Bitterly Sweetly (Completed)

Chapter Seven : The Bitter Taste Of Karma

It was a beautiful morning. But the warmth of this beauty that the rising sun provided couldn't touch Sofia's frozen heart. Last night, it had ached so much in pain and humiliation that she was left feeling numb now.

Was that how Max used to feel when she had begun ignoring him all those years ago? Had it hurt like this when her so-called friends had mocked him?

Yes, she'd later heard about the cafeteria fiasco. It happened right after Max had cornered her to inquire about her change in behavior earlier there, but what could she tell him other than a lie—that she did not have any answers—because the truth had been too complex because she could not really say to him that everything at home was quickly spiraling downwards. She had been a coward in a dauntless warrior's clothing. And as she went out of the cafeteria, her so-called friends surrounded Max with revolting words.

Sofia snorted, recalling how she'd later punished those friends of hers, they'd been more well-behaved, at least with Max, from then on. Not that Max knew of her hand in it. She couldn't afford him knowing.

She had deserted him, idiotically, just because she was scared of what their friendship could unveil of her and of the weakness— the secret of appalling violence in her household that she chose to bury underneath that strong exterior of hers. It had seemed necessary during that time that required she concealed, and Max was a dangerous seeker.

And therefore, she ceased talking to him like she used to; ignored him while he chased after her; ran away when he demanded an answer.

And then there was the prom night.

Sofia let out a shuddering breath as memories of that night brought a chill of absolute horror to run up her spine until it settled at the back of her throat—threatening to cut her air supply.

She did not even want to remember.

It was safer that she indulged herself in the guilt of denying Max even after promising to be with him at the prom.

Pushing Max away had seemed mandatory to her. But that was until one day he up and left the city.

She broke inwardly when she heard of his departure from Neil. She had done it, she'd successfully pushed him away and only realized the severity of her actions after all was done. The anguish that had hit her was unexplainable.

She had only herself to blame, but she was just a teenager dealing with some of the most devilish cards to play in her life. And she was a player scared out of her wits still trying like hell with the poker face on.

It was a given that she was to lose.

Fate had been too unfair to Sofia. But she hadn't known then that fate wasn't merely done with her yet.

As if losing him was not enough, she lost both her parents too, just two days after in a house fire.

Apparently, when she was out on a walk to get a break from the insanity of her home, her parents had just managed to light up a fire. The forensic said they were in the kitchen and there'd been obvious signs of a brawl between them, of course.

Sofia came back to a herd of police, firemen, and a horror-stricken crowd surrounding her half-burnt home. Her parents' bodies were being carried out in two stretchers, their half-burnt bodies were covered in clothes.

Sofia sat on her balcony floor as dawn broke through the sky. Her knees were pressed close to her chest with her hands surrounding them in a fetal posture.

She had been here the entire night after a very unsteady drive back home from the reunion party—her eyes blurry from tears that didn't cease spilling over since the very second she had escaped the party venue. Her hands had shaken while clutching the steering wheel in a death grip, the distress that settled heavily inside her chest refused to let go of her any time soon. And she had allowed herself to drown in this distress further and deeper as the night passed by.