31. Noah

CHAPTER 31

NOAH

" W hat do you mean, you can't find her?"

Amy shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. She said she would be right back—"

"How long?" he demanded.

She cringed. "An hour."

Noah felt his stomach drop.

No!

He left the room and headed back to his own. His heart was beating through his chest. Noah reread the note.

Noah,

I'm so, so sorry, but I can't go through with this.

I thought that I could do this alone, that I could love our child enough for the two of us. And I can. But the truth is, I don't want to. I want a life with you. One that isn't fake.

The truth is that I love you, Noah.

And I know it wasn't what you planned and that you don't return my affections. I want you to know that I don't hold that against you. In the same way that I hope you will not hold this against me.

I'm sorry I fell in love with you. I'm sorry I couldn't be who you needed me to be. And I'm sorry that you can't be the man that I want you to be. It's just who we are.

Please don't hate me,

Soph

He was going to be sick. Sophie was leaving him. Had left him .

Noah stormed out of the room. He passed Bradley in the hallway but kept moving.

"Is everything okay?" Bradley shouted after him.

Noah didn't reply. He needed to find her. Where could she have gone?

He turned the corner and ran smack into his father. Great.

"Move, I don't have time for this," he said.

"Time for what? The wedding is supposed to start any minute."

Noah scoffed. "We need a bride in order to have a wedding."

Richard's face grew red with anger. "You lost the bride?" He gripped Noah's arm tightly and dragged him into a small lounge room. "Explain."

Noah hadn't seen this kind of rage from his father since he was a child. However, it wasn't as scary to him anymore.

Nothing was more terrifying than losing Sophie.

"I don't have time to explain, I have to find her." Noah tried to shove past him but Richard stopped him.

"You better. And you better remind her about the contract she signed."

Noah stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

"Contracts are binding, Noah. You just need to find her and force her to go through with it."

"I'm not going to force Sophie to marry me," he said in disbelief.

"You will if you want that promotion."

Noah's face scrunched in confusion. "You're threatening me?"

"No, I'm giving you a piece of reality. This is the way the world works, Noah."

"You think that I would force the mother of my child to marry me, just so that I can get a promotion?"

Richard waved his hand dismissively. "Please, that child is no more yours than you are mine."

Noah laughed. "You know what, Dad? Keep the CEO title. I don't want it."

"A planned marriage worked out perfectly fine for your mother and I," his father replied, ignoring him.

"Did it?" Noah questioned. "Because of your marriage, I'm about to lose the most important person in my life."

Richard scoffed. "You're blaming me?"

"Yes, I am blaming you! Sophie left because she thinks that I don't love her. In fact, I told her that I didn't love her when I knew I did. Because I was so afraid of turning into you. Of being incapable of caring for the ones I love."

"I don't see how this is my fault, Noah."

"You're right. This is my fault. It's my fault for ever idolizing you," he admitted. "For believing that if I became successful enough, I would earn your affection or even gain some respect."

"Well, this stunt certainly isn't going to win my favor."

"Don't worry. You have nothing I find desirable anymore. You weren't a good father, a good husband, or even a good person. I thought that work would fulfill me. That success meant everything. But what happens when you finally get it, huh? Who's going to be left? Who's going to be there for you when you need them? Money can't buy you love."

"Love has nothing to do with it," Richard said coolly. "This is business."

"Well, maybe that's the difference between me and you. Because for me, love has everything to do with it. I love Sophie. And I'm going to love our child. And he's going to grow up knowing that he never has to fight for my love the way that I did for yours." He noticed his father's eyes widen slightly at that. "Now, I'm going to find Sophie so I can tell her this myself. But I want you to know that even if she does take me back, this wedding isn't happening."

"You can't be serious, Noah. Do you know how bad this is going to look? How many people are here?"

"When are you going to get it?!" Noah said, practically yelling now. "None of that matters to me anymore. The only thing I care about is getting Sophie to take me back. Look, my proposal stands but I won't force her to marry me. And if we do decide to get married, we will do so on our own terms."

"Very well. Have it your way," Richard growled.

His father left the room and Noah stood still. He knew he should move, that he needed to go find Sophie, but he just needed to take it all in. He had finally stood up to his father. And for the first time, he had said, out loud, that he loved her.

I love her . Seeing that note had shattered him. Had terrified him in a way that he never thought possible. What if she was gone for good?

The door creaked behind him and he spun.

Sophie was standing there in a white silky robe. Like an angel and the answer to his prayers all in one.

"Sophie?" he breathed.

Her hair was pinned up perfectly, but her makeup was smeared with mascara and fresh tears.

"I thought you left." He didn't know what to say. How to fix this. Where to even start.

"I did, but I came back for my grandmother's clip," She held it up for him to see.

"Oh," he said.

She hadn't returned because she'd changed her mind.

"Did you really mean all that, what you said to your father?"

She'd been listening?

"Yes, I did. Every word."

Tears poured down her face. He couldn't believe that he had caused her so much pain. He was tempted to drop to her feet and beg for her forgiveness.

Sophie shook her head as he stepped towards her. "I don't know—"

Noah paused before rushing towards her, seizing her shoulders. "I know that I hurt you. And I am so sorry, Sophie. But I need you to hear me out. Please."

She didn't reply but she nodded. Even when crying, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

He took a deep breath, preparing to finally tell her everything.

"Look, I thought that I needed to be successful to be happy. I never understood love because I never had it before. But the truth is, I am completely in love with you… and that terrified me for a while. I thought that I could shove it down and ignore it but I can't. And after seeing the note you left, I realized that I don't want to be without you."