CHAPTER 28: SOPHIA’S DESPERATION

Victoria’s words echoed in Sophia’s head as she stumbled to her car, hands shaking with rage and disbelief.

"Your credit cards are frozen. Your bank accounts are locked. Your trust fund access is revoked."

It had to be a bluff. Some dramatic gesture to scare her into submission. Mother had always been theatrical, but she’d never actually follow through on something this extreme.

Sophia slid into her beautiful, perfect BMW that Daddy had bought her for her twentieth birthday and drove straight to the nearest ATM.

The black Amex card slid in smoothly. She punched in her PIN with trembling fingers.

CARD RESTRICTED - CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION

"What the fuck?" She tried again, jabbing the numbers harder.

TRANSACTION DECLINED - AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED

Her heart started hammering. She pulled out the backup Visa, the one linked to her personal account that had over thirty thousand dollars in it.

TRANSACTION DECLINED - AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED

The MasterCard. The emergency debit card. Even the stupid prepaid card Aunt Catherine had given her "just in case."

DECLINED. DECLINED. DECLINED.

Sophia stared at the ATM screen like it had personally betrayed her. This couldn’t be happening. This was some kind of mistake. Banks made errors all the time, right?

She fumbled for her phone, her manicured nails clicking against the screen as she opened her banking app.

Account Status: RESTRICTED

Available Balance: UNAVAILABLE - CONTACT BANK

The phone slipped from her numb fingers, clattering onto the floor of the car.

"No, no, no, no, no..." She scrambled to pick it up, heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. "This is insane. She can’t just... DO this!"

But even as she said it, a cold realization crept through her chest. Victoria Blackwood didn’t make empty threats. When she said something, she meant it.

And she’d just declared war on her own daughter.

_____

Sophia’s hands were still shaking as she scrolled through her contacts. Daddy. He’d fix this. He had to fix this. Whatever psychotic break Mother was having, Daddy would talk sense into her.

The phone rang once. Twice.

"Senator Blackwood’s office, this is Rebecca speaking."

Rebecca. The assistant with the perpetually cheerful voice who always put Sophia’s calls straight through to her father.

"Rebecca, hi, it’s Sophia. I need to talk to Daddy immediately. It’s an emergency."

There was a pause. "Oh, hello Sophia. I’m so sorry, but the Senator is in back-to-back meetings today. He’s preparing for the upcoming fundraiser party, we have several major donors flying in from out of state, and..."

"This IS an emergency!" Sophia’s voice cracked. "Tell him it’s Sophia, her daughter.

"I understand this feels urgent, but I’m afraid the Senator simply cannot be interrupted today. These meetings are crucial for the campaign, and... "

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Sophia’s composure shattered completely. "I’m his DAUGHTER! Tell him his wife has lost her goddamn mind and frozen all my accounts!"

Another pause, longer this time. When Rebecca spoke again, her voice had lost some of its professional warmth.

"Miss Blackwood, if you’d like to leave a message for the Senator, I’d be happy to pass it along. Otherwise, I really do need to get back to..."

Sophia hung up, her chest heaving with rage and panic.

Even Rebecca, who used to remember her birthday, who always asked about school, was dismissing her like she was nothing.

_____

Aunt Catherine. She’d always been Victoria’s rival, always competing to be the favorite aunt, the cool one who spoiled Sophia rotten and criticized Victoria’s "strict parenting style." Catherine would be furious when she found out what Victoria had done.

"Blackwood Industries, Catherine’s office. This is Amanda."

"I need to speak to Aunt immediately. This is her niece, Sophia."

"Oh, Sophia! How lovely to hear from you." Amanda’s voice was sickeningly sweet. "I’m afraid ’Ms. Catherine’ is in an emergency board meeting right now. The quarterly reports were... concerning, and she’s had to clear her entire schedule to address some urgent financial matters."

"This is more urgent! My mother has..."

"I’m sure it feels that way, dear, but I really can’t interrupt her. The board members flew in from London specifically for this meeting, and... "

"Tell her it’s about Victoria!" Sophia was practically screaming now. "Tell her Victoria has completely lost her mind and she needs to call me back right now!"

"I’ll... I’ll pass along the message," Amanda said, but her tone suggested she was already dismissing it. "But I really can’t promise when she’ll have time to..."

"This is bullshit!" Sophia slammed her finger against the screen to end the call.

In the silence that followed, a horrible thought crept into her mind. What if they weren’t busy? What if they’d been told not to take her calls?

What if Mother had gotten to them first?

Marcus.

He’d help her. He had to help her, they’d been together for two years, and if anyone would understand, it would be him.

She drove to the country club with her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, her vision blurring with tears of rage and desperation.

