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“You’re going to be my husband either way. I don’t need a proposal.” Aimee snarled at Sophia. “Especially with the current circumstances. I suggest we get married as quickly as possible, and then you don’t have to worry about your precious little harlot getting ruined.”
Sophia looked like she was going to cry as she turned to Thomas.
“Just go inside with her, Thomas.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to. Aimee means it when she says she’ll cause trouble.” Sophia swallowed. “I’ll say that I’m not very well and head home. I won’t bother anyone else tonight.”
“You’d better not,” Aimee sneered. “Because I’ll make sure you’re in so much trouble you can’t get out of it.”
“I understand, Aimee.” Sophia paused. “I understand very well.”
Barely glancing at Thomas, Sophia headed into the house. Thomas started after her.
“Sophia!”
“Don’t bother with her. She’s not worth it.”
Thomas swung around on Aimee, who looked equally angry and smug.
“Do you think you can get away with this by threatening Sophia?” he demanded. “You think this is going to make me behave?”
“If you love her as you claimed, then you don’t want anything to hurt her, physically and socially.” Aimee’s eyes glinted. “She never deserved nice things. It’s why I made her out to be the bad one before. My parents believe she’s no good because of that.”
“Even though it was proven that she isn’t a thief?”
“The damage was done. Now Mother and Father see Sophia as a nuisance. And when I tell them about this …” Aimee smirked. “Sophia will be gone, away with a distant relative where she can’t do any damage. And you’ll never see her again.”
Thomas had known Aimee was a vindictive person, but he didn’t expect this.
“You’re cold, do you know that?”
“As long as I get what I want, I don’t care.” Aimee took his arm. “Now, let’s go back inside. I’ll concede the proposal tonight, but don’t think this is you getting away with anything. I’ll make sure I have what I want.”
Thomas didn’t doubt it. And it made him very nauseous.
Chapter 17
Sophia couldn’t stay at the ball any longer. Not after that. She wouldn’t be able to look even Mister Shore in the eye with Thomas’ words of love in her head. And given how warm she was feeling, Sophia was certain that her face was bright red. One look at her, and everyone would know what had happened. She wouldn’t need to open her mouth.
She should have pushed him away, refused him, and told him to go back. This was Aimee’s relationship, not hers. Sophia didn’t have a right to take it away, even if she had her misgivings about the pairing. They may not have been compatible, but it wasn’t up to her to change it.
Yet when Thomas started kissing her, saying he loved her, all her concerns melted away. Sophia was really struggling now between common sense and what she actually wanted.
Aimee was going to be telling her parents about it. Sophia knew she wouldn’t be keeping this to herself. She might not declare it to everyone to save herself the embarrassment of her intended groom straying before they were even engaged, but she would absolutely tell their parents what she had seen. Sophia was already preparing herself for it.
She travelled home in silence, feeling the dread building in her stomach. What were her parents going to do? Were they going to scream at her? Pretty much the only time they gave her any attention was when they scolded her, which would be no exception.
In their eyes, Sophia couldn’t do anything right. She hated being shouted at, but she couldn’t remember the last time they actually spoke to her that wasn’t full of annoyance and derision. It was pretty much all she could remember.
Why did her parents dislike her so much? Why had she been dismissed since she was a child? They had never given a reason, and Sophia had never asked why. She doubted they would tell her if she asked them outright, though.
She was not looking forward to them coming back and confronting her.
Once Sophia returned home, the carriage left to go back to Mister Shore’s home, and Sophia went inside, wandering in a daze through the house until she got to her studio. Maybe some time doing some painting would distract her from the nerves knotting in her stomach. It was going to be some time before her family returned.
Picking up her paintbrush, Sophia dipped it into the water jar and then began to paint, trying to keep attention to detail. However, it wasn’t easy; her mind was all over the place, and she was really struggling to keep her concentration. She frowned and tried to turn her painting into something that would pass for something reasonably good. Paint was getting all over her dress, but Sophia didn’t care.
