Chapter CHAPTER LXXX
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SOPHIA TOOK A deep breath and switched on the laptop in front of her on the reading table. As she typed in the password, she waited for the system to go to the home page.
While waiting, her mind drifted off to Chase. The previous night back in his room, she had told him she loved him because she was very sure of how she felt. But then, he said nothing. He didn't smile at her neither did he show any reaction. Nor did he say it back.
Did that mean he didn't feel like that towards her? Did that mean he didn't love her?
No. She shook her head. Chase loved her. She was sure of it. She might not completely know much about love, but from the little she knew, Chase was showing signs of love towards her.
He cared for her; he would do anything for her. He loved listening to her ramble off about her day. He would lay down his life for her. He would smile at her alone even when he did it for no one. He touched her the way a man in love would do to his woman. He used to make love to her. He would-
Really? Was that love? A voice at the back of her mind whispered to her, and his actions from the previous night flashed through her mind.
He had forcefully touched her against her will and said hurtful things to her. He told her he didn't believe in trust when trust should be the foundation of love. He accused her of trying to leave him and in the end when she told him how she felt, he went stiff. She waited for him to reply her, do something to show he felt the same or even say the words back, but he didn't.
He simply put her to bed and told her to sleep. When she pestered him about it, he snapped at her and said he had work to do. That had been the end of the conversation because he didn't give her a chance to say anything to him again. He dressed up in fresh clothes and left her alone in the room, the four walls of the room being the only witnesses of her confessed love.
He didn't love her back.
A lone tear slipped down her cheek, and her heart constricted with pain at the thought. Once she realized the laptop was on the home page for a long time and she hadn't noticed because she was too deep in her thoughts, she sighed. Before she could click on the app where she normally had her online classes, her eyes fell on the Google app next to it.
Google helped a lot.
She instantly shifted the cursor, and the arrow fell on the Google app. She clicked on it and went straight for the search bar before typing her question.
'If you tell someone you love them and they don't say it back, does that mean they don't feel the same?'
As Sophia waited for the search results, she held her breath by biting down on her lower lip as her heart hammered against her chest. What if Google said he didn't love her back?
Immediately, the search results came up, and her eyes lit up. She scrolled down until she got to an answer. She ran her eyes over the words there, reading them to herself.
'If you told your partner you love them and they didn't say it back, don't beat yourself up. It's important to honour your emotions and deep feelings for your partner even if they aren't reciprocated (or reciprocated yet). Give your partner space to accept these powerful words and what they mean for your relationship.'
The answer didn't satisfy her, so she scrolled down for another one.
'And remember, it's not necessarily a red flag if they don't reciprocate right away. Relationship and communication expert Chloe Ballatore says your partner may just not be prepared with an answer. "It is absolutely normal for one person to say 'I love you' first and not hear it back."
Was it really normal to not be told 'I love you' back?
"You're in love?"
Sophia jumped in her seat at the sound of the familiar voice and quickly shut the laptop down. She stood up from her chair and looked towards her room door, finding it closed just as she had left it. How did Saige get in, then?
Saige explained. "I guess you were too concentrated on your search that you didn't hear me knocking. I even came in and closed back the door. Sorry for my bad manners,"
Sophia turned to her and nodded her head at her. "It's okay. Do you need anything?"
"Not really," Saige laughed. "I was actually just looking for Cha-Don,"
Sophia's heart skipped a bit at the remainder that the lady in front of her was Chase's fiancée.
Saige was getting married to the man she loved.
Sophia narrowed her eyes at her. "And you thought you'd find him here?"
"That's not the thing," Saige laughed it off to clear the tension between them. "I was left with no choice. He wasn't in his study and since you both have been close buddies, I thought I could check in here," She tilted her head to the side, both of them knowing fully well what she meant. "After all, who knows what might be in here?"
Sophia retorted back in anger and obvious jealousy towards Saige. "What if you had walked in and saw us both in bed then?" She continued. "Well, just so you know, Chase and I do nothing in my room. We meet up in his room," That seemed to have struck a chord in Saige. Her eyes and the way she fisted her hands into a ball beside her, digging her nails into her palms, said it all.
They all gave her away.
Her breathing came out in ragged forms as she tried to control herself. She couldn't do anything to Sophia. If she did so, it would be the end for her. Chase would break off the engagement.
Sophia walked to the bedside table and poured water for Saige in a glass cup. She strode back to her and handed the water to her. "Have water. You don't look okay,"
Saige narrowed her eyes at Sophia, and collected the water before gulping it down her delicate throat. When she was done, she handed the glass back to Sophia, who collected it and dropped it back in its place. "Thanks,"
"It's okay," Sophia smiled. "I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have said it. I was upset about something," That was right. She was upset about the whole love issue and she had lost control of her tongue when Saige walked into her room and spoke to her like that.
Saige managed to pass a fake smile to Sophia. "Is it about your little search? Tell me who you're in love with," Saige said, tilting her head to the side. "Lucas? Luciano? Alessandro? Who?"