Chapter 5
Sophia braced one hand against the wall and forced herself up. Her legs had almost stopped hurting because they had gone half-numb. Standing was no longer strength. It was stubbornness wearing a cracked mask.
She smoothed the wrinkled hem of her dress and bowed properly. “Good evening, Mr. Williams.”
The motion sent nausea surging up her throat.
Oliver’s face darkened, perhaps because he smelled the liquor on her.
“Your job description doesn’t include drinking with guests. Did you not understand that?”
“I’m sorry, but...”
Aiden stepped in front of Sophia before she could finish. “Mr. Williams. What a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Coincidence?
Not even close.
Oliver, president of Williams Group, had no reason to set foot in a place like Scarlet unless business required it, even though he was Scarlet’s true owner.
Oliver’s smile did not reach his eyes. “I hear the Sanchez family is about to form an alliance with the Jenkins family. Congratulations in advance. Time really does pass quickly. Aiden, you’ve managed to move on from your failed relationship. Ms. Jenkins must have helped quite a bit. I wish you both every happiness.”
Aiden’s face went dark enough to drip ink.
The Sanchez business had been declining for years. Without the Jenkins family’s money, Aiden would never have been with Josephine at all.
Oliver had not aimed blindly. He had pressed directly on the bruise.
Josephine knew how to read a room. Oliver was not someone the Jenkins family could afford to offend. Seeing the atmosphere turn dangerous, she slipped into her sweet-hostess smile and hugged Aiden’s arm.
“Thank you for the blessing. If Aiden and I really get married one day, we’ll make sure you’re the first to receive an invitation. Since you’re here, Mr. Williams, why don’t you join us for a drink before you leave?”
“No.” Oliver declined without warmth. “This new employee of mine still needs discipline. You enjoy yourselves.”
Josephine gave Sophia a thoughtful glance before smiling and leading Aiden away.
The corridor emptied, leaving only Sophia, Oliver, and Leo, who stood behind Oliver with the stillness of expensive wallpaper.
Sophia’s face went slack. Fine sweat gathered on her forehead. She bit hard into her lower lip until the corners of her eyes reddened.
Acid kept pushing up her throat. She could not hold it much longer.
But Oliver was still there.
“Mr. Williams, I...”
His voice cut her off coldly. “Did I allow you to speak?”
He looked her over with contempt. “Since you enjoy drinking with guests so much, perhaps you should work as a drinking companion from now on. But let me warn you, Scarlet is a legitimate business, not a place for you to sell yourself. If I catch you getting ideas you shouldn’t have, I don’t mind sending you back to prison for another three to five years.”
Sophia stared at him.
So this was what she was to him.
“Oliver,” she said quietly, “is that really how cheap you think I am? If you despise me so much, why not leave me outside to fend for myself? Why bring me to Scarlet at all?”
She raised her head and met his dark eyes.
Sweat had ruined her makeup. Foundation streaked across her face, eyeliner smudged at the corners, leaving her looking faintly absurd. But her eyes were bright. Painfully bright.
“Do you really love my sister that much?” she asked. “Enough to hate me like this? Or does humiliating me make you feel powerful?”
Oliver’s expression sank. The air dropped to freezing.
Sophia thought he would rage. Instead, he laughed.
The sound was low, suppressed, and frightening.
“Powerful?” he repeated. “Sophia, did you leave your brain in prison? Look at yourself. You can barely make a man glance twice. What sense of achievement could you possibly give me?”
His hand shot out and clamped around her jaw.
“Stop filling your head with nonsense. Remember one thing. Everything you’re suffering now is exactly what you deserve.”
His grip was so hard it felt as if her jawbone might crack.
He smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes.
Sophia’s face twisted with pain. She tried to speak. On her next breath, the faint expensive scent clinging to him hit her nose, and her stomach revolted before she could stop it.
She vomited.
All over herself.
All over Oliver.
The sour stink of alcohol and stomach acid spread through the corridor.
Oliver looked down at his ruined suit, rage igniting so fast it stripped his face bare. “Sophia. You did that on purpose.”
Leo stared.
In all his years working for Oliver, no one had ever dared vomit on Mr. Williams.
Sophia wanted badly to explain that she truly had not meant to. But her stomach spasmed again. The moment she opened her mouth, she threw up a second time.
Thankfully, she had eaten nothing all day. What came out was mostly clear liquid.
Would Oliver let her live?
That was the only thought left in her head.
In his fury, Oliver lost the last thread of restraint. He shoved her away.
Sophia’s body, weak and emptied out, could not withstand it. She toppled backward. A heavy sound exploded inside her skull, like a bell struck too close, and the world spun into darkness.
That night, Scarlet saw no small amount of commotion. An ambulance carried an unconscious woman out through the service entrance before dawn.
Sophia dreamed she was back in prison.
In the dream, she had just arrived at Blackwood. During the day, she worked in the prison workshop until her hands went numb. At night, after the shift ended, she returned to the cell block and endured the exclusion, the mockery, the fists.
She had barely found one narrow crack of shelter in that place when she woke.
White ceiling.
Not the foam-padded walls she had stared at for years.
Sophia lay still for a long time before she understood. This was not prison. She had been released.
A nurse came in not long after she opened her eyes. “You were sent to the hospital after drinking too much and hitting your head. How do you feel? Any discomfort?”
Sophia moved carefully beneath the blankets. Her limbs felt weak and hollow, but nothing seemed seriously wrong. Even her legs, which had hurt until they were nearly numb last night, were quieter now.
She shook her head. The small movement sent pain stabbing through her scalp, and she frowned.
“You have an injury on your forehead,” the nurse reminded her. “Don’t touch it, and don’t get it wet. If you feel dizzy, it’s probably a mild concussion. Nothing major, but it’ll take a little time. Also, you’re mildly malnourished. Eat balanced meals, avoid smoking and alcohol, and don’t overwork yourself. With your current condition, especially your legs, you can’t handle hard physical work.”
“I understand. Thank you.” Sophia’s voice came out rough and hoarse.
The nurse nodded and crossed to the window. She pulled open the curtains, and warm sunlight spilled into the room, tinting the white walls pale gold.
So it was already morning.
She had slept that long?
