across from him. “Sit.”I sat, but I could feel his gaze drilling into me.“Anything you want to confess?”“No.” My voice was sharper than I wanted. “Why would I?”He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Because I like confessions.”I looked away. “You should be careful what you wish for.”He chuckled quietly. “That depends on who’s confessing.”Breakfast was a silent battlefield. I escaped to the garden as soon as I could.A bench, a qu

Sophia’s POVThe car literally smelled like leather, new car spray and silence.Xavier hadn’t said a word since we left the mansion. His jaw was locked while his eyes were hidden behind those dark aviators he wore when he didn’t want to be read. Which was literally.. always.I sat a few inches away from him, with my arms crossed, while pretending not to notice the tension vibrating between us like static electricity. Every time the car hit a bump, our arms brushed, and the air thickened in a way I liked and enjoyed.I wanted to say something.. anything at all.. but my pride refused to be the first to break.Yet..“So…” I started, voice too casual, “do you make all your wards fly private when you are angry with them, or am I just special?”He didn’t look at me. “You talk too much.”I smiled faintly. “Yes I do and.. You like it.”“I tolerate it,” he said, turning his head just enough for me to catch the ghost of a smirk.Good, slowly but surely he was unraveling and I would finally u

Sophia’s POV“Gosh I’m so exhausted” I broke the silence between us again”The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, spilling golden light into the penthouse suite. Everything inside gleamed.. the marble floors, the glass walls, and the island lights that shimmered like a thousand unspoken promise.Xavier strode ahead of me, his suit jacket hanging over one arm, his shirt sleeves rolled to the elbow. He was the definition of hot daddy control even when he wasn’t trying to be.“Your room’s to the left,” he said with a calm clipped voice, like this was just another normal business trip and not some kind of unspoken test of sanity between us.I nodded, clutching my small bag tighter than necessary. “Right, Left.. Got it.”His lips twitched like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t instead he just adjusted his cufflink.. another one of those gestures he used when he didn’t want me to see through him.“Conference room’s just past that hallway we passed,” he added, eyes flickin