The next morning, Sophie followed the usual routine. She got up; got dressed in something the servants had laid pout for her and went downstairs for breakfast. Vilas and her Grandfather were already waiting for her.
"Good morning Sophia." Her Grandfather greeted her. "I have some wonderful news for you. After you’ve finished breakfast, why don’t you come for a walk with Vilas and I in the gardens?"
"Oh, all right," Sophie sighed. She took her seat at the table and started her breakfast. Her Grandfather looked at her disapprovingly when she didn’t wait to start, but he didn’t say anything. He seemed to be in good spirits that day.
She finished breakfast quickly, and her Grandfather immediately swept her away to the gardens. Vilas was close behind, and he, too, looked abnormally happy.
It made Sophie a little nervous to see them both smiling so much when she didn’t know why.
Vilas stepped up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Sophie jumped a bit, but didn’t pull away. As strange as she found him, she liked Vilas, and he seemed to like her too.
"Now Sophie, there is something that I want to discuss with you…"
"Please Sir," Vilas held up his hand to stop Mr. Parish from speaking. "May I speak to Sophie first?"
Mr. Parish chuckled and nodded. "Very well, Vilas. I will leave you two alone for the time being."
Vilas thanked Mr. Parish and headed in the opposite direction from him, away from the house. Sophie walked along with him for a while, admiring the flowers in the garden.
Vilas picked one carefully and handed it to her.
Sophie blushed but took it and brought it up to smell it.
"Sophie?" Vilas asked,
"Yeah?"
"Do you like me?"
Sophie was shocked at his question. "Well…yes, I guess I do."
"Good," Vilas smiled, "Because you know I like you too."
Sophie nodded.
"There’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you, ask you, since I got here."
"Yeah?" Sophie asked again.
Vilas sat her down on a small bench by a water fountain and looked at her for a moment before speaking. "Sophie," He said in almost a whisper, "I want you to marry me."
After that, time seemed to stand still for Sophie. A million thoughts started to run through her head. Marry Vilas? She didn’t know what to think about that. She had no idea how to answer.
She had spent many nights on her island, dreaming about a handsome prince who would come to rescue her. A handsome prince who would take her away to his castle and marry her, and they would live happily ever after. Vilas was handsome; he was almost like a prince too. And the house, it was certainly a castle to her. Could this be her childhood fantasies come true?
She wasn’t sure if she could answer him. Her breath was caught in her throat.
"We’ve been betrothed ever since we were small children." Vilas explained to her, sensing that she was unable to answer. "But I wanted to talk to you about it first."
"Marry you?" Sophie squeaked
"Yes,"
"I-I dunno, I mean, I didn’t know that…can I…think about this for a while?"
Vilas smiled and nodded. "Of course you can. I’ll leave you alone now, OK?" He leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. The move sent shivers down her spine. Vilas smirked and left the garden. Sophie was just about ready to collapse. Marry Vilas? Could she marry Vilas?
She had to admit that marrying Vilas was very tempting, but then why couldn’t she say yes? She had to talk to Duo; he would know what she should do. He was always giving her good advice.
When Mr. Parish arrived back tat the house, he saw that Jones was at the front door, speaking with someone. He walked over to investigate.
"What’s the problem, Jones?" He asked.
Jones turned, and Mr. Parish saw Duo Maxwell standing on the other side of the door.
"Ah, Mr. Maxwell," Mr. Parish smiled. "What brings you here?"
"I just came to see Sophie, is she here?" Duo asked.
"Oh yes, but I’m afraid that my Granddaughter can’t see you right now. She’s in the gardens with her fiancée."
"F-Fiancée?" Duo stuttered. He felt like he had just been punched in the gut.
"Yes, that’s right." Mr. Parish smirked.
"Who? Who’s she getting married to?" Duo asked angrily.
"Why, Vilas De Vries, of course." Mr. Parish smirked devilishly.
"Vilas? She’s marrying that jerk!" Duo’s face went red with anger.
"Oh yes, she’s been destined to marry him since she was six years old."
"But…but…"
"No buts, Mr. Maxwell. Now I kindly ask that you excuse yourself right now. We’re very appreciative that you helped her, but now she is back where she belongs. She doesn’t need you in her life anymore."
