Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
SOPHIE
Breakfast was pleasant. The weather was no less. Ideal for me to finally ask Papa about working in one of his businesses. And I should ask him before I talked myself out of it again.
Rafael snarled as he took the newspaper from Papa’s hands. “That sly fox finalized the acquisition?” He spat the name like a curse.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I leaned forward, trying to make out the headline.
Rowks Group Steps into Austria—July 29.
He was here on the sixteenth. Almost two weeks had flown by in a blink.
Would he be back soon? Or was he already here? My gaze shifted to Papa, and he gave me a reassuring look.
The tea’s bitterness lingered on my tongue.
Papa always kept his promises. He’d said he wouldn’t agree. And he’d never given me a reason not to believe him.
“Ahh. I really hoped something would fail. This isn’t good for us.” My brother tossed the newspaper down.
“Did you know Voigts proposed a marriage alliance to him? He declined,” Cath said.
“That’s why he moved aside when she tried to fall on him?” Anne drawled.
Cath giggled, imitating the action. “Everyone was talking about it.”
“That’s not funny,” Mamma said sternly. “Poor girl. He could at least have caught her!”
“Ill-mannered brute,” Rafa huffed.
When I felt Mamma’s tense gaze on me, I cleared my throat and gestured to the newspaper. “Why is it bad that he finalized the merger?”
“Papa also wanted to acquire that company.”
“I wouldn’t have managed it. There were others ahead of us,” Papa said.
“Yes, but the others aren’t Viktor.” Rafa clicked his tongue. “How is he even managing? I bet on him sinking Rowks Group.”
Papa looked at him over his glasses. “The only thing that may sink is MoRen. You’d better ditch Edmond and act on your own.”
“MoRen is doing fine! Our numbers are going up.”
“Yes, but it’s not wise to put all your effort into a company where you have less than half the shares.”
“Maybe if you trusted me with something more serious, I wouldn’t have to.” Rafa’s nose wrinkled. “Besides, whose fault is it I have less than half?”
“You ungrateful rascal—be thankful I invested as much as I did.” Papa shook his head.
“Your father trusted you. Weren’t you the one who rejected the CEO position that he suggested?” Mamma noted.
Rafa scoffed. “That company was already sinking.”
“If you were competent enough, you’d have managed,” Papa said.
“Seems I’m competent enough to make MoRen the leading one in the market.”
I hid my smile behind the teacup. I didn’t think Rafa had refused because he considered the company disastrous. I thought that he wanted to work with Edmond. To build something with his childhood friend. They grew even closer after Alexander, the third in their group, died in an accident.
And as much as Papa would prefer for Rafa to focus on Moreau Holdings, I was sure he wasn’t as angry as he wanted to appear. He had, after all, invested in the new company Rafa and Edmond started together.
It didn’t happen on a whim. Rafa came up with detailed plans with numbers and validation—something Papa valued above all else. The exact thing I couldn’t get without him giving me a chance first.
Anne’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “—doesn’t change the fact your so-called friend betrayed you.”
What were they talking about?
“Alissa.” Anne swallowed, meeting my eyes. “Their marriage is planned for mid-September.”
Alissa? Marriage? Was this still about Edmond?
“Anne!” Rafa’s voice came as though through fog. “It’s not official.”
“The pregnancy is real. Do you think Alissa’s parents will let him slide?”
My chest caved in. “Alissa is pregnant? With Edmond’s child?”
No. Edmond would never… He’d promised… He… Not that I’d hoped.
My fingers reached for my ring.
I hoped!
I. Hoped.
Stupid. Pathetic. But I had a hope.
And Alissa… Of all the girls?
“Anne!” Mamma’s voice rose.
I choked on my next breath. Alissa was one of those who’d talked behind my back. And Edmond knew that!
“What? She would’ve found out eventually.” Anne looked away before muttering, “I’m sick of keeping this secret.”
“Is it… true?” I asked, turning to Rafa.
“It was an accident!”
There was no air. No air to breathe. And even the twist of my ring, that was supposed to calm me, did nothing.
Cath let out a harsh laugh. “Didn’t know one could accidentally slide their—”
“Catherine!” The dishes rattled on the table as Mamma leaped from her seat.
“He was drunk. Alissa—He doesn’t want to marry her. He’ll fix it and then…”
Fix it? I laughed.
“Stop lying. At least to yourself,” Cath said. “We all knew he only promised to wait because of your friendship.”
“That’s not true!”
