Page 71 of More than Fiction (Misty Springs #1)

Sophia

I was out of the hospital, but I felt anything but relieved. After I was discharged, Devyn drove me back to my apartment, and the familiar routine of her carting me around was almost a comforting scene.

She followed me up the stairs and ensured I was settled before leaving to taste wedding cake samples with Sam.

I promised her I would be fine eight times before she reluctantly left, leaving my door unlocked behind her.

Brent would be coming soon to check on me.

I appreciated their concern, but didn’t need them to check on me. Physically, I was fine—just a little sore and slow-moving.

Emotionally? I was a mess.

I hadn’t heard from Corbin or Andi. I wasn’t sure what the verdict was after last night’s board meeting, and I wasn’t getting any information from my very limited contact list at Buescher-Jones Publishing.

I sat in my quiet apartment, feeling unsettled. All the shattered pieces of my life I had just started to glue back together were rattling—about to break again.

I pulled out my phone and texted Corbin, adding to the dozen I already sent him.

Please call me.

The soft whoosh of the sent message barely registered before my front door opened .

“Devyn just left. You guys could leave me alone for more than five minutes, you know,” I joked to Brent.

I looked up from my phone screen, and my blood ran cold.

Not Brent.

Landon.

He strode in, shutting the door behind him with a hasty slam.

He looked terrible—pale, disheveled, dark circles etched beneath his eyes like bruises.

Before I could say a word, he rushed toward me, crashing to his knees by me on the couch.

“Thank God you’re okay,” he choked out, his hands hovering near me, as if he wanted to touch me but didn’t dare.

I stiffened, fumbling with my phone, fingers clumsy as I tried to unlock it to call for help.

“I’m so sorry, Sophia,” he sobbed, the rawness in his voice catching me off guard. “You weren’t supposed to be with him. It was never supposed to be you.”

His words sent a shockwave through my system, my heart pounding as the pieces clicked into place.

Slowly, I set my phone down, not yet dialing but not letting it out of reach.

“You… you tampered with Corbin’s car.” The words weren’t a question. They were a verdict.

Landon nodded, his face contorted with guilt. “It wasn’t my idea,” he stammered, his words tumbling out in a rush. “We just wanted to scare him, to make him pay for what he did to my family. To get him out of town.”

“You could have killed him!” I shouted, the force of my voice pulling at my stitches, making me wince. “You almost killed me! ”

“I know!” he cried, his hands clenching into fists. “I know, Sophia. It wasn’t supposed to be you. I’d never hurt you—I love—”

“You already did!” I snapped, cutting him off. My voice trembled, but it was no less fierce. “You hurt me, Landon. Every time you made me feel like I wasn’t enough. Every time, you used your words to beat me down. You shattered my self-confidence, then you cheated on me like I didn’t even matter.”

I locked away words my whole life—let them burn me from the inside rather than risk lashing out at someone else. But now, I felt raw, cut open by everything life had thrown my way, and the words I usually kept buried started spewing from my lips like lava.

“You and your family take and use. You leech and destroy, with no regard for anything other than yourselves. You never loved me. You don’t even know how to love.”

“Sophia,” he pleaded, his voice desperate. “You don’t mean that. I just—”

“I mean every word,” I seethed. “Hear me loud and clear, Landon. You mean nothing to me now. Nothing. And you never will again.”

He stared at me for a moment, his face a canvas of pain and disbelief. Then he reached out again, but I recoiled, unlocking my phone screen to call for help.

The door flew open again, startling both Landon and me.

Brent stepped inside, his expression incensed, but he wasn’t alone.

Two officers followed, their uniforms crisp and official—not the corrupt puppets on the Norwood’s payroll. They didn’t waste a moment, pulling Landon off the floor, wrenching his arms behind his back as they slapped handcuffs on him.

Landon didn’t struggle. He didn’t say a word. His gaze, however, stayed fixed on me, searching for something—sympathy, forgiveness, anything.

But he’d find nothing.

I met his stare with icy resolve, letting him see that whatever part of me had once cared for him was long gone.

Brent rushed to my side, his calloused hands carefully helping me off the couch. He wrapped me in a gentle hug, mindful of my stitches. His familiar scent—soap and something faintly earthy—was grounding.

“You okay?”

I nodded, feeling a renewed sense of calm despite the chaos.

Brent squeezed my shoulder lightly as we watched Landon walk out of my life once more.

This time, it felt final.

One of the officers approached me and handed me a card. “We have some statements we’ll need when you feel up for coming down to the station.”

I nodded and thanked him .

Once we were alone, Brent blew out a long breath and turned to me.

“How’d you know he was here?” I asked.

He ran a hand through his deep red hair.

“I found out at the body shop that the brake lines, the power steering, and a bunch of other shit were tampered with. Sullivan and I rushed over to Boomer’s to get our hands on the security footage.

That guy’s smoother than I thought—Theresa gave us the footage from last night without blinking. ”

A flicker of admiration tugged at Brent’s mouth as he got me a glass of water.

“We spent all night combing through hours of footage until we saw it—Landon under Corbin’s car.” He paused, jaw clenched.

“Watching you both get in afterward... I nearly lost it. We brought the tape straight to the station—avoided the idiots who arrested Corbin. When I pulled up and saw Landon’s car out front…”

His face contorted into a pained look, his eyes heavy with worry.

“I called the police immediately. They told me to wait outside. Said I could blow the case if I didn’t. But sitting in that truck, knowing you were in here with him—I couldn’t do it.”

“I was fine,” I said, managing a smile. “Actually... it felt kind of good to tell Landon off finally.”

Brent smirked and gave my chin a light tap. “Atta girl.”

“The Norwoods orchestrated Corbin’s arrest, too. Sullivan was able to expose everything.” Brent chugged his water in a few large gulps and clanged the glass loudly on the counter.

A moment of quiet passed between us before he spoke again.

“So, what now?” he asked, wiping his trimmed beard with his sleeve.

I let out a breath. “I don’t know. I guess we wait and hope Corbin gets control of the company.”

“Sophia.” He dropped his chin and glared at me under furrowed brows.

“What?”

“We all see the way you two look at each other.”

“Yeah, but it’s... complicated.” My voice broke off into a whisper .

“Corbin is a good guy. You both deserve to be happy. If you want to make it work, you will. Screw the rules.” He pushed off the counter and walked around to wrap me in another hug.

“It has been good to see you smile again, Soph. No matter what happens, please keep that up,” he said into my hair.

I nodded as he backed away.

“I’ve gotta run Sullivan to the airport. Want me to give him your number?”

“Please. Ask him to keep me posted?”

“You got it,” Brent said, locking the doorknob before closing the door behind him.

I sank back onto the couch, picking up my phone. My last message to Corbin still sat unanswered.

A sinking feeling settled in my gut as I stared at my blank screen.

Something that told me I wasn’t ready to hear the truth about what happened in New York—and what it might mean for our future together.