Second Chance At Love by Iris Mignon

Chapter 65

Sophia’s fists clenched, her body trembling. It finally clicked. He wanted her to kneet–another layer of humiliation. Every time before, it was the muscle of his guards or the force of his shove. This time, though, it was different. He’d ripped apart her body and soul, trampled her dignity, and now he wanted to break her spirit, grinding her pride into the snow. “Will kneeling save my father?” she rasped.

Jason’s gaze remained locked on the bruises marring her skin. The more he stared, the hotter his anger burned, Coupled with those muffled sounds from the phone call days ago, his fury became a destructive storm. If he couldn’t have her, he’d break her. “You don’t get to bargain,” he spat. “Kneel, or your father rots in prison.”

A frail smile flickered on Sophia’s lips as she looked at him through the snowfall. Her hand reached out hesitantly, fingers brushing the memory of his features in the air. This face, once burned into her very being, was slowly slipping away. Like the wind scattering snowflakes, it would soon be gone. “Jason, you’ll never understand what this means.”

Her pride, her love, her admiration and fight, the foolish infatuation of youth–all buried beneath the snow. Tears streamed down her face, yet she kept

turning to

a sudden tightness constricting his chest. He reached out instinctively, fingers meeting nothing but empty air and the chilling touch of snowflakes. In that moment, a strange sense of loss washed over him. He looked at the woman kneeling before him, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes. Taking a deep breath,

the pain in her eyes fading to a cold, sorrowful emptiness. The snowfall intensified. Time blurred, her consciousness

hovering above, Sophia tried a smile, pulling at the corners of her frozen lips. “Amanda, what are you doing

the estate.” The truth was, worry gnawed