Chapter 2 - Sophie, the Start of Everything

On the way back from the church ,it was too still as if one wrong movement might shatter her but Arabella remained silent.

With her veil in her lap, she sat in the back of the car and gazed out the window as if her soul had been torn from her body. 

The driver kept glancing in the rearview mirror, unsure whether to say something or pull over and let her fall apart in peace. But he said nothing because what could anyone say?

Silence pressed in, thick and brutal.

Now her wedding gown felt like a costume ,a cruel and silk-stitched joke.

She jolted back to life as the car turned onto her family's estate.

"No," she said in a raw whisper. "Avoid taking me there."

The driver reduced the speed. "Miss Graham?"Anywhere else. 

“Simply ……not there,”. she said.

The man paused. "Where should I go?"

Arabella didn’t blink, she didn’t cry either.

She just stared ahead with eyes dry and burning, as if tears had betrayed her too.

Everything inside her was trembling, Screaming and shattering.

But all she said was "Just drive."

So he did. He passed beyond her childhood home ,also past the luxury boutique and packed cafes where guests at weddings would still be chatting and whispering “the bride was abandoned” or "did he run away with another woman".

"Maybe she must have done something wrong".

In her lap, Arabella tucked her fingers firmly into the veil ,She felt like screaming but her voice was gone.

Hours later, they pulled over at a roadside gas station. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk as she stepped outside. She winced at the sudden brightness of fluorescent lights. The dust-stained at the hem, her dress dragged behind her as she entered the convenience store.

The cashier gazed. Arabella didn't raise her gaze.

From a clearance rack near the door, she grabbed the first thing she saw: a plain black hoodie, oversized, anonymous.

She ripped the tag off with shaking fingers and pulled it over her dress, swallowing herself in cotton and darkness.

She headed straight for the restroom.

She locked the stall and at not on the seat, but on the closed lid ,like her body couldn’t hold itself up anymore. Her shoulders folded inward with her spine curled.

She bit down on the hoodie's sleeve, teeth sinking into fabric to muffle the sound because if she let it out fully, if she let herself scream, she might never stop.

At the altar, she had suppressed it.

kept it in by using the flashes on the camera.

Held it under her mother's stone-cold glare.

However, she broke here, in this gas station stall with a leaking pipe dripping close to her foot and paper towels all over the floor.

Arabella took the pregnancy test she hadn't had the guts to discard out of her purse. Two nights prior to the wedding, she had secretly taken it.

Two lines of pink.

After the vows, she intended to tell Roman. following the kiss and after he would hold her hand and make a lifelong commitment.

However, he never appeared.

And now, like an old contract, she was carrying a child that belonged to a man who threw her aside.

After holding the test for a considerable amount of time, she eventually put it back in her bag.

She left the dress hanging on the bathroom hook and left the room wearing that big hoodie with nothing but hurt and shame underneath.

She didn't return home.

Rather, she used a false identity to check into a low-cost motel. She was given a keycard and informed that the vending machines only accepted quarters by the woman at the front desk, who hardly raised her head.

Arabella didn't get any rest.

All night long, she sat on the edge of the bed while the television flickered against the cracked walls at low volume. On the nightstand, her phone buzzed. missed phone calls. dozens of them. Also, texts.

Mum: "Don't make us look bad. Speak up.

Colette: "What took place? Are you all right? Roman's mother remains silent.

"Miss Graham, we need a statement regarding the cancelled wedding," said an unknown person.

Then a picture appeared on social media.

Roman in Tokyo, Grinning as he held a glass of champagne. Besides him was Camille Hartley, wearing a red dress that appeared to have been made to order.

Arabella switched her phone off.

She took everything from her purse, including her ID, cards, and wallet, and threw them all in the motel's toilet the following morning. One by one and then it flushed.

She had had enough of Arabella Sinclair.

Her name was no longer necessary.

___

Using a fake name she had always liked, Elle, she purchased a one-way ticket to Paris and took a taxi to the airport.

There were no enquiries.

Compared to ID, money spoke louder.

It was a long silent flight. Every time the flight attendant turned her back, she sat with her head against the window seat and sobbed quietly. She was thought to be airsick by the woman next to her.

She was unaware that experiencing heartbreak could cause your body to feel as though it were gushing blood.

Elle didn't turn around when the plane touched down.

---

In a dilapidated building on the outskirts of the city, she discovered a tiny room. The walls were yellowed and There was a creak in the floor. The window opened just enough but no one knew her name, and the door was locked and had a bed.

The following week, she began working.

She was taken in ‘no questions’, ‘no contract’ by a small bookshop on a quiet street. She organised books, stacked shelves, and tidied up storerooms that reeked of dust and untold tales.

"Be on time," was the only thing the elderly proprietor of the bookstore named Marcel, ever said. “Avoid stealing”.

She was fond of him.

He didn't ever pry.

She wore a hoodie and stared at nothing while riding the bus every morning. She boiled pasta every night when she got home and sat on the mattress with her hands gently resting over her expanding belly.

Now she only talked to the baby.

She muttered, "You're real." "And I own you."

She simultaneously laughed and sobbed into her soup when she first felt the baby kick. She hadn't laughed in months.

At the store, she purchased baby books, made notes and learned how to prepare nutritious meals on her own, also saved all of her earnings.

And she saw a woman changing into a different person every time she looked in the mirror.

Unexpected labour arrived.

The pain started while she was arranging bookshelves ,Her back ached sharply then another that caused her knees to give way.

She fell to the ground. In a panic, Marcel dialled 911.

She bit her lip and pushed and screamed, and sobbed while in the hospital, but after it was all over, a nurse gave her the smallest bundle wrapped in a pink blanket.

The baby blinked up at her.

Brown eyes that are soft.

Rosebud lips.

as well as dark hair.

Roman's colour is the same.

Arabella took a deep breath.

This time, though, she didn't cry.

All she could do was whisper, "Sophie," and smile.

The name seemed appropriate.

Not the legacy of Roman but Hers.

---

Elle did not return to the bookshop.

Rather, she remained in her apartment, reared Sophie, and worked on code, a subject she hadn't touched in years.

She constructed basic tools like algorithms. Prior to everything being consumed by wedding preparations and social obligations, she had studied software in college.

Elle typed until dawn at night while Sophie slept next to her.

She developed applications and sold them.

She created an anonymous blog that teaches tech skills .

After that, people began sending emails. requesting assistance. Making a payment offer.

Yes, Elle replied.

She started a freelance company called ARA Systems, which no one could find.

ARA stands for Arabella.

Elle had saved up enough cash to move into a better apartment by the time Sophie turned two. The apartment has one window overlooking the skyline and also has functional heating.

Sophie had her own room.

And Elle, too?

She was free.

She grew stronger with each client email, sale, and completed piece of code.

Roman's money wasn't necessary for her.

His last name wasn't necessary.

Not even retaliation was necessary.

Sophie was all she needed.

However, she noticed something that made her hands freeze when she opened her laptop one chilly morning.

"VALE TECH LOSES INTERNATIONAL DEAL TO MYSTERY CEO - ARA SYSTEMS RISING."

She ran her fingers across the screen.

She didn't intend to beat him.

She had just done it.

---

The following day, Sophie pointed from her small stool at the window.

"Look, Mommy! Birds!

With a smile, Elle took her daughter in her arms and gave her a cheek kiss.

"It's time," she muttered as she peered up at the overcast sky.

Sophie blinked. "What is the time for?"

"To return home."

since Elle stopped running.

She owned a business, A name ,A kid, and power.

However, this time...

She had no intention of returning for a wedding.

She was returning to sit at the table.