Chapter 53
Angel Leffman
After spending hours with regret and guilt knowing that Sofia never made me out to be a drug addict and a rapist, I realized that I am the biggest idiot in the world. If only I had talked to Sofia from the beginning, none of this would have happened. I decided to blindly believe my father because he's in my family, forgetting that he is an ambitious egoist.
I looked at the folder that Sofia left for me, and although I don't feel like working, maybe it will distract me. I poured myself a drink before opening the folder.
I found out that it was Elisa's file with her information. I didn't understand at first, but then I saw photos of her at university with several boys at parties, and others with Kevin; all of them suggest intimacy. I also see files where she was with some of the professors, and some are with me. "God, what the hell is this?" I asked in anger, disappointment, and disgust.
"Virgin and pure? I see now that you were nothing but. Everything they said in college was actually true, but I was too blind to see it."
I spent hours reading what's in those folders-blackmail, videos, everything. How could I have been so stupid and so blind? With all this, the probability that the baby wasn't mine is high.
"F**k, I really am the biggest fool. The worst thing is that Sofia is the one who paid for this."
Sofia had nothing to do with this trap, which means someone had to help Elisa, but who was it?
I don't understand. Why lie to me about losing her supposed virginity? Go out with me and then drag Sofia into this mess?
I finished reading the entire folder with my stomach churning. I am such an idiot for believing Elisa's lies instead of Sofia's, but she's going to know who I am now. I'll make sure of that. Now, how am I going to fix things with Sofia?
I didn't waste any more time and took a bath to see Gerard Andrew, who did not look too happy to see me.
"You must have a lot of guts to be here after you humiliated my daughter in public," Gerard said with venom in his voice.
"I didn't want to humiliate her; it was something that got out of control," I calmly explained.
"After the first year of marriage, I knew it was a mistake, that I was wrong to think that you would make my daughter happy, but I always considered you a man of his word and respectful. However, what I saw at the club last night was nothing like that." "Mr. Andrew..."
"You have the right to be with someone else; after all, you two are planning a divorce, but I thought you'd at least have the decency to wait until everyone knew. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on Jo b n Ib.com. Visit FindNovel-com to read the complete chapters for free. But no, you just had to show off your girlfriend in front of everyone and humiliate my daughter. You broke the contract, Angel."
"I have an explanation for that and my behavior during these five years." I tried to reason it out, but he just scoffed and looked away.
"I want my daughter far away from you. You don't deserve her. You may be a man of good ideas and projects, but my daughter is worth much more."
"I know now."
And I hope it's not too late.
Gerard laughed bitterly while shaking his head. "I thought you loved my daughter, and that the reason you didn't see yourself worthy of her was because of your status back then, so I wanted to help you. That's why I agreed to let you be the president of the company, but you have made her suffer; you have prevented her from finding someone who deserves her."
"I loved her-no, I love her and I will always love her, so please let me explain the situation to you," I responded while lowering myself to him, and he looked at me with sharp eyes. "I could be egoistic sometimes, I admit. I don't like giving explanations, but even so, I am here because you deserve it."
"You have five minutes to justify all that behavior, but it's not going to change my decision in any way, nor my daughter's either."
I sat next to him and decided where to start. I don't even know how to begin to explain this mess to him.
"The first time I saw your daughter, I thought I saw an angel, and I told myself that she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. When I got to know her more, I was impressed by her intelligence and knew she was more than just a face. I listened to her debate and fell more in love with her every day. When we started interacting, I knew she was the woman in my life, but unfortunately, there was always someone who wanted to ruin it."
"If you thought about all that, I don't understand why you treated her the way you did for five years."
"At the university, there was an idiot who started saying that he was Sofia's boyfriend. I saw something that I misinterpreted and made a mistake that cost me a lot. I started dating a young woman who I thought was sweet and nice, and I decided to forget about Sofia and try to love this woman."
"I began to distance myself from Sofia, and we only talk when we're in class. My father showed up months later telling me that we had financial problems, that we were on the verge of ruin, and that he needed me to return to the company. To be honest, I didn't care; I didn't want to be tied to my father. I wanted to be independent, earn my own money, and make a name for myself, but alas, I'm one of those sons who wanted their father to feel proud of him. After a week, he told me that he had talked to you and wanted to do business, but I didn't understand what that had to do with me, so he told me that the only condition you had set for doing business was that I marry Sofia."
"What? I would never sell my daughter like that!" Gerard said defensively.
"And how was I supposed to know that? You and I barely even talk, and that was before the contract. I refused at first. I didn't consider Sofia an object to be bought or sold, and secondly, because I already had a responsibility to someone, and I also thought that Sofia was in love with someone else. A few days before graduation, Dad called me and told me that I had to marry Sofia, not only because we were close to ruin, but because you threatened to ruin us, and if that wasn't enough, you were going to put me in prison for having raped Sofia under the influence of drugs."
