Sophie’s POV
“Lance.”
“Huh?”
“Can I say something to you?”
Lance stared at me for a while as if he was guessing what I would say next. “O-Of course.”
I looked down as I started speaking. “Actually, Vincent married me, not because he loves me. We didn’t marry each other because we love each other.”
“W-What?”
“My father owed Vincent a huge amount of money and he wasn’t able to pay him on time. And so because he threatened he would kill my father, we had no choice but for me to go with him. I was forced to marry him even if I’m not in the legal age yet. I never wanted to be married to him because you were the one that I love back then. But because of course, I didn’t want him to kill my father, I went with him.”
Lance's eyes widened in surprise. I already know he would be really surprised.
“S-Sophie… how did that… Vincent really did that? He forced you to marry him?”
“Y-Yeah..”
“How can he do that to you?”
“We had no choice…”
He shook his head. “You should’ve told me about that, Sophie. You should’ve told me in the first place, I could’ve helped you!”
“But I was so scared back then, I wasn’t able to think of anything… all I wanted was to save my father…”
“You should’ve thought about me, Sophie… I am always willing to help you…”
“I’m sorry…”
Lance heaved a sigh as he started patting my shoulders. ‘It’s alright. It’s alright, Sophie. I should be the one to say sorry because I was not aware that my brother threatened you and your family. I truly apologize, Sophie. I hope you can still forgive me…”
“N-No, Lance. You don’t have to say sorry to me. You have no fault; you were so good to me and I thank you for that.”
We stayed quiet for a while. I could see that Lance still feel mad at himself because he wasn’t able to help me so I talked first. “But then, as time goes by, I learned to love him. Maybe because I became used to be by his side that’s why I learned to love him. I fell in love with him but then I’m still not sure if he feels the same way, especially now that his first love already came back…”
“May I know about the favor that you would like to ask from me?”
“I-I told Sabrina about all that I feel. I told her I feel jealous whenever I see Vincent with Monica. I know it’s so rude of me to think this way but I really feel that she’s trying to take Vincent away from me, or maybe I’m just paranoid because I don’t really know if Vincent liked me in the first place.”
“And you are planning to do something that would make him jealous too, am I right?”
My eyes widened. “H-How did you—
“Actually, I could also see how close they are. Monica even goes more often with Vincent than with me. I know how you feel, Sophie. I know how much it hurts to see the one you love happy with someone else. I know that it’s so heartbreaking to see the person you love hurt because of someone else.”
I stared at him. I could see the sadness in his eyes.
So, he feels the same way as me?
“I just want Vincent to realize that I’m still his wife and I was the one who’s been there for him when Monica wasn’t there. I just want to know if he even cares for me or if he’s even scared of losing me. I just want to know if he loves me…”
“I understand you, Sophie. And I am willing to help you with it. I wasn’t able to help you when you needed me the most so I will do my best to help you this time.”
“You don’t have to force yourself, Lance. Don’t blame yourself. I know it’s so shameless of me to ask this favor from you since it’s between your younger brother and your girlfriend.”
“No, you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“But Lance—
“Just think about this, Sophie. If we start acting with each other, then most probably Vincent would get jealous of me and Monica will get jealous of you. We’re just both trying to get their attention. You don’t have to worry about anything because we’ll both benefit from it.”
I forced a smile on my face. “Thank you, Lance…”
“You are always welcome anytime, Sophie.”