Chapter 5 - The Desperate Ploy
Sofia did exactly what her desperate father commanded.
She drove frantically to Lion’s small, modest apartment, intentionally wearing no makeup to look distressed.
She used her spare key to enter, finding Lion sitting on his cheap couch in the dark.
He looked up at her, his eyes red and swollen from hours of crying.
"Lion, my love!" Sofia cried out, running over and throwing her arms around his neck.
"I am so incredibly sorry about last night."
"My father was totally out of line, and I was just too shocked to speak up."
Lion looked at her closely, his sharp, analytical mind finally seeing past her beautiful, sculpted face.
"You were laughing, Sofia," Lion said quietly, his voice dangerously hollow.
"When he called my father a yard sweeper, you looked down and you laughed."
Sofia’s breath hitched, but she quickly forced a fresh wave of fake tears from her eyes.
"I was nervous!" she lied, holding his face delicately in her soft hands.
"You know I get nervous and laugh in uncomfortable public situations."
"We need to fix this, Lion, together."
"We need to go see your father right now and make things right so we can have our dream wedding."
Lion gently but firmly removed her manicured hands from his face.
"You don't care about my father, Sofia," he said, his voice hardening into stone.
"You only care about the Maybach and the corporate tower."
"That's not true!" she protested, her voice growing shrill and defensive.
"It is true," Lion said, standing up and towering over her.
"And to prove it, I want you to know a secret."
"I just came from my father's office downtown."
"He told me that if I marry you, he will legally disinherit me completely."
Sofia froze, her fake, crocodile tears drying up instantly.
"What?" she whispered, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.
"He will cut me off without a single penny," Lion lied smoothly, testing her true loyalties.
"We will have to live on my junior engineer salary for the rest of our lives."
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Sofia took a slow, calculated step backward, her expression turning into pure, unadulterated disgust.
"You have got to be kidding me," she spat out, the loving fiancé act completely dead.