"You can’t do that!" I can see her if I want to!"
"No you cannot! Sophie doesn’t need you. It’s better for her if you just leave her alone!"
Duo glared ta the old man, but it didn’t look like he was going to get past him unless he wanted to knock him out. And that would not be very good for his reputation.
Sighing, Duo turned around and headed back to his car. Duo could feel the man’s triumphant smirk on his back as he walked away.
Sophie returned to the house and found her Grandfather heading up the stairs. "Hello Grandfather," She said, "Can I ask you something?"
Her Grandfather turned and smiled at her. "You can ask me anything, darling."
"Um…is there any way I can talk to Duo?"
Her Grandfather frowned. "I’ll see what I can do."
"Thanks,"
A few days later, Sophie asked her Grandfather about Duo again. She still hadn’t given Vilas her answer, and she wasn’t going to until she asked Duo what he thought.
Her Grandfather looked sad as he told her about Duo. "I’m very sorry dear. But I’m afraid Mr. Maxwell does not want to talk to you. He said he didn’t want to interfere with your life."
Sophie’s jaw dropped open when she heard this. "But he…he promised." She choked out as tears came to her eyes. It was just like Duo explained it the night of the ball. He had been trying to get rid of her all along. He didn’t want her around, he thought she was annoying. He didn’t like her at all. The pain was more than Sophie could bear. How could Duo, her only friend, betray her like that? She turned and dashed up the stairs to her room. Duo didn’t want her, but Vilas did. She made up her mind. She was going to marry Vilas.
Duo tried three more times to see Sophie after he had first been turned away. But Mr. Parish had turned him away again twice, by sending his bodyguards on him, and when Duo tried to sneak in, more security guards caught him.
Finally, Duo was forced to stop trying to find Sophie at her house. He followed them shopping once, and tried to get close to Sophie. But people constantly surrounded her, and Vilas never left her side. It was impossible for him to talk to her. He had to talk her out of marrying Vilas, but how could he if he couldn’t get anywhere near her?
Sophie and Vilas seemed very friendly as he watched them. Jealously consumed Duo as he watched Vilas brushing Sophie’s hair out of her face, and feeding her ice cream. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he angrily stormed home.
He picked up the newspaper that was lying on his table and looked at the front page, it was a story about Sophie. The title read ‘Billionaire reunited with long-lost Granddaughter’. The article went on to explain about the party held for her, and about her recent engagement to some billionaire named Archer De Vries’ son, Vilas De Vries. Duo felt completely helpless. The entire world knew about Sophie and her family, not to mention her engagement. The article promised to wedding to be the most spectacular of the century.
But despite all this, Duo continued to read the article. The last few sentences were what caught his eye.
They read:
Mr. Archer De Vries will be holding another grand ball for the now returned Sophie Parish, to celebrate her engagement to his son. The Ball will be held next Friday evening at the De Vries Manor, in Jupiter, Florida.
Duo smiled; he would be able to sneak into that place without a problem. With so many people around, it wouldn’t be very hard. Duo knew he was taking a huge risk, but he wasn’t going to lose another girl that he loved.
Sophie sighed as she studied her reflection in the mirror. She had stayed in the De Vries manor the night before so it would be easier for her to get ready for the party that night. They had gone shopping again, for another ball gown. Sophie didn’t understand why she couldn’t just wear the same one. When she suggested this to her Grandfather, though, he just looked shocked and explained to her that the press would not like it. She didn’t care what the press thought, she hated shopping!
The stylist had just been in to do her hair and make-up, and Sophie couldn’t help but feel beautiful. She truly looked the part of a Princess, but she didn’t feel like one. She always thought Princesses should be happy. She wasn’t happy at all. She had been very depressed for the last few weeks. She was till trying to get over the shock of Duo not wanting to see her anymore.
She turned to Vilas for support and for fun, but Vilas ad a different idea of fun than she did. He liked to just sit and watch people, and make fun of the way they spoke or dresses. And he also seemed to enjoy introducing her to his friends, although she never got to say much. Vilas, it seemed, also liked to play with her hair, and other things that made her shiver. She tried to smile and go along with it, but it was too weird for her. She preferred rock climbing and swimming to shopping, any day.
