Whispers of Deceit, Echoes of Love

Chapter 25

Sophia frowned, “Where? At your house?” She held her hand up at Steven when he moved to the door.

“Yes, at my house,” Mia cleared her throat. “She was looking for you.”

A sense of horror took over Sophia’s body. She blindly reached for Steve, “W-what did she do to you?”

“Decided to try and see if she could wring my neck,” Mia chuckled before she started coughing, wincing in pain.

“Oh Lord! I am coming over right now!” She turned to Steve, who was watching her, his hand steadying her.

“I called to warn you not to get you to come to my place,” Mia stated. “Apparently, she had gone to your apartment but couldn’t find you.”

“I will see you in a few.” Sophia hung up the call and turned to Steven with wide eyes. “I need to go see my friend. She was attacked.”

Steven frowned, “Which hospital?”

Sophia shook her head, “Not hospital. She is at her apartment. I will give you the directions,” Sophia tagged on his arm, pulling him towards the car.

Steven drove to the friend’s house, all the time trying to find out what happened, but Sophia kept dodging the answer. Once he pulled to a stop in front of Mia’s apartment building, Sophia turned to him with a tight smile.

“Thank you so much for the evening, Steven,” She said as she looked anywhere but him. “I have to go and see my friend now. I will see myself home.”

“I can get one of my drivers to come and take you home,” Steven replied, still uncomfortable with letting her go home by herself at that time of night.

“You have a driver?” Sophia asked, wide-eyed. He had been driving himself all the times she had met him.

“Drivers, and yes,” Steven replied as he handed her a card. “I need them when I have work to do in the back seat. Here, take this. He will be here anytime you finish your conversation. And probably be the same one who takes you to work tomorrow.”

Sophia accepted the card, learning from experience how stubborn Steven was. “Thank you for this.”

Steven’s thumb caressed her cheek gently before he removed his hand and folded it on his lap, “nothing to it. I hope your friend isn’t too badly hurt.”

Sophia turned to gaze outside the window, hiding a sigh before turning to him, “Me, too. Thank you once again!” Sophia collected her stuff and got out. She basically ran through the front without once turning back.

Steven sat in his car for a minute. He quickly made a call to one of his drivers, instructing him to come through and wait for Sophia. He quickly sent him a photo of her that he had discreetly taken in case she decided to slip past him. He then made another call to his assistant at the club, instructing him to find out information about this Emily girl.

Sophia knocked on Mia’s door, swinging patiently from leg to leg as she waited for her to open it.

“Oh my!” She gasped as she saw the bruise on her friend’s cheek and neck. She walked in, dropping her things on the floor before turning to Mia. “This looks so bad, Mia. Let me take you to the hospital, and then we go and report her stupid ass!” Sophia gritted out, anger in her eyes. She did not believe that Emily could stoop so low as to attack her friend like this.

Mia shook her head, “I am fine, Sophia.”

“You are not!” Sophia’s eyes filled with tears. “This is my fault!”

“How is this your fault, girlfriend?” Mia raised her eyebrows. “Did you tell her to come through and attack me?”

Sophia shook her head.

“So, it’s not your fault,” Mia led her to the sofa.

“What did she say?” Sophia asked, her mind already working on what she would do to avenge her friend. Unlike Mia, Sophia could hold a grudge.

Mia shook her head, “she came here like a deranged woman, asking if I knew where you were. I told her the last time I saw you, you were getting into your brother’s car. She accused me of lying to her and that I knew where you and Eric were. I might have told her once a cheater, always a cheater, and that’s when she attacked me.”

Sophia winced when Mia touched her bruised neck and grimaced with pain. She shook her head, “I just can’t believe this is the same girl I called a best friend for so long. I was called for an intervention at the house. Eric had told them that I was dating someone else and that I was refusing to talk to him. My whole family decided I must speak to him, so they had me at the house and brought Eric as well. It didn’t stay long, though. After I told all of them off, I was out of that house.”

Mia cursed under her breath, “Your family is as crazy as Emily. Why would they want you to talk to him? He cheated on you and lied to you for a good part of your relationship. They are supposed to be on your side, not his!”

Sophia rolled her eyes and leaned back on the sofa. She closed her eyes, her hands going into the thickness of her hair, “when in my life have they ever been on my side? What I don’t get about Eric is why he is still on my case. What does he want? He has been cheating all this time, meaning that there must be some emotional investment in his relationship with Emily, right? So why can’t he be happy that now he doesn‘t have to hide it anymore?”

“He is a confused cockroach. That’s what he is,” Mia shook her head. “Stay away from the two of them, Sophia. They are not well in their heads. Where one doesn’t understand the word no, another doesn’t know how to keep her dog on a leash and understand that she is the only one who wants him.”

Sophia chuckled, “I told her something similar. Oh, what a mess!” She sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. “I just wish I could just get away. Go somewhere where I could relax and forget about all this drama.”

“Your brothers all have vacation homes. Why don’t you ask them?” Mia suggested.

Sopha scoffed, “So that they can tell Eric where I am, and he comes to cause me more headaches? No thanks. Besides, you know we aren’t that close. I don’t think they would want me in their homes to begin with.”

Mia clicked her tongue, “In other families, the only girl in the family is usually spoiled and rotten. I wonder what happened to yours.”

“Sometimes I wonder if they would have treated me this way if I was a boy,” a sad smile played on her lips before shaking her head. “Anyway, I have survived well without them. And will continue to do so.” She glanced at her watch. “I can’t believe it’s this late. Are you sure I can’t take you to the ER or something? I really don’t like the way those bruises look.”

Mia shook her head, “I will be fine in the morning; you will see.”

Sophia shook her head, “stubborn chick!” She reached for her phone and requested an Uber. “Well, I better get going. My Uber is two minutes away. I will see you tomorrow, ok?”

“You most definitely will,” Mia walked her to the door, shooing her away as Sophia hesitated by the door.

Sighing in defeat, Sophia walked out just as her Uber vehicle stopped by the entrance. She was about to get in when someone stopped her by calling her name.

“Miss Collins?”