Mistaken Marriage to a billionaire

Chapter 1: A Life of Shadows

Sophie Reynolds had long resigned herself to a life lived in the shadows. Ever since her father, Richard Reynolds, remarried, bringing her stepmother Clarissa and stepsister Vanessa into their home, Sophie had been relegated to the role of the invisible daughter. While Vanessa was the golden child, showered with love and attention, Sophie became nothing more than a convenient scapegoat for all the ills of their household.

Her father, a kind man at heart, had been a successful businessman, often away on trips and consumed with work. He rarely saw the daily dynamics of his own home, leaving Sophie at the mercy of her stepmother and stepsister. Even if she tries telling him what she's going through in his absence, her stepmother will always counter her, making it look like Sophie doesn't want to accept her as her stepmother.

Clarissa was beautiful and cunning, a woman who could charm anyone with a smile; she's a very good actor; her words and actions always sounded convincing, but underneath that polished exterior lay a heart as cold as ice. She saw Sophie as nothing more than a reminder of her husband's first wife, his first love and the woman who still occupies his heart, a woman Clarissa had never met but resented all the same.

Vanessa, spoiled and vain, had inherited her mother's beauty and charm but none of her father's kindness. She took pleasure in making Sophie's life as difficult as possible, delighting in small cruelties that wore Sophie down day by day.

Where Vanessa was admired for her looks and wit, Sophie was criticized for her quiet demeanor and simple tastes.

Sophie's days were filled with menial tasks that Clarissa insisted were necessary to keep the household running smoothly.she isn't a maid, but she works like one; while Vanessa was free to spend her days shopping, attending parties, and flirting with eligible bachelors, Sophie was relegated to cleaning, cooking, and attending to her stepsister's whims.

Even the servants, sensing their mistresses' disdain, treated Sophie with indifference or, worse, pity.

But it wasn't just the chores that weighed heavily on Sophie's heart. It was the constant scheming, the cruel words whispered when they thought she couldn't hear.she wondered if all of this could someday come to an end.

Clarissa and Vanessa would often sit together, plotting how best to use Sophie for their gain or how to make her life just a little bit harder. They spoke of her as if she were a burden, a stain on their otherwise perfect lives.

"You could at least try to be more like Vanessa," Clarissa would say, her voice dripping with disdain as she looked at Sophie.

"Why must you always be so plain and unremarkable? "

Vanessa, of course, would echo her mother's sentiments, often adding her sharp barbs.

"Don't be too harsh, Mother," she would say with a smirk. "Poor Sophie can't help it if she's just not... worthy." she said with a mocking laugh.

Sophie endured it all in silence, her heart growing heavier with each passing day. She longed for the warmth of her father's embrace, the way he used to lift her when she was a child, making her feel like she was the most important person in the world. But those days were long gone, buried under the weight of Clarissa's manipulation and her father's increasing absence.

She stopped complaining to her father because it only heightened her grievances once he was away. Clarissa finds every single way to punish her and make her wish she wasn't born.

At night like this, when the house was quiet and everyone else was asleep, Sophie would lie in her small, cramped room, staring up at the ceiling.with tears in her eyes, calling for her mother to come take her away. She would dream of a different life, one where she was free from the shackles of her stepmother's cruelty and her stepsister's jealousy.

A life where she could be herself, unburdened by the constant pressure to be something she was not. Sophie found solace in books, the only escape she had from her miserable existence. She would lose herself in tales of distant lands, of brave heroines who overcame adversity and found love in the most unlikely places.

These stories were her refuge, her only source of hope in a life that felt increasingly bleak. But even as she dreamed of escape, Sophie knew that her reality was unlikely to change.

She was trapped in a life she hadn't chosen, with no clear path to a different future. The world outside her home seemed vast and terrifying, and she had no means to venture beyond the walls that confined her.

Yet, despite the despair that threatened to consume her, there was a small, stubborn part of Sophie that refused to give up. She clung to the hope that one day, something-anything-would happen to change her circumstances.

She prayed for a fresh beginning, a chance to break free from the chains that bound her. Little did Sophie know that her prayers were about to be answered, but not in the way she had ever imagined.

Soon, her life would take a turn that would lead her far from the world she had known, thrusting her into a marriage she never wanted with a man whose reputation was as fearsome as the life she longed to escape.