SOPHIA’S POV
By the ti I finally went upstairs that night, I was exhausted.
The tension downstairs had drained more than I wanted to admit. My wolf felt restless too. She hated being inside Stone Manor now. Every hallway carried too many mories. Every room reminded her of heartbreak, loneliness, or rejection.
And honestly... I felt exactly the sa way.
My footsteps slowed when I reached the familiar hallway leading toward the master bedroom....the bedroom Damien and I once shared.
My chest tightened painfully.
For a few seconds, I just stood there staring at the closed door while mories flooded my mind against my will. I rembered late-night conversations, quiet mornings, petty argunts, nights where Damien used to pull against his chest.
Back then, I genuinely believed that room belonged to us.
Now... I wasn’t sure it ever truly had.
My wolf whimpered softly.
I swallowed hard before finally pushing the door open slowly.
The room no longer looked like mine at all. Everything had changed.
The soft gray curtains I once picked out were gone completely, replaced with expensive pink drapes. The bedding had changed too and so had the furniture arrangent. There were lots of fresh flowers near the windows while several feminine decorations filled the shelves and vanity tables nearby.
I felt an ache in my chest so suddenly that I physically stopped breathing for a second.
Tiffany’s presence was everywhere. It was enough to make it painfully obvious another woman had completely settled into the space that once belonged to .
I slowly stepped further inside the room while trying to remain calm.
But the deeper I walked into the bedroom...the worse it beca.
There was a silver hairbrush near the vanity beside expensive makeup products that clearly belonged to Tiffany. Her books were stacked neatly near the sofa. Even the soft robe hanging near the bathroom door wasn’t mine anymore.
Nothing here felt connected to now...nothing.
My wolf beca deeply agitated inside .
“You’re staring at the curtains like they insulted you personally.”
Damien’s voice suddenly spoke from behind .
I turned slowly.
He stood near the doorway while loosening his tie tiredly.
“What is it?” I asked coldly.
“You’ll probably need to stay here for a while now that Grandpa is remaining at the villa permanently.”
I looked at him in disbelief “A while?”
“He’s emotionally attached to the idea of us being together right now,” Damien explained quietly. “Disturbing him emotionally could worsen his condition.”
I looked away. Unfortunately...I already understood that.
Grandpa George looked happier tonight seeing us together. He seed more stable.
And despite everything, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him. Still, I didn’t like the idea.
Damien opened one nearby drawer. “You don’t really have many things here anymore, but Tiffany left so spare pajamas you can use tonight.”
The second he said Tiffany’s na again, my wolf reacted.
I looked at the folded satin pajamas in his hands.
Tiffany’s pajamas.
Sothing about that nearly humiliated emotionally.
“No.”
Damien blinked “Sophia-”
“I said no.”
The tension imdiately returned between us again.
Damien stared at quietly for several seconds before finally setting them back down.
Everything in this room already felt like proof that I no longer belonged here. Wearing Tiffany’s clothes on top of that would completely destroy whatever dignity I still had left.
“I’ll sleep in sothing else,” I said coldly.
“You’re still sick. Stop being stubborn.”
“And you should stop pretending this situation is normal.”
The words slipped out before I could stop myself.
Silence filled the room.
Damien’s jaw tightened slightly. My wolf remained agitated too.
Because nothing about this was normal, not the fake marriage act downstairs, not Tiffany practically living here, not standing inside a bedroom that no longer felt like mine.
And definitely not Damien asking to stay here long-term like we could sohow continue pretending forever.
I looked directly at him. “You need to tell Grandpa the truth.”
His eyes went dark. “Sophia.”
“I can’t do this. Besides, he deserves honesty.”
“He deserves peace,” Damien corrected quietly.
The exhaustion in his voice surprised slightly.
For the first ti tonight, he genuinely looked emotionally worn down too.
“He’s sick,” Damien continued softly. “His condition worsens every ti he becos emotionally unstable.”
I crossed my arms “And what happens later when he rembers everything suddenly?”
Damien stayed silent. I guess it was because neither of us had an answer for that.
Damien looked at “Please,”
The softness in his voice caught off guard.
“I’m asking you as family right now,” he continued. “Just...let him stay happy for a while longer.”
My wolf softened slightly.
Damien genuinely sounded desperate tonight. And honestly... I understood why. Grandpa George’s condition terrified all of us.
