CHAPTER 37: THE CHALLENGE

Sophia sat in her car in the restaurant parking lot, hands shaking as she scrolled through her contacts.

"That bitch, my mother... freezing my accounts, cutting me off like I’m nothing. And my father... that spineless coward, sitting silent, ignoring my calls, leaving me to drown."

Aunt Catherine. She was the only one left who might actually help. The only one who’d always taken Sophia’s side against Victoria, who’d spoiled her rotten and criticized her mother’s "harsh" parenting style.

If anyone would understand how insane Victoria was being, it would be Catherine.

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.

You’ve reached Catherine Blackwood. I’m unable to take your call right now, but if you leave a detailed message, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Sophia hung up and immediately tried again.

Same result.

"Come on," she whispered desperately. "Pick up, pick up, pick up..."

She was about to try a third time when her phone suddenly rang in her hands.

Relief flooded through her. Catherine was calling back. She’d seen the missed calls and was reaching out to help.

"Hey Aunt Catherine!" Sophia answered without checking the caller ID, her voice breathless with hope. "I knew you wouldn’t leave me alone in this mess! You see, Mom has completely lost her mind... she’s frozen all my accounts over some stupid drama with this nobody from college, and I really need..."

"Hello, sweetheart."

The voice was male. Smooth. Familiar in a way that made her blood freeze in her veins.

Sophia’s grip tightened on the phone. "Who... who is this?"

"Oh, come on now." The voice was amused, almost fond. "Surely you remember your old boyfriend? The one you introduced to your world so... memorably?"

Alex.

The name hit her like ice water, every muscle in her body going rigid with shock.

"How did you get this number?" she whispered.

"The same way I got a lot of things recently," he replied, his tone conversational, almost casual. "Amazing what you can accomplish when someone believes in you. When someone sees your potential instead of just... what you can provide them."

Sophia’s breathing quickened. "What do you want?"

"Just to chat. See how you’re doing." There was something in his voice... a quiet satisfaction that made her skin crawl. "I heard you’ve been having some... financial difficulties lately."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Credit cards declined? Trust fund frozen? Friends making you beg for handouts?" Each word was perfectly measured, perfectly calm. "That must be... devastating. To suddenly find yourself with nothing. No safety net. No one who actually cares."

Sophia’s throat closed. "How do you... "

’’They didn’t even invite you to the gala," Alex cut in, his tone dripping with mock pity. "Tch, tch, tch! The daughter of Senator James Blackwood and Victoria Blackwood, barred from her own father’s party. A Blackwood, left out in the cold like some nobody."

"What do you want, you bastard?" she spat, voice shaking with fury. "If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be in this mess!"

Alex’s laugh was soft, almost gentle. "Blaming me? Oh, Sophia. You broke me first, remember? When I had nothing, I found someone who saw me for me. Not what I could give them."

"Stop," she whispered.

"You know what the funny thing is?" Alex’s voice never changed, never lost its terrifying calm. "I used to dream about having what you had. The money, the connections, the safety net of knowing you’d never truly fall. And now here you are, getting just the tiniest taste of what it feels like to have nothing."

"This isn’t the same... "

"Isn’t it?" His laugh was soft, almost gentle.

"The difference is," Alex continued, his voice dropping to a whisper, "when I had nothing, I found someone who saw me as more than just my bank account. Someone who valued me for who I was, not what I could give them."

"Tell me, Sophia... when they looked at you like you didn’t belong, like you were something to be pitied... how did that feel? When they smiled, but you could see the judgment in their eyes? When you realized they weren’t really your friends at all?"

Sophia couldn’t answer. Her throat was too tight, her vision blurring with tears of rage and humiliation.

"What do you want from me?" The words came out broken, desperate.

"Want?" Alex sounded genuinely surprised. "Oh, Sophia. This isn’t about what I want. This is about what you deserve. And sweetheart?"

He paused, letting the silence stretch until she could barely breathe.

"You deserve so much worse than a frozen credit card and a few cruel words from your friends. But don’t worry... we’re just getting started."

"Oh, and Sophia remember? You and your friends created your little point system, scoring my desperation like it was a game."

"Well, guess what? I’ve got my own system now. I created it to track your fall... every humiliation, every betrayal. But I don’t count the little things. I count big things... like your mother cutting you off, your father abandoning you, your friends laughing in your face. And sweetheart? I’ve scored something big. Want to see it? Be at my new house--15 Willowbrook Lane, tonight, 9 PM.

Don’t miss it Or you’ll miss the most exciting thing in the world. Prove you’re still a Blackwood, or let everyone know you ran from a nobody like me."

The line went dead.

Sophia stared at her phone, hands shaking uncontrollably. Around her, the world continued as if nothing had happened... cars pulling in and out of the parking lot, people walking by with shopping bags and coffee cups, the sun shining down on what should have been just another ordinary day.

But everything had changed.

Alex was out there somewhere, watching her fall apart. Planning her destruction with the same methodical precision she’d once used to destroy him.