“Really? Then why didn’t he stand up to his mother after what she said to Fifi?”
“He—” His gaze shifted to mine.
“What? Grieving Alexander?” Anne chuckled bitterly.
“It was a mess,” Rafa mumbled.
“You were grieving, too. Yet you managed to put my assaulters in their graves.” I stood from my seat. “Cath and Anne, they’re both right. He did nothing.” I looked up, trying not to let tears fall. “Pass him my well wishes.”
I loved sunrises in summer. The only time when everyone was asleep and I could be in the garden without being constantly checked on. I loved it even more when we were at our lakehouse. But nowadays we didn’t go there often—Mamma was afraid I’d throw myself into the lake.
The one time I fell off the dock was an accident. And it wasn’t like I didn’t know how to swim. But the fact that on that exact day I forgot to take my medication didn’t help my case.
So the porch swing I was enjoying at five in the morning was the best of my options.
Closing my eyes, I let the warm wind brush against my skin.
I used to imagine it was Edmond stroking my cheek.
That he’d come hold me, whispering in my ear that he didn’t care what others would say, that I was all that mattered to him.
He never did.
At best he’d glanced at me with some strange look in his eyes that I realized now wasn’t longing. I was a fool for telling myself he was giving me space, honoring my wish. Waiting for me to hint.
But how could I hint when I wasn’t the one who had something to lose?
His family was against me.
“It’s the least you could do if you truly love my son,” Madame Renier had said during her last visit.
It was barely a month after everything happened. She’d visited, her face full of concern. I mistook it for worry about my well-being, believed she was there to help me reconcile with Edmond.
Deep down, I’d hoped she would.
So, despite my mother’s disapproval, I accepted her offer of a private conversation.
The first thing she’d said once the door closed was how badly damaged my reputation was.
“I believe that you have no fault,” she said. “But our circle is narrow. Everyone is talking.” Her voice grew sharper. “Many say you taunted them. Went of your own will.”
I flinched, backing toward the wall.
“They call you a whore. Could you imagine what they’d say about Edmond if you marry him?”
She continued, her voice honeyed with concern that felt like poison, listing all the awful things people were saying while I shrank smaller and smaller, pressed into the corner of the room.
Now I knew all of that had been the Durets’ doing—their desperate attempt to save their reputation by painting me as a disgrace before my family could retaliate.
But back then, I was sure that I was a stain on my family’s name.
I didn’t remember much after Madame Renier left—only scrubbing and scrubbing the dirt off my skin, tearing myself nearly to bleeding.
All while Mamma banged on the door. I doubted I would’ve stopped if Rafa hadn’t broken down the door.
After that, I never let anyone touch me again. Not even my mother or sister. As much as I wanted to hug them, to bury myself in their warmth, I couldn’t. Couldn’t taint them—not when even I couldn’t bear my own skin.
“Fifi,” Cath whispered, making me wince. “Don’t scrub!” She gestured at my arms.
My face burned when I looked at my forearms. Red lines all over them.
Again. Every time I thought I was getting better at managing myself, I proved myself wrong. At least they weren’t bleeding. That was a huge plus. But I didn’t dare voice the thought. Instead, I turned over, hiding myself in my blanket.
Cath sat on the other side of the swing. “Couldn’t sleep?”
I shrugged, turning toward her. She was still in her pink robe, like a princess from the beloved books our nanny used to read to us, her big blue eyes and long blonde hair framing her face.
Mine fell slightly shorter—trimmed recently under Mamma’s sharp gaze.
I’d learned to do it properly by now. Though Mamma still held her chest on the days I was trimming my hair, making me repeat once again that I would not do a buzz-cut like the very first time.
Back then I hadn’t bathed for more than a month.
Hadn’t brushed my hair even longer, letting it dry on its own.
So when I finally decided to brush it, the knots were in such a horrible state that untangling wasn’t even an option.
I tried. For several hours. And in the end, was forced to stand in front of my mirror and cut it almost to the scalp with a razor that I’d snatched from Rafa’s bathroom.
Perhaps if I’d looked harder, I could’ve found scissors.
But the razor made me work on every strand.
Made me feel lighter with each pass. By the end, when I looked at the choppy mess on my head, all I could do was laugh.
Eventually, Mamma agreed to hand me scissors. But to this day, she always made sure to take them back.
“Fifi?” my sister called me again.
“Ah!” I’d completely forgotten she was waiting for an answer. “Woke up early.”
