Chapter: Chapter 235Sophia's POVThe Morgan Holdings hall was full.It wasn't the biggest event I had ever organized, but it was, by far, the most important. Pink and white balloons hung from the ceiling, mixed with gold ribbons. A long table displayed appetizers and sweets. In the center, a two-tier cake – one tier with the company logo, the other with a miniature teddy bear.Two years of work. Two years of tears, of falls, of fresh starts. And there I was, standing beside the stage, Ingrid in my lap, the light blue dress falling over my shoulders."Nervous?" Michael asked beside me, his warm hand on my back."A little.""You're going to crush it. You always do."I looked at him. His eyes were fixed on me, full of a certainty I didn't know I needed to see."Thank you," I whispered."You don't need to thank me. It's the truth."I bit my lip to keep from crying before the speech.The room was full of familiar faces. Emma and Patrick, holding hands, Lizzie sitting on her father's shoulders. Mark, my right-h
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-30
Chapter: Chapter 234Sophia's POV Months later, the contractions started at three in the morning. It wasn't like in the movies. There was no sudden breaking of water, no dramatic screams, no frantic rush to the hospital. It was a dull, low pain that came and went like a wave. "Are you okay?" Michael woke up next to me, his voice thick with sleep. "I think… I think it's today." He sat up in bed so fast he almost fell. His eyes were wide open, his hair disheveled, his breath caught. "Today? How do you know? What do I do? Do I call an ambulance? Emma? Is your bag already packed?" I laughed, even as the pain squeezed my belly. "Michael, breathe." "I'm not the one having a baby. I don't need to breathe." "Yes, you do. Or you'll pass out before I get to the hospital." He jumped out of bed, put his pants on inside out, fixed them, put his shirt on backwards, gave up. Grabbed my bag, the car keys, me. "Let's go." The drive to the hospital was a silent torture. The contractions came every five minutes
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-29
Chapter: Chapter 233Sophia's POVVictoria's hands were trembling. She was sitting on the floor, knees pulled up against her chest, eyes fixed on nowhere. The white rope still lay forgotten between us.Her nose was running. She sniffled once, twice, but didn't wipe it. She just let the snot glisten in the room's dim light.The silence had lasted for centuries. Or maybe just minutes. I no longer knew."Don't say that again," Victoria whispered, her voice broken, wet. "Don't say I'm your sister again, you wretch."She took a deep breath. Or tried to. Her chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm, as if the air wasn't reaching her. She sniffled again."I will never… never be your sister, do you hear me?"Her words hit me, but they no longer hurt. They only tired me.I remained standing. I looked at her. At the disheveled hair, at the oversized gown, at the hands that wouldn't stop shaking. At the snot running down. At the red, swollen eyes."So you already knew."She didn't answer. She just looked away."You k
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-29
Chapter: Chapter 232Sophia's POVThe dream always started the same way.Richard was in the garden of Eleanor's mansion, fallen after the drop. His body didn't move, but his eyes were open. Fixed on me. I approached, the cold stone floor beneath my bare feet, and he didn't speak. Didn't ask for help. Didn't scream in pain. Just looked."Why did you never tell me I was your daughter?" My voice echoed in the dream, strange, distorted. "Why did you treat me so badly? Why did you want to destroy everything?"Silence.He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, and his eyes remained there, glassy, watching me as if I were a ghost."Answer me, dammit! Why didn't you kill me when you could? Why did you wait?"Nothing.Just the wind in the trees of the mansion. Just his eyes. Just the silence growing between us until it became unbearable.And I woke up.My eyes opened to the bedroom ceiling. Cold sweat ran down my back. My heart was beating so fast I could feel it in my
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-24
Chapter: Chapter 231Sophia's POVI looked at the ceiling, then at him."I forgave her," I said finally. "Simply forgave her."Michael didn't respond. He just waited."She's a woman that life broke. She made mistakes. Manipulated. Did horrible things. But deep down… she just wanted to protect her daughter. And she failed. She lived with that guilt for years. I don't want to carry that weight. Especially because I don't think it's up to me to judge her."He touched my face, his thumb gently brushing my cheek."And can you do it? Live with this?""I can. Because I have you. Because I have Emma and her family. Because I have people I chose by my side." I looked down at my belly. "Because I have a new life to take care of."His hand slid to my belly. His warm palm against the thin fabric of my shirt."I'm going to be a father," he whispered, as if trying the word for the first time."You are.""And you're going to be a mother.""I am."He kissed me. It wasn't a kiss of desire. It was a kiss of promise."I jus
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-07
Chapter: Chapter 230Sophia's POV The car's ceiling, the leather seats, the dark glass… everything spun. I clutched the dossier against my chest so tightly my fingers hurt.The air ran out. The ground disappeared. And I stood there, paralyzed, while the world crumbled around me."Sophia," Eleanor called, her voice broken. "Please, say something."What could I say? That I was fine? I wasn't. That I forgave her? I didn't know. That I hated her? I didn't know that either."I spent years hating Richard for killing my daughter," Eleanor continued, tears streaming endlessly. "And now I find out he also raped her. That his blood runs in your veins. That my granddaughter is the daughter of my worst enemy."She rested her forehead against the front seat, her shoulders shaking."I feel like trash, Sophia. Trash. For not protecting Ingrid. For not looking for you. For letting hatred blind me for so long.""He knew," I whispered, my voice strange. "Richard knew who I was. That's why he pursued me. That's why he neve
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-04-03
