Chapter 2
I didn’t sleep at all that night. My body ached, my eyes stung, and my back was still sore from the hours I’d spent in the kitchen trying to recreate the cake Elias insisted on having.
I’d scoured every bakery in the city looking for that limited–edition dessert, but it was sold out everywhere–every store, every vendor, every street corner.
So I did something I hadn’t done in years: I baked it myself.
There was a time when I was known for my pastries. I trained with the best, had people lining up around the block just to get a taste of my cakes. I had goals. A career. But I gave it all up. Elias convinced me it was better
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to stay home, that we’d save more that way, that he’d take care of everything. And I believed him.
Now, as the pale light of morning spilled into the kitchen, I stood beside the cooling cake -one last offering, still whole. My stomach grumbled, but I ignored it. I hadn’t eaten since the morning before.
Just as I slumped onto the old couch for a moment of rest, something scalding splashed against my arm.
I cried out, bolting upright and cradling the burn. Hot milk.
I turned and saw Julian, my grandson, holding a baby bottle upside down, milk dripping onto the floor. His lip curled into a pout.
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“Feed me!” he snapped. “You’re the maid!”
Still wincing, I tried to stay calm. “Julian, where’s your mom?”
“She’s busy,” he muttered, stomping one foot. “I said I want you.”
My body screamed for food and sleep, but I dragged myself up and headed to the kitchen. I didn’t want to start another
argument.
That’s when I saw them.
Elias. Scarlett. Evelyn. Even Scarlett’s husband. All gathered around the table, laughing, eating like the perfect little family.
Evelyn’s makeup was flawless, her curls bouncing as she spoke, dressed in a designer baby–blue outfit I recognized from
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an upscale boutique downtown.
She glanced at me, her voice coated in fake sweetness. “Oh, Sophia, you don’t look well. Maybe you should lie down for a bit.”
Before I could respond, Elias chuckled, not even glancing up. “Come on, Evelyn. She always looks half–dead.”
Evelyn snorted. No one came to my defense.
Then Elias asked, “Where’s that cake I ordered? The one for Evelyn?”
Evelyn blinked. “Wait–you got me a cake?”
“Of course,” Elias said, puffing out his chest. “Limited edition. Took two hours to track it down downtown.”
Everyone looked at me, waiting. I stepped
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forward, cake in hand, nerves twisting inside
- me.
“I made it,” I said quietly. “You wanted that cake, but I couldn’t find it anywhere, so… I baked it.”
Heart pounding, I walked toward the table, trying to keep my chin up.
Just as I neared, Evelyn casually stretched her leg from under the table–her smile never wavering–and tripped me.
My foot caught her heel. I stumbled. The cake flew from my hands.
It felt like slow motion. I watched helplessly as it spun through the air, then landed face–first on Evelyn’s designer dress.
Gasps echoed around the room.
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“My dress!” Evelyn screeched.
Elias shot up, storming over. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
I opened my mouth to explain, but he grabbed my hair and yanked it back, pain exploding across my scalp.
“This dress costs more than everything you own!” he shouted. “Can’t even walk straight now? You’re pathetic!”
“I didn’t mean-”
“SHUT UP!” he barked. “You gonna pay for this? You can’t even feed yourself! And now you’re wasting food too?!”
I froze, stunned. Evelyn made a show of reaching out to calm him. “It’s okay, Elias.
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She probably just slipped.”
“I don’t care!” he growled. “She acts like this because she’s never worked a real job a day in her life.”
He pointed at the ruined cake. “Eat it.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Off the floor,” he said. “Go ahead. Or should we waste more money because of you again? You don’t bring in a single dollar here!”
Scarlett stood, arms folded, disgust on her face. “This is exactly why you don’t have nice things. You’re embarrassing, Mom. Sometimes I wish Evelyn was my real mom
instead.”
Evelyn made a fake gasp. “Don’t say that,
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Scarlett. She’s doing her best. It’s fine–we’ll just buy another.”
But I saw her smirk as she leaned close and whispered, “Looks like no one wants you around anymore. Wonder why you’re still here.”
My hand curled into a fist. “I’m not eating that,” I whispered, barely holding myself together.
Elias shoved past me. “Then clean it. And don’t let me see your face again today.”
“Let’s just celebrate somewhere else” Scarlett said, grabbing her purse. “Without her.”
“Agreed,” Elias muttered. “She’s not really family anyway.”
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They laughed as they walked out the door.
I sank to the floor, scooping up pieces of cake and smeared frosting, doing my best to hold back the tears–yet they came anyway, sliding quietly down my cheeks and splashing onto the cold linoleum.
All these years. All that I gave up. For what?
Once upon a time, I was Sophia Reed. Daughter of Theodore Reed, the hotel magnate. Sole heir to a legacy. A woman with choices. A future. But I threw it all away.
For him.
I told my dad I didn’t care about the money–l just wanted to be loved. To build a home. To be with someone who truly cared for me.
So I turned my back on everything and everyone. And now… I was nothing more
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than their housekeeper. An unwanted presence. A shadow in the place I once called mine.
I dragged myself to the corner of the kitchen, frosting still smeared on my hands, pulled out my phone, and stared at a number I hadn’t dared call in twenty years.
My chest tightened. My hand shook.
But I hit call.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then a deep, familiar voice answered. “Hello?”
My throat closed for a beat, then I managed to speak.
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“Dad… it’s me. Sophia. I’m sorry. For
everything. For leaving. For shutting you out. But… can I come home?”
There was silence.
“I don’t have anything left here,” I whispered..
“Please… just let me come home.”
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