Breaking point
Chapter 66
Sophia
?Sophi, are you coming?"
Maria's voice gently pulls me out of my daydream. I quickly close my chat window with him and slide out of the passenger seat.
I haven't heard a single word from Lorenzo since Friday. I've spent the last forty-eight hours desperately pushing the rising panic away, forcing myself to believe that he is just incredibly busy with the preparations.
I love this feeling. I don't want it to end.
I mean he ask me to be his date ,I didn't pushed him to ask me I never expected him to ask me.
He'll just meet me inside.
I tell myself and push away my bad feeling.
So instead, I arrive at the venue with Maria and her family, who have been nothing but exceptionally kind to me.
"You two look absolutely lovely," Maria's mother beams, taking a quick picture of us with the grand, beautifully illuminated art gallery rising into the night sky behind us. But with each step we take toward the massive building, I feel myself shrinking.
The environment is entirely suffocating. Million dollar luxury cars are pulling up to the curb every second, entourages of bodyguards and security teams are barking orders, and the air is thick with high society families dressed in pristine, custom tailored suits and elegant gowns.
They are completely made for this world.
But me?
I feel impossibly lost, despite my best friend's reassuring presence
I'm suffocating in an environment built for predators. These people glide through the room like they own the air, while I'm drowning in it, desperately gasping for a hint of something familiar.
Just breathe, I fiercely remind myself, handing my ticket to the stern faced guard.
After he checks our IDs, we finally step through the grand entrance.
The interior is even more breathtaking than it was during our private tour.
Intricately decorated banquet tables stretch across the polished marble floors under massive, glowing crystal chandeliers.
Hanging proudly on the far wall is a massive, elegant banner reading:100-Year Calloway.
"Wow," Maria breathes out beside me.
I nod in mute agreement, my eyes instantly darting through the crowd, frantically searching for that one specific face
But He is nowhere to be seen.
Half an hour later, the room smells of white truffle finger foods and expensive champagne.
Once every elite guest is seated, the crystal chandeliers dim to a low, amber glow.
And a short documentary detailing the glorious, philanthropic history of the Calloways flashes onto the projector screens.
The second the film ends, the entire room stands up, erupting into a deafening wave of applause to welcome the hosts of the evening.
My eyes widen, my heart leaping into my throat as Mr. and Mrs. Calloway walk down the center aisle. Little Mia is cradled in her mother's arms, smiling brightly in her dress.
And then... comes Lorenzo.
But he looks .... so different.
The unshakeable, arrogant frame I know is entirely gone. His eyes look dead, exhausted, and hollowed out by a shadow I don't understand. A tiny, desperate spark of hope flares in my chest, waiting for his gaze to scan the crowd and lock onto me.
But his eyes remain entirely flat, staring into the empty space in front of him.
Mr. Calloway takes the microphone, starting a grand speech filled with old family stories and gratitude for his business partners. I can barely hear a single word over the roaring confusion in my mind.
Why is he ignoring me?
Why does he look so completely broken?
The crowd erupts into applause again. Lost in my thoughts, I am too late to join in.
Paparazzi line the sides of the hall, their flashes firing rapidly, framing Mr. Calloway in a blinding white light that cuts through the dim ballroom."
I want to thank all of my business partners , and I want to show you exactly what years of relentless, hard work can achieve," his father booms, looking straight into one of the main television cameras broadcasting the event live on national TV.
"I want to give something back to our people. Something truly monumental for this city."
A proud, rehearsed smile spreads across his face as a massive podium drops from the ceiling, making the entire room gasp. With a dramatic hand gesture, he reveals the grand project hidden beneath a velvet cover: The Calloway Golf Resort Estate.
The crowd explodes into ecstatic cheering, praising his brilliant vision.
And yet I am only listening with half an ear, my chest tightening."And now, my son will tell you more about the great, prosperous future the Calloway name holds," his father suddenly announces.
The mention of that specific name snaps me fully back to reality. I watch Lorenzo closely as he steps up to the podium. He doesn't even grant his father a single glance.
He clears his throat, and the words begin to spill out of him like a robot.
His voice is a flat and icy monotone.
There is zero emotion behind his delivery, no pride as he outlines the massive project or the main structures.
Nothing.
The second he finishes his notes, he steps back without a single 'thank you,' retreating to his spot like a ghost.
"He's acting kind of strange, isn't he?" Maria whispers leaning close, and I take no comfort in the fact that she noticed it too.
From the side I can spot Alex ,behind him Ben snd ti my left Sitz Matteo with his family.
After another agonizing half hour of formal speeches, the floor is finally cleared for the after party. Guests are laughing, drinking expensive champagne, and dancing under the golden lights, completely swept up in the grandeur of the announcement.
