CHAPTER TWO

SOPHIA’s POV

The wedding hall was filled to capacity, cascading gold-framed chandeliers glowed above hundreds of influential guests seated in perfect rows.

Expensive perfumes mixed with fresh white roses. Media cameras flashes went off nonstop while reporters whispered among themselves near the entrance. Everything looked perfect, exactly the kind of wedding my father wanted the public to see.

I stood beside Daniel at the altar in a fitted white gown that hung beautifully on my body. My fingers were cold around the bouquet in my hand while the priest spoke calmly before us, but I barely heard a single word. All my attention was focused on when to exchange the vows.

Daniel stood beside me looking polished and composed as though I had not caught him buried inside my sister barely twelve hours ago. The sight of him made my chest tingle in disgust.

I lifted my gaze slowly toward the front rows.

My father sat proudly beside several investors and politicians, his expression calm and satisfied. Vanessa sat beside him in a champagne-colored dress, her legs crossed elegantly, looking more like the bride than the actual maid of honor. She smirked the moment our eyes met.

I forced my gaze from her and turned towards the seated dignitaries, my eyes scanning through the guests frantically as if looking for a lost item. I let out a soft smile as my eyes landed on him, Eric Prescott.

Eric sat alone near the far end corner, dressed in an all-black suit, one ankle resting lazily over the other. Unlike everybody else, he looked completely detached from the ceremony. His face was short of expression.

My father never wanted him there, but Eric Prescott attending the wedding of Roman Carter’s daughter after years of business hostility was exactly the kind of public statement wealthy men enjoyed making.

I held his gaze for a second too long, Eric noticed but his expression did not change.

The priest smiled warmly. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union between Sophia Carter and Daniel Kingston.”

Union…what a joke.

The words felt like everybody inside this hall had already decided my future for me while expecting me to smile through it.

Daniel quietly reached for my hand.

I almost flinched.

“Relax,” he whispered from the side of his mouth, his expression perfectly calm for the cameras.

The audacity.

He truly believed I would go through with this wedding after what I saw last night. I let out a quiet laugh.

The priest smiled again. “We will now proceed with the vows.”

The hall was filled with soft applause. Daniel finally looked relieved. I stared ahead while my pulse quickened. This was the moment I had been anticipating, the exact moment my entire life would split into two different paths.

One path was easy; pretend, say the vows and spend years married to a man who slept with my sister while everyone around me acted like betrayal was normal.

The other path would destroy everything I had known, the Carter empire, my father’s image, my family reputation.

Daniel squeezed my hand slightly before turning toward the priest.

“I, Daniel Kingston”

“Stop...” my voice echoed sharply through the microphone.

A gasp spread across the hall immediately. Daniel froze, my father’s face darkened, while the priest blinked in confusion.

I lowered my bouquet slowly, then turned toward the guests. Every camera in the room immediately shifted toward me.

“Sophia,” my father warned quietly, but I ignored him.

Curious looks from hundreds of eyes staring at me from every direction of the hall waiting for an explaination made me nervous. But strangely enough, when I finally spoke, my voice came out calmer than I expected.

“I can’t marry Daniel.”

Whispers exploded across the hall. Daniel grabbed my wrist quickly while forcing a smile for the guests. “Sophia, enough.”

I looked down at his hand as it touched mine, then back at his face, and for the first time in six years, I felt absolutely nothing looking at him.

I jerked my hand away immediately. “Take your hand off me.”

The smile disappeared from his face instantly. “Sophia,” he muttered sharply. “You’re embarrassing both families.”

I looked at him with so much distaste.

My father stood abruptly from his seat. “That’s enough.”

“No,” I said firmly. “Actually, I think everyone here deserves to know the truth.”

Vanessa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, I noticed her discomfort and somehow felt good.

I turned slowly toward the guests again.

“My fiancé has been sleeping with my younger sister here,” I gestured directly toward Vanessa, “for over a year.”

The hall went silent for a second, then suddenly erupted into shocked whispers. I stood there, watching the disbelief spread across people’s faces while media cameras flashes exploded again nonstop.

Daniel’s face turned vague, Vanessa went still as consumed by humiliation, and my father’s eyes were filled with anger, yelling at the media team to stop recording.

I smiled with satisfaction, no one, not even my father knows the next plan I had up my sleeve.

I watched as my father stormed toward the altar looking furious enough to cast below. “What are you doing Sophia?”

I looked at him directly with stern eyes. “What you should’ve done months ago.”

For the first time in years, my voice did not shake around him. “You betrayed me with my own sister while standing beside me planning a wedding,” I continued.

Vanessa stood up suddenly from her seat, bitterness written all over her face. “Stop acting innocent like you were some perfect fiancée Sophia.”

I looked straight into her eyes with disbelief.

“You always acted like you were better than everyone,” Vanessa continued bitterly. “Daniel got tired of pretending.”

Daniel cursed quietly under his breath.

My father turned toward the guests again. “Everyone calm down. This is a misunderstanding.”

I couldn’t hold my laughter, I laughed so hard till my eyes got teary. My entire life had apparently become one giant misunderstanding overnight.

Then slowly, my eyes shifted toward Eric again. He was still seated calmly, watching everything unfold without interruption, like he already knew this wedding would burn down before it even started.

My pulse quickened. Before fear could stop me, I stepped down from the altar.

Gasps followed as I walked past stunned guests and expensive flower arrangements in complete silence. Cameras followed my every movement while whispers chased me across the room but I kept walking.

Straight toward Eric Prescott.