Chapter: Chapter 133 [Her face turned red]Scarlett's POVHis hand was still in the air, inches from my face.I could feel the heat coming from it, I could smell him, I could feel my own heart beating so hard it seemed like it wanted to jump out of my mouth.Neither of us was breathing.I was the one who had to speak. He wasn't going to say anything. He was waiting. Waiting for me to give in, to pull away, to do something.I wasn't going to do any of that.I took a deep breath. The air entered my lungs. It hurt. It hurt because my chest was still tight, but it kept me alive."Don't make things difficult, Mr. Sterling." My voice came out low, hoarse. "I know what I'm doing."He blinked. Once. Twice. His hand lowered slowly, not suddenly, as if it had lost its strength, as if my words had caught him off guard."You know what you're doing?" He laughed, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. It was a dry sound. Tired. "You don't know anything.""I know enough.""You don't." He took a step back, but he didn't leave. He stayed there, lookin
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-22
Chapter: Chapter 132 [A proposal]Scarlett's POVArthur walked in and closed the door behind him.He didn't ask permission, didn't wait for me to invite him to sit. He walked to the chair in front of my desk and sat down, crossed his legs, and set a black folder on the table.I was still standing, my hand on the back of the chair, my heart racing.And that was when I felt it. The cologne. That scent of wood and spice that I knew by heart, that I felt on my skin when I woke up beside him, that stayed on the sheets, on my clothes, on me. I felt my stomach tighten, my hands tremble, but I kept my face steady.He looked up at me and waited. "You may sit down, Mrs. Moore," he said, his voice calm and deep, "this will take a while."I sat down slowly, without taking my eyes off him. "Coffee?""No," he answered, opening the folder, pulling out a stack of papers and setting them in front of me, "let's get straight to the point.""What's that?""A proposal," he said, pushing the papers toward me with two fingers, "to buy Helen
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-20
Chapter: Chapter 131 [Now, cold]Scarlett's POVI woke up with the light hitting my face and my head pounding as if I'd been hit by a truck. My mouth was dry, my body was heavy, and when I looked around, I realized I was alone.The sofa. The blanket over my legs. The bouquet of roses on the table. The open suitcase in the corner.And no one.Marcus wasn't there.I sat up suddenly. My head spun. I had to hold onto the arm of the sofa to keep from falling.Shit. Shit, shit, shit.I looked at the floor, beside the sofa, where he had been sitting. The cushion was still there. The mark of his body. But he wasn't there.Where was he? How long had I slept? What had he seen?I ran my hand over my waist. Over the pocket of the robe. Where's the phone? I jumped up and my head spun again. I staggered to the nightstand. Nothing. I went to the suitcase. Opened it. Rummaged through it. The phone. The passport. The documents. All there. Nothing missing.But wait. Did he touch anything? Did he see anything?I closed my eyes and trie
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-18
Chapter: Chapter 130 [The most dangerous thing of all]Scarlett's POVHis hand was still on my neck.It wasn't squeezing. It wasn't hurting. But it was there. Present. Reminding me who was in charge in that moment. His fingers resting on my skin, his thumb on the vein where my pulse beat. My heart racing. My breath caught.His eyes were fixed on mine. Dark. Intense. Waiting.I thought fast.I couldn't push him away. A woman with nothing to hide wouldn't react with violence to a gesture like that. She would react with surprise. With confusion. With something else.I took a deep breath. The air entered my lungs. It hurt. But it kept me alive.I raised my hand. Slowly. I grabbed his tie. I pulled him toward me. He came. Without resisting. His eyes widened slightly. But he didn't pull back.We were inches apart. His breath on my face. Mine on his. His scent. The same damn scent."You're squeezing my neck, Marcus." My voice came out low. Almost a whisper. "Is that supposed to scare me?"He didn't answer. His hand on my neck trembled. His finge
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-17
Chapter: Chapter 129 [Emily, don't come out!]Scarlett's POVThe bouquet lowered.Marcus.My heart raced. I felt the blood rise to my cheeks. But I kept my calm. The mask. Scarlett Moore. Not Emily Parker.He smiled. That smile I knew all too well. That smile that made women fall at his feet. But I wasn't just any woman."Good evening, Mr. Sterling." My voice came out polite. Firm. "To what do I owe the honor?"He tilted his head. His eyes roamed over me. Slowly. From my face. To my neck. To the robe. To my bare legs. Then back to my face."You worried me." His voice was low. Deep. "After that disaster at the studio and, then, that meeting at the company, I wanted to talk to you face to face. See if you're all right.""I'm fine." My voice came out firmer now. "As you can see. You didn't need to bother, Mr. Sterling."I stopped. Corrected myself. A slow smile, almost imperceptible, on my lips."Marcus."He didn't smile back. But his eyes changed. They grew darker. More fixed. As if that slip of mine had said more than a thousand w
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 128 [Can I come in?]Scarlett's POV "That means that little socialite just dug her own grave." I looked at the screen again. "And the best part? I didn't even have to try very hard. She did it all by herself. The cow." Helena laughed. "Scarlett, you're wicked. That's exactly what a niece of mine would be like." "I want it to get worse." I looked at her. "I want that woman to lose everything. The money. The fame. Everything. I want her to know what it's like to lose everything she loves. Like I lost." "And she will lose." Helena put her phone away. "The sponsors will keep falling. The most important magazines are canceling everything. Her career is finished. And Marcus? Marcus will be left with his image destroyed." "Good." I felt a smile form on my lips. A cold smile. Vengeful. "Very good." "What comes next?" "What do you think comes next, my daughter?" She raised an eyebrow. "Claire will try to clean up her image. She'll make statements. She'll blame the journalists. She'll blame you. She'll do wh
Terakhir Diperbarui: 2026-09-14
Masuk
