Page 28 of Pretend it’s Forever

I sounded like an asshole, but then again, I was.

“Fuck you.” Dorian shook his head. “Get out of here.”

“I’m already damned, so why not? But talk to Sophia. Don’t be the asshole brother who thinks he knows what’s best. I did that once, and I almost lost Cora.”

Dorian took a step forward. “I’m not going to ask you twice. Stay away from my sister.”

“I’ll do what she wants. You and I are friends, Dorian. Don’t cross that line.”

“You already crossed it.”

“Dorian,” Harper whispered. “Stop. Sophia wouldn’t want you to act this way.”

“Sophia needs someone to take care of her.”

“Maybe she can take care of herself,” Sophia said from behind them, and I cursed. “Dorian, don’t.”

“Sophia—”

“I’m gone. Don’t fight over me. I’m not worth it.”

And then, I pushed past both Harper and Dorian and moved towards Sophia. She tilted her head up at me but didn’t say a thing.

“I won’t say I’m sorry.”

“You told me to never apologize,” she whispered.

My lips quirked up into a smile, before I turned on my heel, and walked away.

Knowing I had once again probably ruined another good thing I’d had in my life.

Chapter Six

SOPHIA

When my father died, it felt like the world had ended. Only it hadn’t ended the way that perhaps one would’ve wanted. He had never been a truly caring and helpful man in my life. He had focused on himself when it came to his work and personal life and had barely been around. But when he had been there, he had, most of the time, focused on his children. Perhaps not in the way that some people would want, but he had been a good man. Sometimes.

At least that’s what I had thought at one point. Because in the end, he hadn’t been anything of the sort. It was as if he had decided to write how much he hated his children in personal letters over time.

His lawyer, the lackey that I could not stand and had thought he’d have more power than he truly held in the end, didn’t supply each of the twelve Cage children with letters at the same time. No, he had decided to do it in small spurts, waiting for the perfect moment.

It seemed only obvious that a man who would help hide so many indiscretions would be as calculated as my father’s lawyer.

And so now I looked at the envelope sitting on my desk and wondered if I should just burn it. He had delivered it to me personally over a year ago, and I hadn’t bothered to open it. What was the point. The man hated me. Maybe not the lawyer, but for sure my father. And I wasn’t sure I could stand him either.

From what Isabella and Blakely had explained to me, the letters sent to Aston and Isabella herself had been cruel and demanding. A clawed hand reaching even beyond death.

Only here I was, staring at this letter, wondering if I should just open it and get it over with. Because burning it would haunt me. Letting it sit here on my desk for so long gave it far more importance than it earned.

With a sigh, I took the letter opener that Isabella had given me one year and sliced open the seal. Part of me would’ve much rather have torn it open with my teeth, and then burned it, but I was trying for subtlety.

The man had typed the damned thing. Hadn’t even bothered to hand write letters to his children, knowing that he was going to hate them in the end.

Sophia—

You were always our beauty. The one that brought praise and highlighted our family in all its glory.

And then you gave up.