Chapter 19

The champagne flute hit the floor in Sophia Chen's fancy penthouse, sending glass everywhere. The news was still on, but Sophia had heard enough.

"Tech guy Mikel Sterling was seen at St. Mary's Hospital today with a little girl. It seems like she's his daughter that nobody knew about..."

Five years. Five years of lies, thinking she had won, waiting for Mikel to see her as more than just someone who helped him during his divorce. Now this.

Sophia grabbed her phone, scrolling through the news. Pictures of Mikel looking worried going into the hospital. Pictures of him looking relieved coming out. And then the picture that made her sick—Mikel kneeling next to a hospital bed, with his arm around a little girl as Bella sat on the other side, like they were a regular family.

Her phone buzzed. It was a text from her assistant: *Ms. Chen, the media wants to know about you and Mr. Sterling. Should I say something?*

Sophia looked at the message, tapping her nails on the screen. What relationship? The question she had been ducking for five years hit her hard. What did she really have with Mikel Sterling?

She walked to the huge windows, looking at the Seattle skyline where Sterling Industries was, like a sign of what she thought she had. But did she win?

The truth she had been avoiding for years hit her: Mikel never loved her. Not even close. Even after she ruined his marriage, even after she was there for him during tough times, even after she made herself his closest person—he never looked at her the way he was looking at Bella in that hospital picture.

She was useful. Always there. Did things for him.

But never loved.

Sophia found Mikel's name on her phone, her finger over the call button. She had been trying to reach him for days, with no luck. Their last talk was a week ago, just about work stuff that he ended quickly.

When did he stop seeing her as a woman and start seeing her as just another worker?

The answer came: he never really saw her as a woman. Even that night five years ago—the night she planned, the night that ended his marriage—he was drunk, sad, and didn't even know what was happening. She took advantage of him when he was down, and instead of winning his heart, she became a reminder of the worst night of his life.

Her phone rang, making her jump. For a second, she hoped it was Mikel, but it was her best friend Marina.

"Soph, I just saw the news," Marina said carefully. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sophia lied, turning away from the windows. "It's just gossip. The media exaggerates."

"Sophia." Marina sounded sorry for her. "Honey, I love you, but we need to talk. You've been obsessed with a man who—"

"I am not obsessed," Sophia snapped. "Mikel and I have something. We have a past. This thing with his ex-wife is just about the kid, nothing else."

It was quiet for a long time, and Sophia wondered if the line was dead.

"Soph," Marina said softly, which made Sophia feel even worse, "when was the last time Mikel took you out? Not a work thing—an actual date?"

Sophia started to answer, then stopped. When was the last time? Was there ever a first time?

"When was the last time he called you just to chat? When did he last say he missed you, or that you looked nice, or that he was thinking about you?"

Each question hurts. Sophia sat in her leather chair, the one she got because Mikel said he liked the color.

"Marina—"

"When was the last time he kissed you? Really kissed you, not just a quick peck at work events?"

That broke something inside Sophia. It never happened. In five years of thinking she was the one for Mikel Sterling, he never kissed her like he wanted her, never looked at her like that, never treated her like more than just a coworker who was a woman.

"I have to go," Sophia whispered, ending the call before Marina could say more.

She sat in her empty penthouse, surrounded by all the expensive things she had, and finally admitted something she had been running from for five years: she ruined two people's marriage for a love that never existed.

But worse—she wasted five years of her life chasing a man who would never see her as more than the woman who helped him mess up his life.

Her laptop was on the coffee table, and Sophia looked at more pictures from the hospital. One of Bella walking with Mikel to the parking lot, and even in a random picture, even after five years, even in the middle of a crisis, they looked... right together.

Bella had changed. Pictures from five years ago showed a young woman who was pretty but gentle, reliant on others, happy to be in her husband's shadow. This Bella was different. Stronger. More confident. She walked like someone who was in control, who could make big deals happen, who had built her own success while raising a child alone.

She looked like someone who could be Mikel Sterling's equal. Something Sophia had never been, no matter how hard she tried.

Another picture showed Emma—that was her name, according to the news. Sophia looked at the child's face, seeing Mikel's eyes and strong chin, but Bella's soft features and nice smile. The little girl was pretty in a natural way, but there was something else there. Intelligence. Awareness. Even at five, she seemed like she understood more than she showed.

The child Mikel never knew. The daughter he missed out on because of Sophia.

For a second—just a second—Sophia felt something like guilt. Like regret. Like the first bit of conscience she had felt in years.

But then she saw another picture, this one of Mikel's hand on Bella's back as they went into the hospital, and the guilt turned into something harder, sharper, more familiar.

If Mikel got back with Bella, if they became a family again, if they were happy—then what did that make Sophia? Just the bad person in their story. The woman who caused five years of hurt for nothing. The sad person who made her whole life about a man who never wanted her.

She couldn't let that happen.

Sophia grabbed her phone and called a number she hadn't called in months.

"Thomas Romano? It's Sophia Chen. I need to see you tonight... Yes, I know what time it is. It's about Mikel Sterling getting back with his ex-wife... Because if they do, it hurts us both, and I think it's time we reminded Seattle what Bella Romano is really like."

She ended the call and went to her bedroom, grabbing a dress that cost more than most people made in a month. If Mikel thought he could just go back to being happy with the woman who left, he was wrong.

Sophia had spent five years building connections, getting favors, and making herself important to Seattle's top people. She had helped ruin Bella's name once, and she could do it again.

Better this time. More completely.

Because if Sophia Chen couldn't have the love she had been chasing, then she would make sure no one else did either.

She looked in the mirror, checking her makeup and jewelry. The woman looking back was pretty, successful, and completely alone. But she was also dangerous, and she was done playing nice.

It was time to remind everyone—including Mikel Sterling—what happened to people who messed with Sophia Chen.

The fight for Mikel's heart was starting, and this time, she wasn't going to play fair.

As she grabbed her purse and left, Sophia saw herself one more time. For a second, she saw what Marina was trying to tell her—a woman who wasted five years of her life loving someone who would never love her back.

But she pushed that thought away. Some truths hurt too much, and some fights were too important to lose.

Even if winning meant ruining everything she thought she wanted.