Chapter 1 The Weight of Expectations

Sofia

The mornings always smelled like money and lemon polish.

The D'Angelo estate was awake before the sun. Staff moving in orchestrated silence, the scent of fresh coffee rising from the kitchens, the clink of silverware against fine porcelain echoing faintly through endless marble halls.

I sat at the dining table, my hands folded neatly in my lap, trying not to pick at the lace edge of my napkin.

The chandelier overhead threw soft light onto the white tablecloth, where a single breakfast setting waited for me - curated down to the precise arrangement of grapefruit slices and tiny, sugared croissants.

I wasn't hungry. I never was.

Across from me, my mother sipped her coffee with the slow, deliberate grace of a woman trained her whole life to be untouchable. Her diamond earrings caught the morning light, winking coldly.

My father, predictably, was hidden behind his newspaper - world markets, political turmoil, mergers and acquisitions. The language of his heart.

"You'll be seeing Adrian this weekend," my father said without looking up, his voice steady and transactional, as if he were discussing a business merger and not my future.

I pressed my palms against my thighs beneath the table.

"Of course," I said. The words tasted like dust in my mouth.

My mother set down her cup with a delicate clink. "It's important that you're...presentable, darling. Adrian's family holds tradition in high esteem."

Translation: don't embarrass us.

As if I ever had.

A flicker of resentment flared in my chest, brief and hot. I crushed it instantly. There was no room for rebellion at this table.

"I'll make time," I said, reaching for my water glass. My fingers were steady. They always were, at least on the outside.

My father folded his newspaper and finally looked at me. His dark eyes were sharp, expectant. Measuring.

"You understand why this matters, Sofia. Our families-"

"Have always been allies," I finished quietly. The words were so deeply ingrained, I barely had to think to summon them.

A brief, satisfied nod from him. Approval won, at least for the moment.

Beyond the tall glass doors, the estate's manicured lawns stretched out in endless, perfect green. Somewhere beyond them was the road, the real world, the chaos of the city that buzzed just out of reach.

I wondered what it would be like to simply...run. To walk past the gates and keep walking, until the weight slid off my shoulders and the air tasted like freedom instead of expectations.

Instead, I stood when the butler appeared at the doorway.

"Your car is ready, miss," he said with a respectful bow.

"Thank you, Vincent," I said, my voice still wearing its careful, polished shell.

I gathered my bag and smoothed the pleats of my skirt.

As I crossed the room, my mother offered me a serene smile. My father didn't look up again.

Love, in my family, was something you proved through obedience, not affection.

I stepped outside into the crisp September air.

The sleek black town car idled at the foot of the marble steps, Matteo already holding the door open for me.

I slid inside and settled into the butter-soft leather seat, my pulse already slowing into the familiar rhythm of resignation.

Another day. Another performance.

As the car pulled away from the estate, I rested my forehead lightly against the cool window and watched the world blur past.

Campus would be no different - a place where I smiled and studied and played my part to perfection.

But somewhere, hidden beyond the edges of my tidy world, something was waiting for me.

Something wild.

Something I had no defense against.

And when it found me, nothing would ever be the same again.

The ride to campus was quiet, as always.

Matteo drove with the steady precision of a man who knew every shortcut, every blind turn, every risk before it happened.

I sat in the back seat, my fingers absently tracing the seam of the leather seat, my mind anywhere but here.

At stoplights, I watched other cars pull up beside us.

Old trucks with rusting paint. Motorcycles buzzing like angry bees between lanes. A battered sedan crammed with students laughing and shouting, windows down even in the crisp morning air.

Freedom looked messy.

Chaotic.

Beautiful.

"Big day, Miss Sofia?" Matteo asked suddenly, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

I startled slightly. Matteo rarely spoke unless spoken to.

I offered a small, automatic smile. "Just another Monday."

He nodded and returned his eyes to the road.

But I saw the faintest crease between his brows, a flicker of something almost like pity.

Was it that obvious?

Was it leaking out of me - this quiet, gathering storm?

When we pulled into the university gates, students were already swarming across the courtyard, phones in hand, backpacks slung carelessly over shoulders.

The world of the campus was brighter, louder, freer than anything within the D'Angelo walls.

And yet, even here, I felt the invisible leash wrapped tight around my throat.

Matteo eased the car to a stop under the shade of a towering oak tree. He got out to open my door, always formal, always precise.

"Three o'clock pickup, same spot," he reminded me.

I stepped out into the morning sun, the cool air wrapping around my bare legs.

"Yes, thank you, Matteo," I said, and meant it.

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, lifting my chin against the buzz of students around me.

I knew how I looked - polished, proper, untouchable.

Exactly as I was trained to be.

But inside...

Inside, every step I took across the courtyard cracked the armor just a little more.

I headed straight for the Arts Building, weaving through the crowds.

Past the laughing clusters of girls in designer sunglasses.

Past the boys sprawled on benches, tossing footballs and lazy grins like currency.

I wasn't part of that world. I never had been.

My world was lectures and papers and the relentless promise of a future carved out for me by someone else's hand.

When I reached the tall double doors of the building, I paused for a moment.

A flicker of temptation curled through me - the urge to just...walk past.

To keep walking until the city swallowed me whole.

I tightened my grip on the strap of my bag instead and pushed through the doors.

My morning lectures blurred together - economics, global finance, political systems.

A carefully curated schedule, designed not by me, but by a team of advisors with "family interests" in mind.

By noon, my head ached from the weight of it.

I sat at the edge of the courtyard fountain, picking at a granola bar, watching students laugh and flirt and live.

A group of girls passed by, their laughter sharp and cruel.

I caught a few snatches of conversation: "Daddy's money," one of them sneered.

"Doesn't even have to try."

The words slid over me like rain off glass.

They had no idea.

None of them knew what it cost to be perfect.

What it cost to belong to a kingdom made of glass and obligation.

I tilted my face up to the sun and closed my eyes for a moment.

Somewhere out there, my future was already being signed, sealed, and delivered.

But for now, I had this - the warm kiss of sunlight on my skin, the faint roar of the city beyond the campus walls.

It wasn't much.

But it was mine.

For now.