She smoothed down her ice-blue gown, trying to get out some imaginary wrinkles. She was so nervous! Today her engagement to Vilas would be official, and after that there was no backing out.
She looked at her dress, trying to make sure everything was perfect. Her Grandfather had stressed that everything must be perfect.
The gown was long, it went all the way to the floor, and it was make of a shiny material. It had no sleeves and no straps, and relied solely on being so incredibly tight that it nearly suffocated her just to stay up. The top part was not as shiny as the bottom, and it had tiny, darker blue velvet flowers on it. The bottom half puffed out a lot, and underneath were dozens of layers of lace to make it stay puffed. Sophie hated the lace because it itched her legs, and the nylons she was wearing were very uncomfortable. On her feet was a pair of high-heeled sandals with glass bottoms and clear straps.
Her hair was pulled up into a high bun, and a large sapphire and diamond tiara sat on top of her head. She had small sapphire earrings and light blue make-up. He lips were painted peach, and her cheeks were tinted pink to make it look like was blushing. Vilas had given her a diamond engagement ring, which she now wore.
There was knock on her door, and Vilas let himself in. "You look wonderful, darling." He said.
"Thanks," Sophie muttered. Vilas didn’t seem to notice her depressed tone.
"Are you ready?"
She nodded.
"Let’s go then," Vilas took her arm and led her out of the room.
"Most of the guests are already here." Vilas explained. He took her to the top of the stairs, where they would descend. They waited for the man on the stage to finish introducing them before they went down.
They heard Vilas’s father as he introduced the couple and they emerged into the crowd and down the grand staircase.
There were gasps of approval from the crowd. Sophie didn’t care what people thought of her at the moment. She couldn’t believe everything that was happening. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she thought she saw a familiar brown head and white tuxedo. But before she could go and investigate, she was swept away by her Grandfather.
Duo watched Sophie descend the stairs and his breathe got stuck in his throat. Why did she have to be so gorgeous? The girl got prettier every time he saw her. He started to move towards her, but her Grandfather grabbed her am and pulled her into a crowd of old businessmen to introduce her. Vilas followed them. Duo growled and glared at the older man but didn’t bother to approach them. He would have to wait until Sophie was alone to talk to her.
That proved to be harder than it sounded.
Sophie was busy talking to people all night. Every time Duo got anywhere near her, someone else pulled her away to talk. The party was almost over and Duo had still not managed to grab her attention, not even for a second. As far as he knew, she didn’t even know e was there.
By the time most of the guests had left, Duo had a hard time keeping hidden. But thankfully, Sophie left for bed before everyone else was gone.
Duo took the servant’s stairwell to get upstairs and followed her to her room.
"Sophie!" He called when she stopped to open her door.
She looked up at him and shock and hurt washed over her face.
"D-Duo…what are you doing here?" She stuttered.
"I came to see you Sophie, why else would I come?" Duo stepped towards her, but Sophie didn’t move at all.
Finally, when Duo was right next to her, she snapped back into reality. He had no reason to be here. He hated her. "Go away," She snapped.
"Sophie? What’s wrong?" Duo grabbed her shoulders lightly, but his touch was demanding, so Sophie couldn’t bring herself to move into her room.
"Grandfather told me what you said! You promised me you would come, but you didn’t! You weren’t planning on ever seeing me again! You just wanted to get rid of me!"
"Wait a second," Duo said darkly, "What did he tell you?"
"The same thing you said to me that night at the party. You told him you weren’t going to see me anymore, and that you didn’t want to interfere with my life."
"What?" Duo seemed stunned.
"You didn’t…you didn’t say that?"
"Of course not! I would never break a promise, not to you, Sophie. I told you I would visit, and I tried, but your Grandfather wouldn’t let me see you."
Sophie studied him for a moment, but her face was still cold. "You didn’t want to," She said stubbornly. "You said so yourself, that you were going to stop coming to see me."
"I know Sophie," Duo bit his lip, "Bu I knew that wasn’t true. I could never stay away from you."