I closed my eyes briefly. “Fine.”
Damien sighed in relief.
The atmosphere beca awkward again after that conversation.
I suddenly couldn’t stand remaining inside that bedroom another second. So without speaking further, I turned and walked back toward the hallway.
Damien didn’t stop this ti.
I walked slowly through the corridor while hugging my arms around myself tightly.
As I walked, I heard soft crying coming in from Ashley’s room.
I froze instantly. My wolf lifted her head alertly.
Ashley.
The crying continued quietly from inside. Then I heard Franca’s soft voice trying to comfort her.
“Ashley...” she said.
“I don’t want to see her.”
The words hit so hard that I physically stopped breathing for a second. Was she talking about ?
Ashley sounded genuinely upset inside the room.
“I don’t want Sophia here,” she cried weakly.
My chest tightened painfully.
Franca continued speaking softly, though I couldn’t hear all her words clearly, but Ashley’s crying beca worse afterward.
“She hates now...”
“No she doesn’t.”
“She does,” Ashley whispered brokenly. “Everything feels wrong whenever she’s here”
My wolf whimpered painfully inside .
I stood completely frozen outside the door while heartbreak slowly spread through my chest.
My daughter couldn’t even bear seeing anymore. The thought of it made my heart break.
Tears burned behind my eyes instantly.
I quietly stepped backward before either of them noticed outside. I couldn’t stay there another second.
The hallway suddenly felt suffocating. Every breath hurt. Every emotion hurt.
I walked quickly toward the guest rooms instead. If the master bedroom belonged to Tiffany now...then I’d rather stay anywhere else.
The guest room felt cold and unfamiliar compared to the rest of the manor.
Still, I preferred it. At least nothing inside this room reminded of painful mories.
I changed quietly into borrowed clothes from the guest wardrobe then I sat on the bed afterward.
I tried distracting myself afterward by scrolling mindlessly through my phone.
But sohow, that only made things worse, because eventually... I saw Tiffany’s newest video post.
At first, I almost ignored it completely. Then suddenly, my breath caught.
The man sitting beside her at the bar looked painfully familiar.
It was Zade.
My heartbeat stopped instantly.
The short video played automatically. It showed Tiffany laughed softly while holding up a wine glass toward the cara. Beside her, Zade sat leaning lazily against the couch while drinking heavily.
The lighting inside the club remained dim but I recognized him imdiately anyway.
Zade actually smiled at sothing she said.
My wolf reacted violently. Shock slamd through so hard that my fingers physically shook around the phone.
No. No no no.
I replayed the video again desperately.
Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe it wasn’t recent. But the upload tistamp showed tonight.
Tonight.
My chest suddenly felt hollow. I felt my heart break even more inside .
So after everything...after the way Zade cried in front of ...after how broken he looked...
He was drinking with Tiffany?
My wolf beca frantic emotionally inside .
I stared at the screen numbly while tears slowly burned behind my eyes again.
Tiffany. Of all people... Tiffany.
The ache spreading through my chest beca unbearable.
Maybe I truly had been stupid all along. Maybe Zade’s emotions were never as real as I believed. Maybe I was just another temporary obsession to him.
anwhile Tiffany...beautiful, elegant Tiffany, fit perfectly into his world. Unlike .
My wolf whimpered painfully again.
“Hurts too much” she whimpered.
-
That night, I couldn’t sleep.
Even after turning off the lights, my thoughts refused calming down completely. The image of Tiffany beside Zade replayed endlessly inside my head while my wolf remained emotionally devastated.
Eventually I fell asleep anyway.
And sohow... I dread about him.
Zade climbed through my bedroom window exactly the way he used to.
“Sophia,” he whispered.
My wolf instantly ran toward him emotionally inside the dream.
Zade grabbed my face gently between his hands. His expression looked desperate again.
“You forgot again,” he whispered hoarsely.
My chest tightened painfully.
“I didn’t,” I tried answering.
But suddenly blood appeared across his hands, then glass. Then, I heard Tiffany laughing sowhere behind him.
My wolf cried out painfully.
And suddenly, I woke up gasping sharply.
My entire body jolted upright instantly while my heartbeat pounded wildly inside my chest.
That was when I noticed soone sitting beside my bed.
I froze imdiately as I turned. It was Damien.
He sat quietly in the chair beside while watching .
“Were you dreaming about Zade?” he asked.
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