Dark Lord Seduction System: Taming Wives, Daughters, Aunts, and CEOs - Chapter 337

Chapter 337: Parachute
Madison’s face went white with fury. “What do you mean? Why did you not tell your dad or report Jack”

“When I tried to pull away, when I said I didn’t want to be with him anymore or threatened to report him for what he did if he does not leave me alone, Jack would remind me what it would mean for my father’s business. How disappointed my family would be. How I’d be ruining everything they’d worked for. I had to convince Cecilia to seal her lips” Sofia was hyperventilating now, the words coming out in gasps between sobs.

Lincoln Heights was broken.

I couldn’t sit still anymore. I moved around the table and pulled Sofia into my arms, letting her cry against my chest while I stroked her hair. The rage building inside me was carefully controlled, but it was there – a cold, calculating anger at every adult who had failed this girl.

“When the whole thing with Lea happened,” Sofia said, her voice muffled against my shirt, “when word got back to both families that I’d defended you publicly, that I’d slapped her… they were furious.”

“Who was furious?” I asked quietly, though I already knew.

“My father. Jack’s parents. Everyone.” Sofia pulled back to look at me, her face streaked with tears and mascara. “My father called me into his office that night. He was so angry, Peter. I’ve never seen him like that.”

She started crying harder, and I held her tighter, feeling Madison’s hand on my shoulder in support.

“He said…” Sofia’s voice broke completely. “He said I was ungrateful. That after everything he’d done for me, everything he’d provided, everything he’d built for our family, I couldn’t even do this one simple thing for him.”

The restaurant around us had gone quiet, other diners probably sensing the intensity of our conversation, but I didn’t give a fuck about any of them.

“He called me a disappointment,” Sofia whispered, and those words hit me like physical blows. “He said this was the one thing – the only thing – he’d ever asked of me. To be a good daughter, to think about the family, to not ruin everything with my selfishness. And I couldn’t even do that.”

I felt Madison stiffen beside me, and when I looked at her, I saw tears in her eyes too. She understood this pain intimately – the suffocating weight of family expectations, the way love got twisted into obligation.

“Sofia, listen to me,” I said, cupping her face in my hands so she had to meet my eyes. “Your father is wrong. What he’s asking of you isn’t simple, and it isn’t fair.”

“But he’s right about one thing,” she said desperately. “I am ruining everything. The business deal, the family connections, Jack’s reputation at school after I humiliated him… I’m destroying everything my father worked for.”

“No,” Madison said fiercely, moving closer to us. “Sofia, what your father is doing – using you as a bargaining chip in a business deal – that’s not love.

“That’s not what parents are supposed to do.”

“But I can’t…” Sofia collapsed against me again, completely exhausted. “I can’t disappoint him. I can’t bring myself to hurt him like that. But I also can’t go back to Jack. I won’t. I will never. I would rather die if I can’t be with you.”

The helplessness and finality in her voice, the way she was caught between impossible choices, made my chest ache. This was what happened when adults put their own interests above their children’s wellbeing – they broke them.

“I’m so sorry,” Sofia said, pulling back to look at both Madison and me. “I’m so sorry to dump all this on you. I didn’t want to burden you with my family drama, but I just… I needed someone to know. I needed someone to understand why everything’s been so complicated.”

I took her hands in mine, feeling how small and cold they were. “Sofia, look at me. You are not a burden. You are not responsible for fixing your father’s business problems. And you sure as hell aren’t responsible for making Jack Morrison feel better about himself.”

“But my family—”

“Your family should protect you,” I said firmly. “Not use you as a business asset.”

Madison nodded, taking Sofia’s other hand. “I grew up in this world too, Sofia. I know exactly what you’re going through. My family is Torres Developments – we’re like royalty in the business world. I can’t count how many families have tried to use marriage to attach themselves to our empire.”

Sofia looked at Madison with a mixture of recognition and pain.

“The difference,” Madison continued, “is that my parents love me more than they love money. When families come with their prince charmings, wanting their sons to marry the Torres princess, you know what my father tells them?”

“What?”

“‘Talk to my wife.’ And my mother asks me one question: ‘Madison, dear, do you love him?’ That’s it. That’s all that matters to them.” Madison’s voice was gentle but firm. “Jack tried to get to me before you when my family did not allow his family’s suggestions, and even during your relationship as you know. Failed miserably because my parents would never force me into something I didn’t want.”

“But you were lucky,” Sofia said quietly. “Your parents actually love you.”

“Your father loves you too,” Madison said. “He’s just forgotten that love isn’t supposed to come with conditions. That is what I am trying to remind you.”

I squeezed Sofia’s hands tighter. “You’re family now, Sofia. That means Madison and I are going to help you figure this out. Together.”

“This is my problem,” Sofia protested weakly. “I should be able to handle—”

“Stop,” I said, my voice gentle but final. “I’m not asking for your permission. You’re one of mine, which means your problems become my problems. And I always solve my problems.”

Sofia stared at me for a moment, then broke down completely – not with despair this time, but with relief. She threw her arms around my neck, sobbing with the kind of release that comes when someone drowning finally feels solid ground.

As I held her, I felt that familiar protective rage building inside me. Sofia’s father thought he could use his daughter as a business pawn? Jack Morrison thought he could manipulate and control her? They were about to learn that Sofia belonged to someone who didn’t negotiate when it came to protecting what was his.

The waiter appeared with our food, took one look at Sofia crying in my arms, and quietly set the plates down before retreating. This was the kind of restaurant where staff knew to be invisible during family crises.

“We’re going to fix this,” I murmured into Sofia’s hair.

Sofia pulled back to look at me, her eyes red but hopeful for the first time all evening. “What do you mean?”

I smiled, and I knew it probably looked dangerous.

Madison grinned, understanding immediately. “This is going to be satisfying.”

“I don’t understand,” Sofia said, looking between us.

“You will,” I said, helping her sit back properly and handing her a napkin. “But first, you’re going to eat something.”