"For God's sake, boy, what the hell are you saying?" Gerard exclaimed, flabbergasted and annoyed at what he heard.
"I thought he was joking, but he showed me some compromising photos of Sofia with me. He called me names, and that's why the family owed them this contract, so if you said I had to jump off the bridge, I would do it. I was very upset; I never believed that Sofia would be capable of lying that way."
"And what did Sofia lie to me about?"
"That I raped her while I was on drugs, and that she showed you pictures that caused you to threaten me and my family, and even imprison me, and convince the dean that I wouldn't graduate. I was very disappointed in her; I couldn't believe that the woman I loved was so despicable, especially because she knew how I felt about my father and how much I fought to make him proud of me."
"Angel, you are speaking nonsense right now. None of those happened."
"And now I know. I agreed to the marriage and then read the contract that you had supposedly drawn up. I realized that it benefited my family much more than hers, but I was blinded by anger that all I asked for was to be the president. If they didn't accept that, I didn't care if I went to jail or not. I thought you would say no and the contract would be canceled, but you agreed."
"Dad convinced me to leave the vice president position to Sofia, and it wasn't until yesterday that I found out that was the request you made, in addition to the fact that it was my dad who made the entire contract and that Sofia and you have nothing to do with this." "Yes, everything you say is true, and yes, your father is a disgrace. Besides, what kind of father would sell her daughter to the man who allegedly raped her? I would have killed you the moment I saw you."
"That was what bothered me as well, but I was too angry to speak or listen. Other things happened in my life that pointed to Sofia. I thought that Sofia was cruel and a liar, that I should distance myself from her, that I should hate her because I had lost what I loved most because of her. I felt guilty for that, for loving the person I was supposed to hate, for all the damage she had done to me. And now it turns out that everything is a lie. I have made her suffer for the last five years, and I have made her suffer because of lies."
I saw how Gerard's hands were clenched. "I am surprised by what you just told me; I am outraged, and I want to destroy your father. He turned a good deed into a cruel story."
"If hearing it made you upset, imagine what it made me feel. The only reason I didn't kill him yesterday was because he is still my father, though I wish he wasn't."
"What made you change your mind at this point? How did you find out about all this?"Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
"Sofia. The day I asked for a divorce from her, she wondered why I treated her so badly all these years, and when I told her, I saw her expression and her eyes. She didn't understand me. She didn't know what I was talking about." "I don't know how she didn't make your life hell from that moment on."
"Since that moment, I have tried to find out everything they have told us; we have talked, and I wanted to find out the truth."
"Angel, I'm happy for you, but what does that have to do with what happened at the club and with your girlfriend?"
"She is the woman I used to date in college. She told me things about Sofia. She manipulated me into thinking that Sofia was a liar. It didn't help that Sofia had hidden many things from me. That messes my head up and the situation even more."
"I tried to talk to her to get information from her, but Elisa surprised me when I saw our parents there. I was planning on getting answers from Elisa, but Sofia arrived and misinterpreted everything. Then I found out that she lied to me about something, and let's say we're working on trusting each other, but I think I might lose her now."
"At least you know. You humiliated my daughter in public in front of her family; that is not something my daughter forgives so easily."
"No offense, but I don't think she cares much about the fact that I left her standing there in front of everyone; rather, I think I hurt her when I decided not to believe in her."
"I don't know whether to feel sorry for you or destroy your family. After everything they have done, they still enjoyed all the privileges they have desired, everything that was stipulated in the contract, and even more, but you broke the contract with infidelity."
"Sir, I have never been unfaithful to Sofia, and I am not going to do so now. I wanted to explain to her, but she was angry, and she didn't want to listen to me. I know that everything's a mess now, but what I want you to know is that I love your daughter, and I am going to do whatever it takes to have her back and make her happy."
"Contemplations with your family are over, Angel. They are not going to enjoy a single more privilege. No one messes with a member of this family, and as much as I appreciate your grandfather, I will never put my daughter below anyone," Gerard said firmly.
"Do what you have to do, Mr. Andrew; for me, as of today, my father has ceased to exist. I am cutting ties with them."
"Your father will never cease to exist. You will still run when he asks for help because that's how children are, especially if they are fair, intelligent, and kind-hearted. I see that I was not wrong about you, but still, I no longer believe that you are the man for my daughter."
"I know that I have to work hard to win back your daughter, or rather win her over and gain her trust again. Do you know where she went on a trip?" I asked, and he looked at me in surprise.
"I didn't know that Sofia was outside the country."
"Yesterday, my secretary told me that Sofia had left the country, but she did not say where or when she would return. I thought you would know something."
"And even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you either, Angel. Maybe she needs space or time to think, so you just have to wait until she returns."
He got up from his chair and left me alone with my thoughts.
Sofia, where are you? I swear, I'm going to get you back.
I left my father-in-law's house with the intention of visiting the woman who made my life a mess.