Chapter 7：Sophia's Only Regret
681words
As I left, Dane's mocking laughter echoed behind me.
"Reject me? After chasing me for all those years, you think you can just walk away?"
"No one is irreplaceable," I replied calmly.
At the estate entrance, my driver shifted nervously. "Ma'am, the Alpha has forbidden me from driving you. I'm so sorry."
Before me stretched the dark forest as heavy raindrops began to fall, soaking through my clothes.
My vision swam with shadowy figures.
My legs finally gave out. As I crumpled, someone splashed through the puddles and caught me.
"Sophia!!!"
"Emily?"
"It's me, it's me... God, what happened to you?"
Her voice trembled, her brown curls already plastered to her face by the rain.
"I came back for your birthday party. Why the hell is it Flora's prayer ceremony instead?"
I couldn't tell if it was tears or rain streaming down my face as my body grew colder.
"I'm dying, Emily."
"What?"
"You don't believe me either?"
"Of course I believe you..."
Darkness swallowed me whole.
When I came to, I was in a hospital bed.
After my wedding, Emily had moved overseas.
She'd returned specifically to celebrate my birthday.
She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. "The doctor says the painkillers aren't working anymore. Your body's built up too much tolerance."
"Sophia, I know everything now. You told me everything was fine, you goddamn liar!"
The pain had drained every ounce of my strength.
It was already the sixth day, and I could feel my life ebbing away.
"I'm sorry, Emily. I think I'm going to die here in this hospital."
"No, no way." Emily gripped my hand fiercely. "Listen, I'm taking you to Norway to see the Northern Lights."
"It's too late..."
Without another word, she wiped her nose and wheeled over a wheelchair. "It's not too late. Don't die with regrets, Sophia."
I closed my eyes and nodded weakly.
As she wheeled me out of the room, I spotted Mike and Dane at the far end of the corridor.
Mike's angry voice carried down the hall. "If you'd just married Flora in the first place, Sophia wouldn't have hurt her. You two aren't even blood relatives!"
"We grew up together. I couldn't just..."
Emily quickly wheeled me in the opposite direction. "So Mike knew all along, yet he still let you marry the Alpha!" she hissed.
I sighed wearily.
"Let's go, Emily. I'm done with all of them."
Down the corridor, only the fading squeak of wheelchair wheels could be heard.
Dane seemed to sense something. He turned quickly, but we were already gone.
In the helicopter, I fought through waves of pain, gazing out at the blanket of clouds below.
The sun rose, painting the horizon with fiery gold.
My cold wrist finally felt some warmth.
I heard Emily shouting at the pilot, "Can't this thing go any faster?"
I took her trembling hand and smiled.
"It's okay. At least I'm dying under this beautiful sunrise."
"Not in some sterile hospital room or that suffocating mansion."
Golden light flooded the cabin.
"I'm so sorry, Sophia. If only I'd come back sooner."
Her voice broke with emotion, but I just shook my head. "This isn't your fault. I chose my own path."
I closed my eyes, feeling my soul begin to separate from my body.
Emily clutched my lifeless body and broke down sobbing.
She wasn't one for tears—this was the first time I'd ever seen her cry like this.
In the end, Emily did show me the Northern Lights of Norway.
The green and purple ribbons danced across the sky like a cosmic river flowing through time.
So breathtakingly beautiful.
Later, she held a funeral for me in a small Norwegian church and brought my ashes home.
At the airport, she called Dane. He answered immediately.
"Why are you calling? Where's Sophia? Did she finally come to her senses?"
"Come pick her up."
"Ha, I knew it." Dane's voice dripped with smug satisfaction.
Emily cut him off, her voice flat. "Sophia is dead."
