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No, no, no! Please, Heavenly Father. I’ve tried so hard to be a loving mum, to help others, to spread Your light and love. I’ve denied myself of Malik’s love to keep him safe. Please, take anything else from me, but You can’t let these malicious people get anywhere near my girl!
“My charming sweetheart Naomi is quite taken with the idea of a beautiful granddaughter. You should be pleased to know we’ll elevate her from a commoner to royalty.” His eyes narrowed, and Sophie wouldn’t be surprised if he spit venom.
Charming, sweetheart Naomi? Did he really think he was royalty? How could a person manage such lies with a straight face?
“Now here’s what’s going to happen, Miss Pederson,” he continued. “You will bring the child to our home tomorrow morning at ten a.m. You’ve had her exclusively for five years, so we’ll enjoy teaching and training her for the next five. Because we are so generous, we’ll grant you supervised visits as long as you don’t try to brainwash her. If you don’t comply or try to run with Sunny, our lawyers will crush you, take away all your parental rights, and you will never see my granddaughter again.”
He paused for effect. He didn’t need to. He didn’t need any kind of special effects to have her wanting to cry out in agony and break down in sobs. The last time she had been this terrified and nauseated was when this man’s son had taken advantage of her, breathing vicious threats against her beloved Malik the entire time.
“We will also be changing her name,” William said. “Sunny is so … pedestrian, as if she were under-privileged or common. We’re thinking Elizabeth or Catherine, possibly Vivian. Something that bespeaks the royal blood in her veins. Now, Miss Pederson, do you understood what is expected of you?” He sneered at her and asked the last question slowly, as if she were slow.
Sophie couldn’t catch a breath. She had no response, no idea how to fight this man’s power and distinctive brand of evil. She knew firsthand how vile his son was and had no doubt William and Naomi were to blame. She knew secondhand how William, Naomi, and Treven had intimidated and devastated her talented, beautiful friend Livvy.
She could not let these people ruin her pure daughter.
Sophie stared into William’s grayish-blue eyes, eyes that looked so sweet and innocent on her Sunny but could somehow be so full of malevolence and venom on this man and his foul son. William Rindlesbacher would take Sunny and corrupt and ruin her.
She took a deep breath, said a desperate prayer, pivoted on her best high heels, and ran.
Dodging around the tent and then through wedding guests, her gaze darted through the open gates, searching for the shuttle van that could take her down to the village and the parking area.
The shuttle wasn’t there. Shoot! She couldn’t wait for the vehicle to appear. She had to sprint down that hill, get her car, and drive as fast as she could to her home in Traverse where her parents were watching Sunny tonight. She and Sunny would have to disappear. It was the only answer. She could never let the Rindlesbachers get close to her daughter.
Looking over her shoulder, she could see William watching her, smirking. He raised a hand and mockingly saluted.
And Sophie ran smack into a wall of muscle and flesh.
“Oomph!”
She would’ve bounced off and hit the concrete, but the guy wrapped his hands around her waist, steadying her.
“Sophie. Are you all right?” Prince Malik’s voice was cultured, beautiful, and even kind, despite how she’d dumped him. He still believed she’d cheated on him, everybody did, but he’d respected her demands that he not contact her. Demands made to keep him safe from Treven. He didn’t know the truth or the sacrifice she’d made, and he never could.
“Malik,” she breathed. She looked into his true blue eyes, as clear and guileless and beautiful as a summer’s sky. In their depths, she saw a love and longing she often felt reflected inside her own soul. “Oh, Malik.”
She shouldn’t have done it, but he was a strength and a hope she always craved and desperately needed right now. Throwing herself against him, she clung to his strong back and simply breathed him in. His irresistible strength, his warm spicy scent, how he’d always believed in her—the allure and happiness that was Prince Malik August surrounded her as he wrapped her up tight. No words were spoken. None were needed. She was in Malik’s arms and not even William Rindlesbacher could hurt her.
But William could hurt her girl.
Sophie would take any pain to protect her daughter. Even the pain of ditching Malik again.
“I’ve got to go,” she cried out, ripping herself away from the strength and comfort she’d always craved, giving him one last lingering glance, and then running for the gates.
Malik. Why couldn’t she ever turn to him instead of running away?
Because if she did, the Rindlesbachers wouldn’t just be after her Sunny. They’d threaten, torture, and kill the man she loved just to get her to submit to their will.
Just like before, she couldn’t involve Malik in her tragic life. The Charming Prince was a beacon of happiness and light she’d never know again.
Resolve strengthened her spine and kept her running in heels despite her aching feet.
She’d protect her daughter. Sunny was all that could matter now.
Chapter Two
Malik savored the unexpected hug from the woman he’d loved since he was eighteen. It had been love at first sight for him, and the time they’d spent together had been heaven on earth. Sophie had seen him, the real him—his insecurities at being the youngest of a long line of impressive princely brothers, his inability to focus on any one hobby or passion, the way he hid behind his charming lines and smile, and she’d always believed he was incredible, far more than just his ‘charm’ and ‘handsome princely face.’
In his considerable dating experience, Sophie was the most impressive and beautiful woman currently on this earth. The woman he alternated between daydreaming about and shoving firmly from his mind.
