*SOPHIA'S POV*
My phone rang continuously, waking me from sleep. I blindly stretched out my hand and reached out to my phone, groaning.
I tried to open my eyes, to see who it was that was calling my phone nonstop— it was my dad.
"Dad? Is everything okay?" I asked, my voice still a bit hoarse.
"Everything isn't okay, Sophia, haven't you seen the news?"
I tried to sit up on the bed without straining my sprained ankle, but that was not completely possible as I wimped a bit the moment I sat up.
"News?? What news?" I asked and cleared my throat.
"You are all over the blogs, some news about you being in a love triangle with Bran. What is going on, Sophia?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing from my dad, but a part of me suspected that something like this would occur, but I didn't think it would be this soon.
"Uhhmm, can I call you back, Dad? I need to figure this out," I said and abruptly ended the call.
I immediately went online and searched for this so-called news. It took me less than a minute to find it. I saw blogs posting almost the same thing my dad mentioned.
I was surprised to see how well every detail was mentioned in the blogs, and this baffled me the most.
I placed my phone on the bed and tried to get out of bed as I groaned at each attempt I made to bring my sprained ankle to the ground.
I finally stood, limped, and winced to the door and down the stairs.
Bran was not fully awake, but he was awake enough to sense that I was coming down the stairs as he sat up on the couch.
"Sophia, you shouldn't be putting pressure on that ankle. How could you walk down the stairs?" he said with a lot of worry filled in his eyes as he rushed to where I was.
"So what am I supposed to do? Stuck in bed?" I said with an agitated voice.
"I never said that, you could have called me." he tried to help me down the stairs, but I didn't let him.
"Have you seen the news?"
"What? What news?" he asked, obviously unaware of the latest news.
He looked at me, and as he saw that I did not say another word, he went over to where he had placed his phone on the table and picked it up.
He surfed the internet and saw the same things that I saw.
"Oh God, seriously? A love triangle?" he asked rhetorically.
"What are we going to do about this? Who could have created such a headline in the first place?" I asked as I tried to think.
"You don't have to worry about this, I will have Pierre handle it," he said and threw his phone back on the couch.
"That's it? You will have Pierre handle it?" I asked with a dissatisfied look.
"Of course, you and I at least know that this isn't true," he said nonchalantly, and I just had to scoff.
"And what makes you confident it's not true?" I asked purposely to shake him up.
Bran turned and looked at me immediately, I could see the disbelief in his eyes.
"What are you trying to play at Sophia?"
"This is not just about us anymore, Bran, if you're gonna fix this, then you have to fix it well," I said as my eyes darted around the room.
"True, this isn't just about us, this is about him, right?" his eyes fell to the floor as he roughly rubbed his mouth with his hand.
"He was never supposed to be involved in all of these, Bran, I can't have him dragged into this mess."
"I know, I know it is not my place to ask you this, but who is he to you, Sophia?"
"Is that what is important right now?" I asked, my brows slightly arched.
"It is Sophia…..you don't know how much hurt I feel when I see the way he looks at you!" he said and let out a deep sigh.
"Liam is just a friend! He has been my friend from way back!"
"Right about the time you broke up with me, yeah?" his hands were still in his pocket, and his eyes fixated on me, hoping for an answer.
"We are not doing this," I said and tried to return upstairs.
"Do what exactly, Sophia?" This time he spoke in a soft voice, and I could sense the tiredness in every word.
"Talk about the past, Bran, I have made peace with myself and I have moved past it…..why can't we just leave it that way?" I said, my breath shaky.
"Made peace with what? Made peace with leaving me when we needed each other the most?" his eyes filled with confusion.
I stood there, my hair in a messy bun and my eyes filled with unshed tears that reflected the white lights.
"You didn't even let me explain, Sophia, you just, you just upped and left…..like, like we were nothing." his shaky breath and teary eyes failed him.
Just then, a clattering sound echoed from the room upstairs, and it was Henna who was trying to come down to the living room.
"Sophia! I have been waiting forever for you to wake!" she said as she hurried down the stairs.
I quickly wiped off the unshed tears in my eyes and sniffled as Bran turned away from me to avoid being seen by Henna.
Henna finally got to us and showed me the news on her phone.
"What is this, Sophia? Care to explain?" she asked.
Bran turned back around to Henna and Sophia.
"We have seen it, and it will be taken care of," he said with less care.
Henna finally recalled that Bran was standing there with Sophia.
"Bran, is that all you are going to say? This is about a supposed love triangle. Don't you think there might be something going on between them?" Henna asked with so much enthusiasm.
"I am tired, I will be upstairs," Bran said and walked upstairs to the bedroom.
Henna turned to me now.
"I still can not seem to figure out what hold exactly you have on Bran," she said.
"What does that even mean?"
Henna looked at me from head to toe and realized my sprained ankle.
"Seriously? You had to fake a sprained ankle to get his attention?" Henna said, huffed, and crossed her arms.
"Now what makes you think any of this is fake?" Sophia asked.
"You and I both know that falling into the pool could not have caused you a sprained ankle, Sophia!" her voice a bit pitched.
"I don't have time for your tantrums, Henna," Sophia said and started walking up the stairs with a struggle.
"What are you going to tell Dad?, I bet he will be more disappointed in you than I am…..being unable to keep your secret affair a secret!" Henna yelled after Sophia.
"What stupid affair?" Sophia turned back and asked.
"I should be the one asking you that…..I saw you two stealing glances at each other at the party."
"What are you even saying?! Wait...are you the one behind this news being all over the place?" Sophia asked as her eyes glistened with curiosity.
"Well, I wish I were! I might even have more things to say," Henna said this and walked past Sophia, all the way upstairs.
I thought about limping back down the stairs to the living room, but I had to make a call to my dad, and my phone was still upstairs in the bedroom.
I continued my way back upstairs and used the rail to support my climb up the stairs. I finally got into the bedroom and saw Bran lying flat on the bed.
I did not want to bother him, so I looked around for my phone and saw it by the bedside lamp on the drawer.
I limped to the drawer and picked up my phone, went back to the couch and sat.
I dialled my Dad's number.
"Dad," I said in a low voice.
"Have you figured things out? Are those things said true?" he asked curiously over the phone.
"Can we see and talk about this?" I asked and tried to clear my throat.
"Do you know how much this has affected the company? I would be disappointed if there is no way you can handle this issue."
"Will you be home? I'll- I'll come over and explain things to you," I said with a cracked voice as I tried to hold back the tears and hung up.
I placed the phone by my side and pressed my lips together, trying to hold back the tears, but a gasp escaped, and I broke down into low, shuddering sobs.