Chapter 34: Freedom [2]

A few days later, their families arranged a meeting.

Then came another.

And another.

At first, Sofia didn’t understand why her father kept insisting that she attend these gatherings. He spoke enthusiastically about the Riina family, praising their influence and describing the countless benefits that would come from establishing a relationship with them.

Eventually, Sofia discovered the truth.

Her father and Don Aldric had already discussed the possibility of a marriage between their children.

Her father had been practically ecstatic.

Who wouldn’t be?

Having the Riina family as an ally was an opportunity most people could only dream of. Such a connection could elevate their family’s status overnight and provide protection against enemies they could never hope to confront alone.

But Sofia didn’t care about any of that.

She was furious.

She confronted Lorenzo, demanding an explanation and accusing him of using his family’s influence to force her into an arrangement she had never agreed to.

To her surprise, Lorenzo didn’t deny it.

Instead, he looked at her as though her anger amused him.

"If you refuse," he told her calmly, "your family will be wiped off the face of the earth."

Sofia remembered the coldness in his voice.

For the first time, Sofia understood that his initial approach had never been an innocent expression of affection.

Lorenzo didn’t want her to choose him.

He wanted to make certain she had no choice but to belong to him.

Sofia could have refused him again. She could have walked away from the arrangement and insisted that her father stand up for her.

But what would happen afterward?

Her family would pay the price.

Her friends might become targets as well.

And against the Riina family, what could she possibly do?

She had only just graduated from the military academy. Whatever talent she possessed, she wasn’t powerful enough to protect everyone she cared about from an Overlord’s wrath.

So, with hatred burning in her heart, Sofia accepted Lorenzo’s proposal.

She told herself that she would find a way out eventually.

But deep down, she knew the truth.

She had been forced into a cage, and the man holding the key had no intention of letting her leave.

The engagement changed everything.

Lorenzo expected Sofia to answer his calls, accompany him to gatherings, and behave like a woman who was grateful to have been chosen by him.

Sofia wanted nothing to do with him.

She avoided his calls whenever possible, made excuses to escape their meetings, and did everything she could to maintain some distance between them.

For a while, she thought she could endure the situation until she found a way to escape.

Then Lorenzo showed her just how little her wishes mattered to him.

He raped her.

Afterward, he called her a whore.

The memory made Sofia’s stomach twist.

She had never imagined that someone could violate another person and then treat the victim as though they were the one who deserved to be humiliated.

She had spent years training to become an Awakener. She had endured exhausting physical exercises, learned to fight, and prepared herself to face dangers that ordinary people could scarcely imagine.

Yet none of that had prepared her for what Lorenzo did to her.

For days afterward, she struggled to reconcile the man who had approached her with a smile and the man who had violated her without hesitation.

She had once believed that becoming stronger would give her control over her future.

Now, she understood that strength meant little when someone else possessed enough power to take away her choices.

Still, she refused to surrender entirely.

If she wanted her freedom, she would have to find a way to claim it herself.

Then the terrorist attack happened.

The attack had plunged everything into chaos.

She found herself in an incredibly vulnerable position, struggling to survive amid the destruction.

For a brief moment, she thought she might die there.

Then Lorenzo appeared.

He came to her rescue.

Sofia remembered the moment with painful clarity: the chaos around her, the fear gripping her heart, and Lorenzo standing before her as though he were the only person capable of protecting her.

She had felt relief when she realized she would survive.

But that relief had quickly given way to something far more disturbing.

The man who had saved her was the same man who had violated her, threatened her family, and forced her into an engagement she had never wanted.

His actions during the attack didn’t erase what he had done to her. They didn’t make him a better person, and they certainly didn’t give him the right to control her life.

Yet as Sofia watched him, an unbearable realization settled deep within her heart as he hugged her.

’I can’t ever escape his grasp, can I?

She hated the thought. It felt as though she had already accepted her fate, as though she had become a slave to Lorenzo Riina.

She didn’t want to live that way.

If Lorenzo believed that saving her during the terrorist attack had somehow strengthened his hold over her, then he was mistaken.

Sofia would never willingly belong to him.

Not now.

Not ever.

Hatred alone wouldn’t save her. Neither would fear, and certainly not the hope that someone else would intervene on her behalf.

If she wanted to be free, she needed power of her own.

Enough power to stand against the Riina family.

Enough power to ensure that no one could ever force her into submission again.

And if that meant entering the most dangerous territories of the Spirit Realm, fighting abominations that could tear her apart, and risking her life to become stronger, then so be it.

She would do whatever it took.

First, she would kill Aldric Riina.

She wanted Lorenzo to witness the death of the man whose power had allowed him to act as though he were untouchable. She wanted him to understand what it felt like to lose someone he believed could never be taken away from him.

Then she would kill Lorenzo himself.

She was not his slave and she never will be.

She will break the chain of fate to get her freedom back.