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"After she physically cut off her own daughter, she gave up; the guilt was too hard for her to bear, and she started drinking more, not remembering what day it was. To me, I think she deserved better. Maybe then my father would have opened his stupid eyes and seen the pain and turmoil he put his wife through every day!
He would have seen that someone had gotten into her head and his. Instead, he turned into a manwhore." Everyone looks at Sofia in shock, especially her mom. She is sticking up for her mother even though the woman doesn't deserve it.
Sofia looks into her mom's eyes.
"I loved you then, and I still love you now; you never hurt me when you were sober; it doesn't make it right, but it's the truth. You are my mother, but you should have just opened your mouth. Neither of you want a divorce; you love each other, you just didn't know how to show it. He strayed because he thought you did first, which you did unintentionally, you somehow had it in your mind that he was straying because someone told you that, and I think that someone was bullshitting and most likely told father the same thing. You changed because you couldn't handle the pain, so you verbally abused me to try and get me to be someone I wasn’t, so I didn't end up like you. You pushed him away when you decided to play him at his own game instead of talking to him, and the more attention he showed me the worse you got. He was just a proud father. Instead of acting jealous, you should of embraced him and found happiness. He never looked at another person until someone got into his head, telling him you were straying, telling you he was straying, which lead to both of you straying to get back at the other—all you had to do was fucking talk to each other," she states. Victoria pales again, realizing her mistake, while Stefano runs a hand through his hair, hearing the lies someone told his insecure wife about him, looking pissed that he fell for it, too.
My parents and brother stand silently, watching everything go down, while my father stays alert.
"There was a time I was your whole world. I went everywhere with you, and I don't want this person that you became fifteen years ago anywhere near my daughter. I asked you at my wedding to get help. I was saying goodbye to you, Mother, because you are part of why I ran. I can't have the woman you are today treat my daughter the way you treated me all because he would show his granddaughter affection. I want the woman who would tuck me in, kiss my forehead, and read bedtime stories. The woman who would bake cookies, then proceed to have a flour fight in the kitchen. That's the woman my kid deserves as a grandmother, the woman I had before before the lies. Now do me a fucking favor, the pair of you, and get fucking counseling and sort your fucking selves out, or you can kiss goodbye to ever meeting your only grandchild!" she sneers the last bit, and my father clears his throat to hide his chuckle.
I bite my lip, and I can see both my brother and mother's shoulders shaking in silent laughter, hearing Sofia being the parent instead of the other way around is hilarious.
Victoria shakes her head at her daughter, giving her a small smile, then finally looks up at Stefano. They're wrapped in each other's arms, and he leans down, whispering how sorry he is and that they'll get to the bottom of what happened before kissing her. Sofia gives a small smile; even after everything her mother did, she still helped her open her eyes. My girl, and my heart. Now, I just need her to forgive me. Maybe counseling, too?
"Hey, Damian." We all tense at her words, and her parents break apart, looking at her wide-eyed. Victoria seems confused, wondering what else could have happened without her knowing. She looks at Mattia, and he tenses. Everyone else looks at me, waiting for me to answer her.
"Yeah, moya lyubov.” My mother gasps at the endearment; she obviously missed it before.
"Remember the day you proposed?" she asks sweetly, and my body goes ridged, remembering how scared she looked.
"You sprinted to my car; you had a bruise on your eye, and you told me you were just clumsy again," I rasp. This time, her mother gasps, looking shocked, and Stefano squeezes his arms around her.
"The last time my mother hit me was when she split my lip, after that, she barely said two words to me, always drinking. I was actually scared she'd try hurting herself; it was my biggest fear, but it didn't stop Mattia from continuing his attacks. I had been trying to dodge assault after assault for months, and that day, I fought back for the first time."
I hold my breath. Don't say it, baby, don't, please don't. I plead with her with my gaze.
"I snapped and mouthed back at my mother; it was harsh and cruel, but I'd had enough. She went red and stormed out the back door, driving off in her car, probably to the beach house for the surprise party, leaving me alone with Mattia. He saw this as an opportunity, but I couldn't realize the danger of my situation quickly enough to run for it. When I realized he was approaching me, I slowly walked backward, knowing I only had a small window of opportunity to run for it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed hold of me, called me a whore, and then he touched my private area under my dress. He covered my mouth, then rubbed me hard through my panties. I struggled, but he just chuckled. He grabbed my breasts, and just before he could reach into my panties, I slammed my head into his nose. After that, I was able to get loose and run."
This has to be a nightmare—she's not saying this, please!
"I managed to just get a few feet away before he grabbed my arm and spun me around. He punched me in the eye. Thankfully, I wasn't close enough to feel the full force, just close enough for it to fucking hurt and bruise. I stumbled back a little but then managed to kick him hard in his family jewels. I ran upstairs." She looks at me again. "I was originally wearing the black dress you bought me for my 18th birthday, but he tore it during the attack, so I wore the white one instead. I knew you would be there any moment, so I grabbed my bag, and as I unlocked the door to run out, he charged into my room." She takes a deep breath, then looks at Mattia.
My gun hand itches to lift and shoot the fucker.
She looks at me and says, "He knocked me onto the floor, and that white dress you said you loved me wearing because it reminded you of what it would be like to marry me…."
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. I loved that dress. It was lacy and went to her knees. I kept picturing her walking down the aisle in it, which should have been a big clue to how I actually fucking felt for her. I look at her again.
"He tore it from the straps down, and when I fought back, he punched my face again. I got dizzy, and it dazed me for a moment, just long enough for him to rip my underwear and, sh…shove his fingers inside me."
I rage, grabbing the vase next to me on the side table, and throwing it across the room, breathing heavily. I can see my father in my side-eye view, holding Alexandr back from killing Mattia. I look at Mattia and raise my gun, and he pales. Victoria is hysterically crying, gripping Stefano, who wants to grab Mattia, but he's holding his wife up, all the guilt tearing out of her. I can hear my mother sob behind me, but I ignore it all as I keep my gun trained on Mattia, pointing at his dick.
Then I feel a soft hand on top of mine, making me take a deep, shuddering breath. It's been so long since I've felt her touch. I turn my head to look into her eyes, which have turned soft, and mine fill with unshed tears, wanting to fall, not giving a shit about anyone in the room if they do. She still has one hand on her gun, trained on the piece of shit. I use my left hand to cup her face; the cold metal of my wedding ring touches her. She closes her eyes for just a second, leaning into my touch.
That is a good sign, right?
She puts pressure on my gun hand, and I let her lower it. I remove my hand from her face and then wrap it around her waist, pulling her body into mine. I lean my head against her shoulder as tears fall from my eyes, staining her beautiful skin while she continues.
"He squeezed my breast, and he tried to kiss me, so I headbutted him again, making more blood run from his nose. It dazed him, and I managed to wrangle my way from under him and bolt to my bathroom. I locked the door, and as I looked around, I noticed the baby blue dress with dark swirls all over it, the one that goes to my feet, remember it?"
I nod against her shoulder, the tears falling down my cheeks.
"He started banging on the door, and I knew it wouldn't hold for long, so I quickly changed, then climbed out of my bathroom window and onto the trellis I had under it, and climbed down. When I saw you drive in, I sprinted. That was the last time I was alone in the same room with him. He would always glare at me, but I made sure to never be left alone with him…until the night before our wedding," she says it so softly, but I still feel tense at her words.
Fuck, I love her.
I press my forehead on hers, closing my eyes as the tears continue. I take a deep breath, inhaling her scent of vanilla and chocolate.
