6. I wanted to leave
Sophia's Pov:
Adrian left.
He just left.
And I was still sitting on the edge of the bed, numb.
My tears had slowed, but the ache inside me only grew heavier.
The room felt unbearably silent.
For five years I had stayed in this marriage.
Five years.
Five fucking years of waiting.
Waiting for him to change.
Waiting for him to care.
Waiting for this marriage to become real.
And for what?
For humiliation?
For loneliness?
For the pain of watching my daughter grow attached to another woman?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
I felt so stupid.
So unbelievably stupid.
I had wasted five years of my life loving a man who had never loved me.
Anger rose inside me so suddenly that my hands trembled.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to break everything around me.
I wanted to shatter every memory inside this room.
My phone rang.
The sound startled me.
I looked at the screen.
June Adler
My best friend.
The only friend I had left from college.
There had once been others.
But after the secret marriage, I had disappeared from everyone’s life.
No explanations.
No goodbyes.
One by one, everyone had faded away.
Except June.
She knew everything.
She knew about Adrian.
She knew about the marriage.
And even after all these years, she had stayed.
Lately she had been busy building her startup company, but whenever I needed her, she was there.
My fingers shook as I answered the call.
“Hello?” June said cheerfully.
I opened my mouth to respond—
but all that came out was a broken sob.
Her tone changed instantly.
“Sophi?”
I couldn’t speak.
I just cried.
“Sophi, what happened?” she asked, panic rising in her voice. “Are you okay?”
I pressed my trembling hand over my mouth, trying to steady myself.
“I...” My voice broke. “I want to leave.”
There was silence for one second.
Then June spoke firmly.
“I’m coming over. Don’t worry, Sophi.”
The line disconnected.
I sat there motionless, tears still slipping down my face.
Less than an hour later, June was in my room.
The moment she saw me, her expression changed.
She rushed to the bed and sat beside me.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “What happened, babe?”
And just like that, everything came pouring out.
I told her about Vanessa.
About Adrian.
About Lily wanting to stay with her.
About how my daughter was slowly treating another woman like her mother.
By the time I finished, my throat hurt from crying.
June’s jaw tightened.
“Sophia,” she said sharply, “I warned you about Adrian from the very beginning.”
I lowered my gaze.
“You kept hoping he would change. You kept saying things would get better.”
Her voice softened slightly, but the anger remained.
“But what changed?”
She let out a frustrated breath.
“Now Lily is treating Vanessa Monroe like her mother.”
The words hit me like a knife.
Because hearing it out loud made it real.
I broke down again.
June immediately pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back as I cried.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
After a moment, she handed me tissues and stood up.
Then she walked to my closet and opened it.
I stared at her.
She began pulling clothes out and laying them on the bed.
I wiped my tears.
“What are you doing?”
She turned to me as if the answer was obvious.
“Packing.”
I blinked.
“Sophia, you are not staying in this house anymore.”
I stood up quickly.
“But Lily—”
June turned toward me and crossed her arms.
“Sophia, you just told me Lily and Adrian are spending the night at Vanessa’s place.”
I stayed silent.
“If Lily needs you, she will call,” June said. “But right now, you need to think about yourself.”
I hesitated.
“She needs me—”
“No,” June said firmly. “You need you.”
I looked at her in silence.
“No more excuses, Sophia,” she continued. “You are leaving.”
For the first time, I didn’t argue.
Because the truth was—
I wanted to leave.
I wanted to get out of this mansion.
Out of this marriage.
Out of this suffocating life.
The walls that had trapped me for five years suddenly felt unbearable.
So I nodded.
And together, we packed.
I gathered the essentials:
My clothes.
My personal belongings.
My important documents.
Every item I placed in the suitcase felt surreal.
It felt like I was packing away five years of pain.
When everything was ready, I took one last look around the room.
This room had witnessed every tear, every lonely night, every shattered hope.
And now I was walking away from it.
I dragged my suitcase downstairs.
James was in the hallway.
His eyes widened slightly when he saw the luggage.
“Mrs. Whitmore?” he asked softly.
I forced a small smile.
“I’m going with June for a while.”
He looked at me for a moment.
I didn’t know if he believed me.
Maybe he guessed the truth.
Maybe the suitcases gave it away.
But he simply nodded.
“Take care, ma’am.”
My throat tightened.
“Thank you, James.”
June picked up one of the bags and led the way outside.
The cool air hit my face as I stepped out of the mansion.
I turned back for one last glance.
That house had been my prison for five years.
And for the first time in a long time—
I could breathe.
I got into June’s car.
As she drove away, I stared out the window at the mansion growing smaller behind us.
I wasn’t sure what came next.
I wasn’t sure how I would survive.
But one thing was certain.
For the first time in five years—
I had finally left Adrian Whitmore.