Chapter 3

Sofia

Tears blurred my vision as I signed the papers, each stroke like a knife cutting through my heart. Fuck you, Blake. Fuck your snake of a mother and your plastic girlfriend. And fuck me, because I still love you.

They left, and the apartment grew quiet as a tomb. I stood in what used to be our home, feeling hollowed out. I began packing, my movements mechanical, like a robot. Growing up in an emotionally barren family, with parents who never loved me, my Princeton scholarship had been my only escape. In all these years, the only warmth I'd known came from Elizabeth, my mentor at Harvard Business School.

I decided to find her, to start over. How many times can a heart break before it stops putting itself back together? I wondered, folding one of Blake's old t-shirts—that ratty thing I could never bring myself to throw away.

The phone rang. It was Lauren, my oldest friend.

"Hello." I answered, unable to hide the tears in my voice.

"God, Sofia." Lauren sighed. "I can't fucking believe he did this to you. And Amanda... shit, that bitch used to hang out with us, acting all innocent."

"Love makes people do stupid things," I said with a bitter smile, thinking to myself that some people are just rotten to the core.

"Don't make excuses for them. They're both garbage!" Lauren spat. "You need to move forward, Sofia. Stop living in the past."

"I'll try," I said softly, but my mind was filled with Blake's smile when he pursued me, his tenderness when he comforted me, and those nights when he held me and whispered "I love you." Now, it was all gone.

"Without him, I might never feel love again," I whispered, my throat raw as sandpaper.

"Don't say that. You're stronger than you think. You don't need him."

"I shouldn't have given up on him," I said, sudden defiance in my voice that surprised even me. "I promised I'd never give up on him."

"But he gave up on you, baby," Lauren's voice was gentle enough to make me want to cry. "You need to live for yourself now."

She invited me to her birthday celebration the day after tomorrow. I reluctantly agreed.

After hanging up, Leon's call came through. He was Blake's best friend and a board member at Sterling Group. Years ago, he'd had feelings for me but stepped back because of Blake. Now he was caught in the middle, awkward as hell.

"Hey, Sofia, I've arranged a surprise party for Lauren at The Pinnacle. Blake will be there. Come, maybe it'll help him remember something," Leon's voice was cautious, testing the waters.

I laughed coldly, my mind filled with images of Blake and Amanda wrapped around each other. "No thanks."

"Don't be like that, Sofia." Leon's tone softened, tinged with resignation. "The four of us haven't hung out in forever. Remember those days at Princeton? You and Blake were inseparable, making Lauren and me feel like third wheels. You two walking by the Charles River, holding hands, grinning like idiots. And that time we all went for pizza, Blake said you looked adorable eating pepperoni pizza—I nearly spat out my drink laughing."

My throat tightened, my heart wrenched. Those images flashed through my mind like an old movie: Blake stealing kisses by the river, his hair tousled by the wind; us fighting over the last slice of pizza, laughing until our stomachs hurt; him sneaking into my dorm at night, holding me as we talked until dawn, promising to take me to Hawaii to watch the stars. "Stop, Leon," my voice cracked. "That's all in the past."

"But it was real, Sofia," his voice lowered, reminiscing. "I've never seen Blake so invested in anyone. The way he looked at you... fuck, like you were his entire world. He may not remember now, but I feel those memories are still somewhere in his brain. How will you know if you don't try?"

"Things are different now, Leon," I gritted my teeth, fighting back tears. "I've given up."

"Are you sure?" His voice was filled with disbelief, as if he didn't recognize me.

"I signed the divorce papers. I'm leaving," I said calmly, with a calmness that felt foreign even to me.

"What?!" His voice rose like he'd been struck by lightning. "Why would you sign? Sofia, you're not the type to give up easily! Remember when Blake got sick, and you stayed up all night making chicken soup, nearly burning down the dorm kitchen? He was so touched, said he wanted to marry you. Have you forgotten?"

"I haven't," I said softly, my heart feeling like it was being gouged. "But he has, Leon. He looks at me like I'm a con artist now. I can't keep clinging to false hope. Let them live their lives. I need to try... try to breathe."

"Fuck, Sofia," he cursed quietly, his tone filled with resignation. "You made me believe true love actually existed. "

"You'll find your true love," I said dismissively, hanging up as tears fell onto the floor.

I walked toward the box of baby items, touching the pink blanket as tears welled up again. Doctors had said my endometriosis made natural pregnancy nearly impossible. Another shattered dream. Back then, Blake had held me, promising: "It's okay, baby, we can adopt, or try other options. As long as I have you, anything works." And now? He couldn't even remember my name.

"Still faking tears?" Julianna Sterling's caustic voice came from behind me, like a needle in my spine.

I spun around, anger instantly overtaking grief. How dare this witch just barge into my home? "How the fuck did you get in?" I shouted, my heart pounding like a drum.

Julianna waved her manicured hand, a contemptuous smile on her lips. "This is Blake's house, of course I have keys. Don't forget, dear, you're just a guest, a parasite living off others. I'm here to make sure you get your pathetic ass out quickly."

Fuck these rich people, thinking the world revolves around them. Just as I was about to retort, another wave of nausea hit me—the third time today. I rushed to the bathroom, barely managing to hold onto the marble sink as I threw up. It had been like this all week: morning, afternoon, anytime. I couldn't lie to myself anymore; it was too obvious.

As I rinsed my mouth, Julianna appeared in the bathroom doorway, reflected in the mirror like a grim reaper in a Chanel suit. Christ, doesn't this woman have anything better to do than torment me? What kind of psycho mother-in-law follows you into the bathroom to gloat?

"Vomiting again?" She narrowed her snake-like eyes, her tone calculating. "Amanda said when they brought the divorce papers, you were throwing up like a pregnant woman. She also mentioned you tried to seduce Blake with your cheap tricks recently."

I wiped my mouth, straightened my back, suppressing the urge to slap her. "Blake's private life is none of your fucking business," I said coldly. "And it's none of Amanda's business either." Though clearly you two psychos think you have the right to control it.

"Everything about my son concerns me," she held her head high, like a self-important queen.

"Even with amnesia, he's an adult who can make his own decisions," I said through clenched teeth.

Julianna's artificially plumped lips curved into a cold smile. "He chose Amanda. Their engagement was announced in the papers this morning, didn't you see?" She pulled out her phone, showing Blake and Amanda smiling like they were in an advertisement, with a headline about "Perfect Power Couple" and similar nauseating phrases. "Such a perfect match, don't you think?"