Chapter 8. A Strange Compulsion

The next morning a dejected Sofia woke up and dragged herself downstairs. Last night her mom forcefully fed her dinner and gave her a cold compress and cucumber slices for her eyes to reduce the puffiness from weeping too much. She had spoken to Sofia to calm her down. Her mom had told her about her own arranged marriage with Sofia's dad. After hearing her mom's story, Sofia had calmed herself down considerably since there wasn't anything else she could do. She had to accept her fate to save her parents. Later she fell asleep with her head on her mom's lap and she stroked her hair as she used to when they were children. 

"Eat properly, Sofi. You'll faint on an empty stomach," advised her mom, serving her the sandwiches and scrambled eggs that she had prepared. Sofia ate quietly as she didn't want to add to her mom's worries. From her strained face, it was clear that she hadn't slept a wink last night. Victoria had a pajama party at her best friend's house last night and hadn't