The familiar marble columns and perfectly manicured grounds usually made her feel safe, like she were home. Today, they looked cold and unwelcoming.

She found Marcus and his usual crowd at their regular table on the terrace, champagne glasses glinting in the afternoon sun. Tyler, Brad, Connor, all of them lounging like they owned the world.

Which, technically, they did.

"Marcus!" Sophia rushed toward their table, not caring that her voice was too loud, too desperate. "Thank God you’re here. I need to talk to you. It’s urgent."

Marcus barely looked up from his phone. "Oh, hey babe. What’s up?"

"My mother’s lost her fucking mind." The words tumbled out in a rush. "She’s frozen all my accounts, cut off my cards, everything. Over that stupid Alex situation from months ago. She’s completely overreacting and I need...."

"Mmm." Marcus was scrolling through Instagram, double-tapping photos without even looking at them.

"Marcus, are you listening to me? I need you to help me. Maybe you could talk to your father, see if he could loan me some money until I can get this sorted out, or maybe..."

"Sophia." Marcus finally glanced up, his expression mildly annoyed. "Babe, parents do this dramatic shit all the time. My dad cut me off last month when I totaled the Maserati. Your cards will be working again in a few days."

"This is different!" Sophia’s voice was getting higher, more frantic. "She said I have to apologize to that... that nobody. Like I actually did something wrong!"

Tyler snorted with laughter. "What, Alex? The one who got his ass kicked at your party?"

"Oh my God, that was hilarious," Connor added, grinning. "Did you see his face when he realized it was all fake? Like a kicked puppy."

"Classic," Brad agreed, raising his glass in a mock toast. "To putting people in their place."

Sophia felt a mix of relief and frustration. At least they understood how pathetic Alex had been, but Marcus still wasn’t taking this seriously.

"Exactly! But Mother is acting like I committed some kind of crime.

Marcus shrugged, his attention already drifting back to his phone. "I am on your side, babe. That’s why I’m telling you not to worry about it. What’s she gonna do, disown you? Please. Parents, they always fold eventually."

"But what if she doesn’t?" Sophia’s voice cracked. "What if she really means it this time?"

"Then you’ll survive a few weeks of slumming it," Tyler said dismissively. "Might even be good for you. Build some character or whatever."

"Look, babe," Marcus said without looking up, "you’re spiraling over nothing. This is just typical parent drama. Give it a week, buy your mom some expensive jewelry, and everything goes back to normal. It’s really not that complicated. You’re being dramatic."

The casual dismissal hit harder coming from him. This wasn’t just a friend blowing her off, this was her boyfriend of two years treating her crisis like an inconvenience.

"You’re supposed to care about me," she whispered.

"I do care. That’s why I’m not feeding into your hysteria." Marcus finally looked at her properly, but his expression was patronizing rather than loving. "You’ll figure it out, Soph. You always do."

Connor was already telling some story about his latest conquest, the others laughing and completely ignoring Sophia’s obvious distress.

She stood there for another ten minutes, watching her boyfriend scroll through social media while she fell apart, before quietly excusing herself.

Marcus gave her an absent wave without looking up. "See you later, babe. Try not to stress so much."

None of them noticed her leave.

_____

Sophia made it to her car before the rage finally exploded out of her.

She slammed her fist against the hood, the sharp pain in her knuckles barely registering through the white-hot fury consuming her.

"FUCK!" The word tore from her throat, raw and desperate.

She kicked the bumper, her designer heel leaving a small dent in the pristine paint. "FUCK YOU, MOTHER! FUCK YOU AND YOUR PSYCHOTIC BULLSHIT!"

Another kick, harder this time. "Twenty-two fucking years! Twenty-two years I’ve been the perfect daughter and you throw it all away for some pathetic loser who couldn’t handle a fucking joke!"

Her voice was getting louder, more unhinged, but she didn’t care. Let the whole country club hear her. Let them all know what Victoria Blackwood had done to her own flesh and blood.

"He’s NOBODY!" she screamed at the sky, tears streaming down her face. "A fucking scholarship case who didn’t know his place! And you’re choosing HIM over ME?"

She yanked at her hair, her carefully styled waves coming loose. "You’ve lost your goddamn mind! Gone fucking senile! Probably having some pathetic midlife crisis and taking it out on your own daughter!"

A few other club members were staring now, but Sophia was beyond caring about appearances. Let them stare. Let them whisper. They’d all be singing a different tune once Daddy fixed this mess.

"You want to play games?" she snarled, fumbling for her phone. "Fine. Let’s play games. But when Daddy cuts you off and files for divorce, don’t come crying to me!"

She slammed herself into the driver’s seat and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving rubber marks on the pristine asphalt.