Chapter 5: Blamed

~Sophia's POV~

I rushed back home, ready to confront Kiara and demand answers—but the moment I stepped inside, my father slapped me across the face, before I even processed the words.

“Sophia! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

The sting burned across my cheek. My father’s voice thundered next. “Do you think this family can survive another scandal?”

I staggered back, blinking. “What the hell....”

“Don’t you dare talk to me that way!” he barked. “What’s going on between you and Xavier?”

The name barely registered. “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb!” He shoved his phone toward me. “It’s all over the internet!”

My stomach twisted. “I don’t even know who he is!”

“Oh really?” His eyes flared. “Then maybe you can explain this.”

I grabbed the phone from his hand. My fingers trembled. Confused, I opened I*******m without even searching—only to find my homepage flooded with photos of me kissing a man indoors, all shot from some hidden angle.

The towel on his hips. My messy hair. My bare shoulders. The air drained from my lungs.

Holy!! Shit!!

That wasn’t some hotel attendant. That was—oh god...that was Xavier. The F1 racing champion who had just won a major race a few days ago. The man every magazine had called “The Sexiest Driver Alive.”

And I’d left him cash like some escort. My heart pounded so loud I barely heard my father shouting.

“—PrimeLine News called this morning! Do you know how humiliating that was?”

I blinked up. “What?”

“Champion Report asked if you were his new girlfriend! And Horizon News Network wants my statement!” His voice shook with fury. “You’ve ruined my campaign, Sophia. Do you even understand that?”

My mother appeared in the doorway, pale and tight-lipped. “Everyone’s calling, Sophia. The neighbors. The donors. It’s disgraceful.”

I laughed—sharp, broken. “So I’m the stain on your perfect family now, huh? Meanwhile, your golden child’s out here stealing my fiancé and my award, but that’s fine?”

“Sophia!” My mother gasped.

Kiara appeared at the top of the stairs, her eyes red, clutching her phone. “Please don’t say that. I didn’t—Damin kept calling me, he said he loved me, I told him to stop.....”

“Oh, save it!” I snapped. “You stole him, Kiara! And my necklace design, too!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll give the award back! I’ll stop seeing him! I’ll do anything, Sophia, please—”

My mother rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around her. “Enough, Sophia! Look at her, she’s shaking. You’ve bullied her long enough.”

I stared at the two of them, heat rising behind my eyes. “I bullied her?”

“You always lash out at her,” my mother said, her voice trembling. “You embarrass us, Sophia. You embarrass yourself.”

“She’s pretending!” I shouted. “She eavesdropped on my calls, stole my sketch, and claimed my award!”

My father slammed his fist on the table. “Enough lies! Kiara graduated from Parsons in jewelry design. She earned that award.”

“And me?” My voice cracked. “I didn’t go to college, so that makes me worthless?”

He glared. “We paid for the best education money could buy, but you never took anything seriously! You’ve wasted every opportunity we gave you!”

My mother’s eyes glistened. “And you claim to love Damin, yet last night you were with another man.”

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. Kiara hadn’t just taken my fiancé and my award—she’d taken my parents’ love too. I was their biological daughter, yet somehow… they cared more about her.

My chest tightened. “You think I planned that?”

“Kiara has been doing everything she can to keep her distance from him, just to protect your feelings,” she said softly. “She’s even willing to cut him out of her life completely—just for you.”

I laughed bitterly. “You really think she’s the victim here, don’t you?”

Neither of them answered.

“Fine,” I whispered. “I didn’t get into college. I humiliated you. So that means I deserve to lose everything? My love, my work, my family?”

“Sophia—”

I raised my voice, raw and shaking. “What do I have to do to make you proud? Do I have to die for you to finally care?”

Kiara stepped forward, trembling. “Please, don’t talk like that. I’ll apologize if it’ll make things right—”

Her father cut in sharply. “No. Sophia will apologize to you.”

I turned to him, stunned. “Apologize to a thief?”

“Enough!” he roared.

The second slap hit harder. My ears rang. “You’re no daughter of mine,” he said coldly. “Get out.”

My mother didn’t say a word. She didn’t even look at me. I walked out without another sound.

Outside rain slammed into me the second I stepped outside. No umbrella. No direction. Just gray sky and the ache in my chest. Cars hissed by, spraying dirty water on my shoes, but I kept walking.

My phone buzzed nonstop—notifications, tags, DMs.

“Gold-digging trash.”

“prostitute.”

“Sleeping her way to fame.”

Someone had even posted: I went to high school with her. She’s always been like this. I stared at the screen until the words blurred. My throat burned, but no tears came.

Then—my phone rang. The name flashed across the screen: Unknown Number.

For a second, I almost ignored it. But something in me—instinct, maybe—made me swipe to answer.

“Hello?”

A pause. Then a voice I’d only heard in whispers, low and steady, cut through the rain.

“Miss Sophia,” he said, that deep accent wrapping around my name, “I think we need to talk.”