The silence in the room after Jason left was deafening. Sophia stood there, her body still trembling from the encounter, her mind struggling to process the chaos that had just erupted in front of her. The past she had fought so hard to bury was clawing its way back into her life, dragging with it everything she had worked to escape.
Liam stood just a few feet away, his back rigid, his jaw clenched in barely contained fury. His eyes were focused on the door Jason had just exited, but Sophia could tell that his mind was racing. She could see it in the way his hands were balled into fists at his sides, the barely contained rage in his posture.
"Liam…" she whispered, her voice shaky. She wanted to reach out to him, but the words felt stuck in her throat. She wanted to reassure him, to apologize, but how could she when she didn't even know what was real anymore?
He turned to her slowly, his eyes dark with concern but also a deep, unshakable anger. "Who the hell is he, Sophia?" His voice was calm, too calm, but there was an edge to it that told her how much he was holding back.
Sophia swallowed hard, her throat tight. She knew the moment had come—the moment where the truth couldn't be avoided any longer. Jason had already dropped enough hints to make everything fall apart. She couldn't hide behind lies anymore.
"Jason…" She paused, the name heavy on her tongue. "He's someone from my past. Someone I thought I was rid of."
Liam's gaze darkened. "You *thought* you were rid of him? That doesn't explain why he's here, or why he's making threats against you."
Sophia took a shaky breath. "He's not just a part of my past, Liam. He's the one who… he's the reason I became who I am today. The reason I built walls around myself, the reason I pushed everyone away."
Liam's eyes softened for a brief moment, but the anger was still there, simmering just beneath the surface. He stepped toward her, closing the distance between them, his hand reaching out to take hers. "You don't have to explain everything right now," he said softly. "But I need to know—what is he threatening? What does he want from you?"
Sophia's breath hitched. The truth felt like a weight too heavy to bear, but Liam's unwavering gaze, his steady hand, made her feel like she had to let go. She couldn't keep this from him any longer.
"He wants control," she said quietly, her voice barely a whisper. "He always did. He made sure I stayed in his grip, manipulated me, made me think that I was nothing without him. And when I left him, he didn't let go easily. He's been watching me, waiting for the right moment to pull me back in."
Liam's grip on her hand tightened, but his voice remained calm, a sense of steel behind his words. "And now he's using me to get to you?"
Sophia nodded, her eyes stinging with the realization that Jason's manipulation had already taken root. She could see it now, the way Liam was unknowingly a pawn in a game that had started long before he entered her life.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking. "I never wanted you to be part of this. I didn't want you to get dragged into the mess I left behind."
Liam's gaze softened, and he cupped her face in his hands, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. "You don't need to apologize. You didn't ask for this, and you're not alone in this fight. We'll figure it out, together."
But the doubt gnawing at the back of Sophia's mind refused to go away. Jason's words still echoed in her ears—"You're just a pawn in a much bigger game". What did that mean? And more importantly, what had she gotten herself—and Liam—into?
The path ahead was uncertain, but one thing was clear: The game was far from over, and the stakes were higher than either of them had realized.