Chapter 36: Forgiving
The world seemed to slow around Sora as she stared at Vivian, the heavy silence stretching between them.
Before Sora could even process what was happening, Vivian lunged forward, grabbing her wrist in a bruising grip.
"Vivian—?" Sora gasped, instinctively pulling back. But Vivian was faster, stronger in her desperation. She yanked Sora across the threshold, slamming the door shut behind them.
The world spun.
Sora barely registered the blur of the driveway, the black van parked just beyond the hedges, the sudden, rough shove into the back seat.
Then darkness — and the smell of cheap leather and fear.
When the blindfold was yanked off, Sora blinked against the dim light of an abandoned warehouse.
Vivian stood before her, pale and trembling, but her hand was steady — terrifyingly steady — as she pointed a gleaming knife at Sora's throat.
"You," Vivian hissed, her eyes wild, "you're going to leave Liam."
Sora's blood turned to ice.
"You're going to walk away from him. You're going to disappear. And if you don't..." She pressed the flat of the blade to Sora's skin, just enough to sting. "I'll make sure you won't have the choice."
Sora swallowed, her whole body rigid, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Vivian pulled out her phone with her free hand, stabbing at the screen. She held it up to Sora's face, dialing Liam's number.
The call connected almost immediately.
"Sora?" Liam's voice was frantic. "Where are you?"
Vivian leaned close to the phone, her voice dripping with venom.
"If you want to say goodbye to your precious little wife," she sneered, "now's your chance."
The line went dead.
Liam stood frozen for a breathless second, the color draining from his face.
Then he moved.
Grabbing his keys, he bolted for the door, barking out orders for extra security even as he called Harry.
"She's got Sora," Liam snarled the second Harry answered. "Find out where the hell she's taken her."
Harry didn't argue.
"I think I know," he said grimly. "I'll meet you there."
Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, Sora sat motionless, watching Vivian with a strange calmness growing inside her.
Vivian was shaking. The knife in her hand wobbled slightly, betraying the fierce front she had tried so hard to put up.
"You don't really want to hurt me," Sora said quietly.
Vivian's jaw tightened. "You don't know anything."
"I know you're scared," Sora whispered. "You're scared of being alone. Of being forgotten. Of being the villain."
Vivian's eyes filled with tears, rage and heartbreak warring inside her.
"I was supposed to be his everything," she choked out. "Not you."
Sora didn't flinch even as the knife trembled against her skin.
"I didn't steal him from you," she said softly. "You lost him yourself. Long before I came back."
Vivian's whole body trembled, the weight of Sora's words crashing into her harder than any blade.
The door burst open, and then Liam and Harry rushed in like a storm.
Liam's heart nearly stopped at the sight of Sora, tied to a chair, a knife dangerously close to her throat.
"Sora!" he shouted, his voice ripping from his chest.
But before he or Harry could move forward, Vivian dropped the knife.
It clattered to the ground with a hollow clang.
Vivian stumbled back, sobbing uncontrollably. She collapsed onto her knees, then crawled to Sora and hugged her tightly, as if trying to hold on to something already slipping away.
Liam froze, confused, his fists still clenched at his sides, ready to fight — but there was no enemy left.
Harry slowly stepped forward, easing the knife away.
"I'm sorry," Vivian sobbed against Sora's shoulder. "I just... I needed to know. I needed to see it."
Sora, heart pounding, slowly relaxed her arms, letting them wrap around Vivian awkwardly.
"It's over, Viv," Sora said, her voice breaking. "You can let go now."
Vivian cried harder, years of rage and bitterness and loneliness spilling out of her all at once.
By the time Liam knelt beside them, Sora looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, not of fear, but of sadness for the broken girl clinging to her.
Harry crouched down too, his hand resting lightly on Vivian's trembling back.
"We all have to let go sometime," he said softly.
Vivian finally nodded, pulling away, her face a mess of tears and regret.
She looked at Sora, then at Liam.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
And for the first time in years, maybe she truly meant it.
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