All Chapters of Love Bet: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Sophia’s POVI woke up warm.Safe.Wrapped in Travis.His arm was draped over my waist, his body pressed against mine, his breathing slow and steady against the back of my neck.For a moment, I just stayed there, letting myself sink into it.Letting myself pretend that waking up with him like this was something I could have every day.Letting myself believe that maybe—just maybe—this feeling wouldn’t be ripped away from me like everything else had been.But then, of course, the moment had to end.Because Travis stirred, his fingers tracing slow circles against my hip, his voice husky with sleep."You’re awake," he murmured.I smirked, shifting slightly. "So are you.""Mmm." His grip tightened, his lips brushing against the curve of my shoulder. "I was sleeping perfectly fine until you started thinking too loud."I rolled my eyes. "Oh, so now you can read my mind?""Sweetheart," he mused, too smug, "I don’t need to read your mind. I just know you."And fuck—That was the problem, wasn’

Sophia’s POVI had spent years building walls.Years convincing myself that I didn’t need anyone.That love—family—was something I had lost a long time ago.That it was easier, safer, to keep everyone at arm’s length.But then—Travis happened.This place happened.And for the first time in my life—I wasn’t alone anymore.I sat on the small balcony outside the guest room, a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, watching as the last light of the sun faded behind the trees.Dinner had been perfect.Laughter. Wine. Stories about Travis as a child, which Claire had relished in sharing just to get a rise out of him.And then, the family photo.The moment I had hesitated, assuming I wasn’t part of it—Only for his mother to pull me in like I had always belonged there.And that?That had broken something inside me.Or maybe—Maybe it had fixed something I didn’t even know was broken.Because when I looked around that room, when I stood beside Travis, with his mother at my side, his father sta

Sophia’s POVThe drive back was quiet.Not uncomfortable.Not tense.Just… quiet.Travis’s hand was in mine, warm and steady, anchoring me to the present.But my mind?It was still stuck back there.In his parents’ home.In that moment when his mother pulled me into the family photo.In that feeling of being wanted.Of being claimed as one of their own.And I didn’t know what to do with it.Because it had been so long since I had belonged anywhere.Since I had felt something that soft, that safe, that real.And God help me—I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to have it.Days passed.Work swallowed me whole.Meetings, deals, negotiations—All the things I was good at.All the things that were predictable, safe, controlled.But something was different.Something had shifted.Because no matter how hard I worked—No matter how many calls I answered, how many contracts I signed, how many distractions I surrounded myself with—I still felt that ache in my chest.That quiet, lingering feeling th

Travis’s POVI knew something was wrong the second we got home.Sophia was too quiet.Not her usual sharp, calculating silence—the kind she used to outmaneuver and control a situation.No.This was different.This was a silence that felt heavy.A silence that wasn’t meant to be there.A silence that felt like a weight pressing down on her chest.And when she disappeared into the bedroom without a word, I knew—I knew she was cracking.And I wasn’t about to let her do it alone.I found her standing by the dresser, her back to me, staring at something.Something in her hands.Something she wasn’t moving from.And when I stepped closer—When I finally got a glimpse of it—My stomach tightened.A photograph.Old. Worn.A younger Sophia, no older than sixteen, smiling between two people who looked exactly like her.Her parents.Her fingers curled around the edges of the picture, her knuckles white, as if she was holding onto something that wasn’t really there anymore.And then—She started

Travis’s POVI had never wanted to kill someone more in my life.Not Serena.Not the men who tried to outplay me in business.Not even the ones who looked at Sophia like they had a chance in hell.But right now—Right now, I wanted to fight the entire fucking universe for what it had done to her.For taking everything from her.For making her believe she had to survive alone.For making her think she wasn’t supposed to make it.And fuck—I wasn’t sure how to fix this.I wasn’t sure how to hold someone together when they had spent their whole damn life learning how to fall apart in silence.But I knew one thing.I wasn’t going anywhere.Her breath was shaky, her fingers curling into my shirt, her body small but unyielding in my arms.I pressed my lips against the top of her head, holding her tighter, my chest aching with something I didn’t know how to name.Not pity.Not sympathy.Something bigger.Something dangerous.Something that told me—This woman is mine to protect."I don’t kno