Chapter 52

Sophia

The silence that descended after the ambulances left was suffocating, pressing down on me until I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but kneel there on the cold floor where Alice and Madison had fallen.

Blood still stained the white stone—not much, just a few drops that had splattered when their heads cracked against the steps—but it might as well have been an ocean. I stared at it, my vision blurring, my hands shaking so violently I had to press them flat against my thighs to keep them still.

This was my fault. All of it.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway, slow and deliberate, and I looked up through my tears to see Carter standing at the top of the stairs.

For the first time since I'd known him, I couldn't read his expression. Couldn't see anything in his face except a cold, terrible blankness that made my stomach drop.

"Carter," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Carter, I—"

"I didn't—" I started, then stopped, my throat closing up. "I didn't think she would—"

"You didn't think," There was something dangerous in his tone now, something sharp beneath the careful control. "Or you didn't care?"

"I cared!" The words burst out of me, desperate and pleading. "Carter, I swear, I cared. I just—I couldn't—"

"Couldn't what?" He took a step forward, then another, until he was standing directly in front of me, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to see his face. "Couldn't say no to Madison? Couldn't choose me over her? Couldn't be the person I thought you were?"

Each question landed like a physical blow, and I felt myself crumbling under the weight of them. My hands came up to cover my face, sobs tearing from my throat, but Carter didn't reach for me. Didn't try to comfort me. Just stood there, watching me fall apart.

"Do you know what I'm thinking of?" he said quietly, and the softness of his voice was somehow worse than if he'd been yelling. "When I opened that door. When I found you in that storage closet."

I froze, my breath catching.

"Your eyes," he continued, and I could hear the memory in his voice, raw and vivid. "Even in the dark, even after hours of being locked in there, crying until you couldn't breathe—your eyes were so bright. So full of life and fight and this... this fierce determination not to let them break you."

He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice had gone flat. "That's what I fell in love with, Sophia. Not your family name, not your connections. I fell in love with the girl who refused to be broken. The girl who looked at me like I was her hero for doing something as simple as opening a goddamn door."

My chest ached, a physical pain that made it hard to breathe. "Carter—"

"My mother didn't want me to marry you," he said, cutting me off. "Did you know that? She thought you were too... fragile. Too damaged. She said you'd never be strong enough to handle this life, that you'd crack under the pressure and embarrass the family."

The words hit me like ice water, and I felt my face go numb.

"I begged her," Carter continued. "I begged her to give you a chance. To let me prove that you were stronger than she thought. That the girl I'd fallen in love with was still in there, underneath all the fear and trauma."

He crouched down then, bringing himself to my level, and I could finally see his face clearly. His eyes—those warm brown eyes that had always looked at me with such tenderness—were empty. Hollow.

"I was wrong," he said simply. "Mother was right. You're not strong. You're not the girl I thought you were. You're just... weak."

The word hung in the air between us, final and damning.

"No," I breathed, shaking my head frantically. "No, Carter, that's not—I'm not—"

"You are." He stood up, looking down at me with something that might have been pity or disgust or both. "You let Madison manipulate you, over and over again. You chose her over me, over my friends, over basic human decency. And now two people are in the hospital because you couldn't find the spine to say no."

"I'm sorry," I sobbed, the words spilling out in a desperate rush. "I'm so sorry, Carter. I didn't mean for this to happen. I swear I didn't mean—"

"But you did it anyway," he said, and the coldness in his voice made me flinch. "You set all of this in motion, and now you're sitting here crying like you're the victim."

He turned to leave, and panic seized me.

"Wait!" I scrambled to my feet, my legs shaking so badly I almost fell, and grabbed his arm. "Carter, please. Please don't leave. I can fix this. I can make it right. I'll—I'll cut Madison off. I'll never speak to her again. I'll do whatever you want, just please—"

He looked down at my hand on his arm, and something flickered across his face. For a moment—just a moment—I thought I saw the man I'd fallen in love with, the one who'd held me while I cried and promised me I'd never be alone again.

Then it was gone, replaced by that same terrible emptiness.

"Let go of me, Sophia."

"No." I tightened my grip, my fingernails digging into his sleeve. "No, I won't. Carter, please. I love you. I love you so much. I know I fucked up, but I can change. I can be better. Just give me another chance—"

"You had a thousand chances. And you blew every single one of them." he said flatly.

I felt my legs give out, but I didn't let go. Instead, I sank down, clinging to him, my arms wrapping around his legs as sobs tore from my throat. "Please," I begged, my voice barely recognizable. "Please, Carter. Don't leave me. I can't—I can't do this without you."

He stood there for a long moment, letting me cry against his legs, and I felt a flicker of hope. Maybe he'd change his mind. Maybe he'd pull me up into his arms and tell me it would be okay, that we could work through this.

Then he spoke, and that hope shattered.

"You should have thought of that before you betrayed me."

He pulled away—gently, but firmly—and I fell forward, my hands scrabbling against the floor as I tried to catch myself. When I looked up, he was already walking away.

"Carter!" I screamed, my voice breaking. "Carter, please! I love you!"

He paused at the top of the stairs, and for a second, I thought he might turn around. Might come back.

Instead, he said, without looking at me, "We're done, Sophia."

Then he was gone, his footsteps echoing down the stairs and fading into silence.

I collapsed onto the floor, my body shaking with sobs so violent they made me retch.

"No," I whispered to the empty hallway, my voice hoarse and broken. "No, Carter. Please. Please don't leave me."

I closed my eyes, and suddenly I wasn't in the villa anymore. I was back in that storage closet, the one from college. I could feel the rough wood of the door against my palms where I'd pounded on it until my hands were bruised.

No one had come. Not for hours. Not until Carter.

But this time, there was no Carter. No one was coming to save me. No one was going to open the door and pull me out into the light.