It’s probably well into the afternoon when I wake up again My gudmother’s scent is still heavy in the air around me Perhaps it was the reasons I was able to sleep so soudly. When ldn’t bring myself to stop crying, she picked me up as if Tweighed nothing and took me over to led, where the two of us by until I fell asleep. I don’t know if she stayed after that. but her presence tells me that she might have fallen asleep here with me.
The knot in my stomach reminds me that none of this is a nightmare and that my life is a mess at the moment. I haven’t even sat up, but my heart is racing, I can feel every ache in my body. I have to take a few deep breaths to calm the anxiety threatening to eat me alive. The first thing I do is pick up the phone to call Dr Grant.
“Sophia,” she answers on the second ring “How are you feeling?
“I want to go through with the procedure,” I say quietly.
There’s no need for pleasantries at the moment. This isn’t precisely a let’s talk about your feelings kind of procedure. The faster it happens, the better. I don’t want to know more about the little thing growing inside of me. I don’t want to think of it as a person. For now, all I can think of it as is evidence of the malice I invited into my life.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, how fast can it be done?” I ask. There’s a pause. One that does nothing to change my mind.
“I can have you in this evening. Once it’s over, you can go home and recover. It’ll be quick,” she sighs.
“Okay, we can do it that soon. At what time?”
“Seven. That way, there
no one else here. The sooner we do this the less damage there will be.”
“Thank you, is all I can think of saying.
“This is the easy part, Love. I’ll see you tonight,” she says sympatctically and hangs up.
I check my phone to see that it’s only one in the afternoon. I get up and take a shower, trying to wash away the scent of sadness that permeates my skin. My grandmother is in her study when I come downstairs. She immediately stops working on her computer to give me her attention.
“Are you busy?” I ask.
“Come in,” she says, shaking her head and motioning for me to with her. “How are you feeling, Little Wolf**
Like I got hit by a bus and landed face–first into a sand dune, 1gh. She smiles and reaches out to pat my hand.
Tm sorry for taking so long to get back. I should have-
“It’s okay. I understand, I actually wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you over the phone. I wasnt in the right headspace. I was also kind of rude to Prince Ivar. That day. I felt ke an idiot
“You have nothing to apologize for. In all honesty, it was rather freshing It’s been a long time since you’ve shown your rebellious nature. I always admired that about you, she says, sing back, letting out a heavy sigh
“You knew,” I say quietly. She looks up at me questioningly. “That they were controlling me. I mean You knew.”
“You’ve always been forthright about what you want, Sophia, sludeiends herself.
“I was fourteen years old, Grandina. You left one there without ever looking back, and if you dad, you never even considered trying to get me out of ther=”
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17:11 Tue Jan 20 GDD ·
Chapter 10
4214
Ears
Tve known you your entre life, Soph. If I had tried to keep you from the boy, you’d only fight me. After everything we ve been through, the last thing I wanted was to lose you to something av stupul as this
“But it’s not stupid. I was a kid with no one to watch over me. I el myself starting to get hysterical again. Jen I cant reel it
Twatched over you, her eyes spark amber.
“Do you have any idea what it is you left me in? I was isolated from everyone. The night he choked me in front of my colleagues was the first time I had ever gone to a party and did knowing that it was going to upset him.”
it
“I know,” she sighs. There is nothing I can do to change this outcome, Sophia. I’ve always been here. All you’ve had to do is
reach out.”
“Reach out to what? Since I was a little girl, you made it more than clear that you had no respect for my mother or me. You never even regarded us while you were staying in our home. The home she fed you and took care of the princes when she had no business doing so.”
“My displeasure with your mother had nothing to do with you, Sophia. You took it upon yourself to choose a side.”
“She should have been like a daughter to you. She was your son mate. You made me choose. She was my mom. The woman who gave birth to me and raised me to respect you despite your arrogance and disrespect of everything she stood for.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She lets out another heavy sigh and falls back with her arms falling on the armrests of her chair. Regret crosses her expression for a moment, but then it’s gone as quickly as it came
“You don’t understand.”
“What could she have possibly done to have earned the way you treated her? All she ever wanted was your respect. She didn’t have anyone like me at all. And a lot like you. Because from what I’ve learned since coming here, you have three living relatives and one of them is in prison for killing the rest of your loodline. The other can’t stand to be in your presence.”
“I have my faults, Sophia. There are things that I don’t have to explain myself for. Just as you will have your personal demons to haunt you,” she turns away. I take full responsibility for my actions, Little one. I admit that I should have tried to protect you better.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since the last time we spoke. It never been in my nature to open up, but I understand that you are going through something I can never fathom. I’ve spoke to some of my colleagues, and I wanted to ask you if perhaps we can go to therapy together.”
I stare at her for a while. Did she really just ask me that?
“What?”
“I don’t know how to express my emotions, darling. I’m a soldier I’ve been suppressing everything I’ve ever done my entire existence, but I see the pain in your eyes, she reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “It’s killing me to see you like this You’ve always been so full of life, but this,” she places both her luils on my face. “There is something very wrong. Sophia, and I don’t know how to help you.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
