Sophia had always known that life would change the moment she told Alexander the truth. But nothing could have prepared her for the whirlwind of emotions that followed. In the span of an hour, everything had shifted—what had once seemed like an insurmountable burden now felt like a path to something she had never dared to hope for.
Sitting in his office, she watched as Alexander processed everything, his mind clearly working through the implications. But he wasn't backing away. He wasn't angry. He was... trying to understand. That, more than anything, made her believe there might be a chance for them.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and Alexander's assistant stepped inside, holding a stack of papers. "Mr. Blackwood, there's a matter that requires your attention," he said politely.
Alexander nodded, his gaze still fixed on Sophia. "Give me a moment," he replied. Then, turning his attention back to her, he added, "I'll be right back. You're not going anywhere, are you?"
Sophia forced a smile, though her heart still pounded in her chest. "No. I'll be here."
As Alexander left the room to attend to business, Sophia couldn't help but feel a strange sense of relief. For the first time in years, she wasn't carrying the weight of her secret alone. But there was also a nagging fear, one she couldn't shake—the fear that her decision to come clean might have opened a door that she wasn't ready to walk through.
A soft buzz of her phone broke her from her thoughts, and she glanced down to see a message from her best friend, Lila.
How did it go?
Sophia's fingers hovered over the keys. She wasn't sure how to explain it all. How could she put into words the overwhelming mix of emotions she was feeling? In the end, she decided on a simple reply.
I told him. He knows about Leo.
The response was almost immediate.
Oh my god! What did he say?
Sophia hesitated, then typed:
He's not mad. He wants to be involved.
Lila's next message came in a string of excited emojis.
Holy shit! That's amazing, Soph! You've got this!
Sophia smiled at her friend's enthusiasm but felt a flicker of doubt. It seemed too easy, too perfect, like something she had only dreamed of in the quiet hours of the night. But she couldn't afford to doubt now. Not when there was so much at stake.
A few minutes later, Alexander returned to the office, looking every bit the powerful businessman he was. He seemed different, though—softer, somehow, as if the weight of their conversation had shifted something within him. He looked at her, and for a brief moment, his gaze softened.
"I need to head back to the office for a meeting, but I'd like to speak with you later. Would you be willing to come to dinner tonight?" His voice was steady, but there was an underlying warmth there that made her heart skip a beat.
Sophia's breath caught in her throat. Dinner with Alexander Blackwood. It felt like a surreal turn of events. She had never imagined that something like this could happen, especially not after everything that had happened between them. But here she was, standing on the precipice of something new, something unknown.
"I'd like that," she said quietly, her voice steady despite the butterflies in her stomach.
He gave her a small, approving nod. "I'll make sure it's a quiet place, somewhere where we can talk without interruptions. We have a lot to discuss."
Sophia nodded, though her mind was already racing ahead to what this could mean. Dinner with him? It felt like a step toward something—something big, something that could change everything.
As Alexander left, the door closing behind him, Sophia stood up, walking over to the window. The city sprawled out before her, its lights twinkling like a thousand tiny stars in the night sky. But it felt distant, as if she were standing outside her own life, looking in.
The life she had known—the life she had built for Leo and herself—had always been solitary. She had never expected anyone to come in and change that. But now, Alexander had entered her world in a way that she couldn't ignore.
And as much as she feared what the future might hold, she knew one thing for certain: things would never be the same again.