Chapter 40 Fractured Loyalties

• The elevator doors slid open with a muted chime, the quiet sound utterly at odds with the storm raging inside Sofia. She stepped into Marco’s penthouse, her legs moving on autopilot, numb and shaking. The walls, the furniture, the sweeping view of the city beyond—all of it blurred through the haze of tears stinging her eyes.
• As soon as the elevator doors shut behind Marco, the dam inside her broke.
• Sofia’s breath came in ragged gasps as anger surged through her veins, hot and vicious. Her fists clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms. Her heart felt like it was being ripped apart, torn between the desperate pain in her father’s eyes and the cold reality of the choice she had made. A choice she didn’t know if she could ever forgive herself for.