LOGINSophia'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
Sophia'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
Sophia'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
Sophia'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
Sophia'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
Sophia'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
Sophia’s POVI woke up without that hammering in my temples. That was the first pleasant surprise of the day. The second was the sound coming from the living room: laughter.Children's laughter. Two of them.I got out of bed, stretched, and went to the door. On the living room rug, in the soft morn
Emma's POV"Daughter, look at the people staring. Could you behave? Don't you see the scene you're causing?" my mother said, her voice still low but loaded with a reprimand that instantly transported me back to the feeling that she always saw me as an irrational baby. "Listen to me first."Her use
Victoria's POV"Talk? What do you have to talk to me about?"I tried to push past him, a sharp, fleeing motion. His arm shot out like a physical barrier, blocking my path with no apparent effort."Alexander..." the word came out as a snarl. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood for your mind games
Sophia’s POVI opened the door and was engulfed in a hug that smelled of baby shampoo and my best friend's home.“Sophia! My God!”Emma nearly knocked me over, her enthusiasm overflowing and familiar.Behind her, Patrick was standing, holding little Lizzie in his arms. The girl, bigger than I remem







