Semua Bab I Am In Love With A Stranger: Bab 1 - Bab 9

My name is Sophia Hernandez, the only daughter of the Hernandez family. If you have lived long enough in America, you probably know what that means already: wealth, power, and reputation that stretches farther than I’ll ever be allowed to go.
My parents are practically a brand. In social circles, their names fall heavily, their influence deeper than rivers. Yet somehow, despite all that glamour and shine, I’ve always felt like the dull shadow standing right behind them, decorative, presentable, but never free.
The strange part? My life was mapped out before I even learned to write my own name. At eight years old, I was betrothed to Liam Morgan, a boy born somewhere in the United Kingdom, a face I only know through a single photograph my mother gave me back then. An image of a smiling child, frozen in time. That photo has followed me like a ghost for eighteen years, his little-boy grin watching me grow into the woman I am now, still waiting, still wondering.
I’m twenty-six years ol

“You are mine.”
The words slipped into her ear, low and possessive, a whisper threaded with hunger and danger. His breath burned against her skin, and her body betrayed her, shivering despite the heat that radiated between them. She wanted to turn, to see his face clearly, to anchor herself in the reality of the voice. But before she could, the dream shattered.
Sophia’s eyes snapped open.
The ceiling greeted her, her ornate chandelier glinting faintly in the early morning light. The weight of the voice still lingered, wrapping around her like smoke she couldn’t wave away. She lay motionless for a moment, staring, her pulse still drumming from a dream that felt far too real.
That man again.
The stranger.
The same one she had seen in flashes of dreams for months. The same one who’d suddenly appeared in her waking world, the library, His eyes… God, those eyes.
She sat up abruptly, pressing a hand to her temple as if she could massage the thoughts out. Who was he?
“Why do I keep

THE NEXT DAY – Sophia’s Apartment
Ava’s laughter exploded through the small apartment, loud and unrestrained, the kind of laugh that bent her forward and made her slap her thigh. Sophia, half smiling and half groaning, sat at her dressing mirror, watching her best friend through the reflection.
“And that,” Sophia said, pressing her fingers against her temples, “is how I randomly mentioned your name, and now, whenever I see them, I have to keep answering to you. Do you know how humiliating that is? I basically became Ava number two.”
Ava tried to stifle herself but only laughed harder, her curls bouncing as she shook her head. “Oh no, no, no. You are not getting away with this. You cannot just throw my name out there for free like some cheap disguise. My name is Premium. Special. Rare. You owe me.”
Sophia groaned dramatically, sinking further into her chair. “You’re unbearable.”
Ava smirked as she moved closer, placing her hands on Sophia’s shoulders and squeezing them. Their e

The orange juice splattered across his shirt in a vivid stain of yellow and amber, blooming like an uninvited painting on crisp fabric.
Sophia froze, horrified. Her breath caught as her hands fluttered uselessly in the air, searching for something, anything, to fix the disaster. Her eyes darted up, meeting his.
“Oh my God. I’m so, so sorry!” she blurted, panic sharpening her voice. “I wasn’t holding the stupid juice firmly, I ruined it, it’s all my fault.”
Climax glanced down at his shirt, then back at her. For a moment, Sophia braced for anger, or at least irritation. Instead, his lips curved into the faintest smile.
“It’s fine,” he said, almost amused. “I can change later. Don’t stress yourself.”
His calmness only made her guilt twist tighter. That shirt had been perfectly ironed, his whole look deliberately put together. Now it was her fault he looked like he’d walked through a careless accident. She shook her head, refusing his easy dismissal.
“No, it’s not fine. You can’