I thought I would be doing the same.
But the one person who is supposed to be here with me is actively treating me like an absolute stranger.
I finally stand up, determined to march across the floor and demand answers, when a familiar figure abruptly steps into my path.
Vivien
I instantly roll my eyes, bracing myself for the same venomous look she gave me in the school bathroom.But she doesn't look angry. Instead, a hemic, satisfied expression is dancing in her eyes.
"Don't tell me you actually still want him after everything," she sneers.
I freeze mid-step, ready to walk away from her without granting her a single word. But something in her tone makes me pause. I slowly turn around, my eyes narrowing.
"What... what do you mean by that?" I ask, loathing the fact that I'm actually engaging with her.Vivien's expression alters drastically, shifting into a dramatic, mocked display of pure concern as she places a manicured hand over her chest.
"Oh, no... he didn't tell you, did he?" she gasps, as if she genuinely regrets being the one to bring it up.
"What do you mean?!" I demand, my voice sharpening, rising to cut through the background music.
The exact second the first few words leave her lips, my entire world halts.
Every future I had imagined over the last few days, every dream of us stepping out of the dark hole together, violently shatters inside my head.
My brain short-circuits, screaming at me that none of this could possibly be real.
We are talking about my boyfriend.
"Oh, stop bullshitting, Vivien," I snap, my voice trembling with sudden, defensive rage. "I know you're just jealous. You're lying!"I refuse to let her poison get to me. There is simply no way it could ever be true.
But then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot his towering frame standing right behind her.
I don't even know when he approached. I look straight into his dark eyes, and a wave of pure horror crashes over me.
His face is entirely white.
Vivien follows my gaze, noticing that Lorenzo has appeared behind her, and her lips twist into a triumphant, brilliant smile.
"What is she talking about, Lorenzo?" I ask him, my throat turning entirely dry. I stare at the broken, agonizing look of guilt written across his features.
He doesn't answer.
He simply grabs my wrist in a tight, trembling grip, and guides me through the pulsing crowd, pushing past the double doors and pulling me back outside.
The cool, crisp evening air violently hits my overheated skin as we step onto the massive entrance stairs.
"Sophi... I" he begins, his entire muscular frame visibly shaking.
I still don't believe a single word of the horrific accusation Vivien just hurled at me.
I take a step toward him, entirely consumed by concern, desperately reaching out to calm his trembling.
But the moment my hand brushes his arm, he flinches away—retreating from my touch as if my fingers could physically burn through his skin.
"What is wrong with you?!" the exclamation bursts out of me, the tears finally spilling over my eyelashes. I can't hold it back for a single second longer.
"What happened? Why didn't you text me yesterday? I was so incredibly worried about you!"
"I'm so sorry," he whispers, his voice a broken, raspy thread.
And with those four words, my entire body goes completely numb.
The world drops away."Say it," I dare him, stepping closer, needing to hear the ugly truth straight from his mouth to believe it. "Say it out loud!" I scream at the top of my lungs.
My entire frame is shaking violently. I don't know if it's from the night air or from the horrific realization building up inside my chest, turning my bones to ash.
"I didn't know... I swear to God, Sophia, It ," he says
The confession hits me like a physical blow.
The image of my parents' destroyed car flashes behind my eyes. The hit-and-run driver the police could never find. The mystery that turned my life black.
It was him.
A breathless, ragged scream rips from my throat. I start hurling furious, incoherent words at him, not even registering what I'm saying as I turn on my heel and start frantically running down the massive marble steps.
Him chasing after me, desperately sobbing, begging me to listen, desperately trying to apologize for a sin that can never be forgiven—for a tragedy that should have never happened.
I halt on the steps, spinning around to face him, my chest heaving. "Don't touch me!" I scream, my voice cracking under the weight of the pure, traumatic betrayal.
I am entirely unable to perceive the words, the information, or the horror of everything that just occurred.
How can something so beautiful alter so darkly, so fast?
This isn't happening. It can't be happening.
"Is it true?" I ask him one final time, my voice dropping into a fragile, desperate whisper, begging him to deny it.
But his only response is a quiet, agonizingly painful nod.
"Yes."
Through the blur of my tears, I see two figures sprinting out of the doors behind him. Maria and James are rushing down the stairs toward us, their faces pale with alarm. Lorenzo reaches out, as he tries to catch me, tries to hold me upright as the ground beneath my feet entirely vanishes.
My heart shatters.
My lungs give out. My entire body completely collapses under the weight of the dark truth.
And after that... I see absolutely nothing.
My entire world shuts down, and I sink into the black darkness.