"Why…?"
"Because…because I think I’m in love with you, Sophie."
Sophie gasped and pulled away from him. Tears brimmed in her eyes.
"I’m sorry,’ he muttered, "I shouldn’t have told you that. You have your Prince Charming now, don’t you?" Duo’s voice was dripping with bitter sarcasm.
"I…I…" Sophie couldn’t seem to find the right words.
"Listen Sophie," Duo growled, "I don’t care what you do with your life from now on, it’s your life, but there’s one thing I need to know."
"What?" Sophie gasped.
"Do you love him? Or do you love me?"
Sophie started at him like he had grown another head. "I…" She paused for a long time.
"Sophie," Duo urged, "Please just tell me…do you love him?" His voice was desperate, and his eyes searched hers for some sort of clue as to the answer she would give him.
"I don’t know," She whispered.
Duo sighed, "Do you love me?" he asked, this time more gently. Sophie didn’t answer, and she refused to look at him.
"Sophie!" She grabbed her arms again and shook her out of her reverie. Sophie looked at him with frightened eyes. "Do you love me?" He repeated sternly.
"I don’t know," She whispered quietly, so quietly that Duo almost didn’t hear her. But her answer was clear enough, and tears piled up in her eyes once again. Duo grip on her arms loosened a bit, but he did not let her go.
"Then what…are you going to do?" He asked softly.
"I don’t know…" It was another whisper. "I don’t know! I don’t know! I DON’T KNOW!" Sophie sobbed. She broke away from do and dashed in to her room. She slammed the door behind her and then flung herself face down on her bed and cried. Nano, sensing her pain, came and curled up next to her. She picked up the little dog and sobbed into his fur. Why did everything have to be her choice? It would be so much easier for someone to just tell her what to do. She suddenly realized that she liked that way it was on her island. It was usually easy to make the right choice; she chose what would enable her to survive. They were easy decisions, things she could handle. But now, these things would affect her for the rest of her life. She couldn’t deal with that kind of responsibility. She ended up crying herself to sleep that night.
Duo watched Sophie dash into her room and slam the door, He felt all the pain he had been keeping down suddenly burst to the surface, he felt like crying. But fortunately, he didn’t have enough time.
"Well, well, well, Mr. Maxwell, am I correct?"
Duo turned and saw Vilas there, smirking at him triumphantly.
"What do you want?" Duo hissed.
"Hn," Vilas snorted. "I heard you yelling at my Sophie."
"She’s my Sophie," Duo growled lowly.
"Oh, really? Who’s engagement ring is she wearing?" Vilas chuckled to himself.
Duo’s face grew red with anger.
"Face it, she chose the better man in the end, kid. You couldn’t take care of her, in any sense of the word. Naturally she’s choose me, I’m rich, powerful, handsome, and you…well, you are just common white trash."
Duo’s hands clenched into fists at his sides; he was doing his best to keep from hitting this arrogant prick.
"Say that again," He snarled.
"You heard me. You’re nothing! I got her, hook, line, and sinker! And now I’ll be the one to have her forever, I’ll be the first one to hear her scream…"
"THAT’S ENOUGH!" Duo cried. It was pure instinct when his fist flung out, as if by its own accord, and hit Vilas square in the jaw. Vilas stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, holding his bleeding lip.
"You scum!" He growled, but he didn’t try to get up. "No one talks about Sophie like that." Duo snapped. Then he turned around quickly and stormed down the stairs and out the door; ignoring the looks of the shocked guests who heard the argument, and Sophie’s Grandfather, who seemed absolutely insulted that he was there. Duo stormed right over to his jeep that was parked on the road and got in and drove home in a fury.
Duo saw the paper the next morning and was almost afraid to look at it. But curiosity got the best of him. He read the article on the De Vries Ball, and noticed that there was nothing in there about Vilas De Vries being attacked. Duo figured that there wouldn’t be. That would make him out to be a wimp.
He noticed that date set for the wedding. It was in exactly one week.
Well, Duo thought bitterly, At least I won’t have to wait too long before I lose all hope of ever seeing her again. But at least there was still hope, for now. It was going to be a long week.