“Let me translate.” Anne appeared from behind, a tray in her hands, carrying tea. “Woke up at two? It’s seven now.”
Once she set the tray on the bench in front of us, she made herself comfortable in the chair beside the swing. Her eyes went to the ring box in my lap—the Renier emerald heirloom gleaming against dark velvet.
“I probably should have said something earlier. I just…” Anne’s hands lifted, then fell.
“You were thinking how to break the news,” I finished for her.
“He doesn’t deserve you!” Cath said.
“He is…” I closed my eyes. “I knew the day would come when he’d get tired of waiting for me, but… Alissa? Her?”
“The man missed his calling as an actor. All those years of performing devotion.” Anne’s voice turned sharp. “I’ve been telling Rafa, but he can’t see past their history.”
“What about Alissa?” Cath asked.
“Ah?” That part I’d never told anyone. Felt too ashamed of what happened. Of how betrayed I felt.
“You said her name as if she specifically was a surprise,” Cath added.
“I didn’t want to worry you, but at your wedding—” I looked at Anne.
“Fifi…” Anne’s face filled with concern.
“At your wedding,” I muttered again, “she was badmouthing me.” My voice cracked. “Don’t make me repeat it. You know what people say.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“It was your wedding! Besides, Alissa was not the issue. Edmond—” My throat tightened. “—Edmond heard every single word. And said nothing.”
“He what?” Cath’s voice rose.
Anne went very still. “Wait. He heard her say those things and just… let her?”
I shook my head. “We were passing behind her, and heard her refer to me as a woman of ill repute. But he pretended he hadn’t noticed. I did the same—didn’t want to cause drama. And…” Confronting them would have created more gossip. I couldn’t let that happen. “But… now… He’s marrying her?”
I wiped the corners of my eyes with my free hand, ignoring the ringing in my ears. There was nothing left to twist on my finger to make it ease. And I should probably pass the box to Mamma and let her handle the rest.
“She called you a woman of ill repute and then got pregnant out of wedlock?” Cath’s voice rose. “The hypocrisy.”
“She’s always envied you. Always.” Anne bit her thumb. “And if she believes I’ll allow this to—”
“Please, no! Let them have their perfect little life.”
“As if.” Anne’s lips curved without warmth. “Alissa may have gotten what she wanted, but Edmond certainly doesn’t care for her. From what I hear, his mother has her fingers in this whole pregnancy scheme.”
“Not everything you hear is true.” I knew that better than anyone. “Besides, once there’s a ring on her finger, society will forget all about it.” I closed the box in my lap, hiding it in my skirt pocket.
“That’s true.” Cath clicked her tongue and Anne sighed.
For a moment, only the morning birds broke the quiet.
“I think breakfast is ready,” I broke the silence as our housekeeper moved in my periphery. And I was sure I saw Rafa’s silhouette.
But before we reached the entrance, I hesitated. “Cath…” I waited for her to nod. “You mentioned Mark knew Viktor.”
“Viktor?” Her brow furrowed. “As in Rowks?”
“Yes. Are they close?”
“Hmm. I wouldn’t say so.” Cath frowned. “Fifi, you don’t need to worry. Mark would never be close with someone who was friends with them!”
“No one in their right mind would befriend him,” Anne added. “You know the rumors of him being behind his family’s accident are still circulating. The only reason no one dares touch him is because of that cousin from Kosvenia.” She watched me carefully. “But why are you asking?”
I swallowed. They hadn’t told me anything new. And I couldn’t get more without telling them about the proposal he came with. Which I wasn’t going to. Perhaps that was better. No need to think about it. It wasn’t my concern how damaged his reputation was.
“Nothing.” The word came out right as Mamma’s eyes found me. If she noticed the shadows under my eyes, she said nothing.
Breakfast passed in a blur. I smiled. I ate.
Only near the end did I glance at Papa. He met my gaze, raised a brow.
Should I ask him about Viktor? If Rowks Holding was doing much better than ours and Papa was sure he could gain leverage if I married him, then maybe that wasn’t as much of a bad idea.
Or maybe I was acting on emotion. Trying to hurt Edmond the same way he’d hurt me?
A tired mind is a foolish one. Papa’s words echoed in my head.
I could probably think more clearly once I got some sleep.
Yes. Sleep.
The stairs creaked beneath my feet as I returned to my room after breakfast. Only two steps remained when the main entrance door opened below, letting Madame Renier inside.
“My dear.” She smiled. “I’d actually come to see you.”