MasukSophia'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 POVEleanor's car was parked on a side street, away from curious eyes. The windows were dark, impenetrable. Outside, Eleanor's assistant stood next to the driver, her back to us, like a sentinel.I was sitting in the back seat, as far away from my grandmother as possible. Alexander's dossier still pressed against my chest. Michael stayed in our car, two blocks away, waiting. I said it would be five minutes. Ten had already passed."Sophia," Eleanor began, her voice trembling. "My daughter…"She reached out her hand to touch my face.I turned my head away."How did you have the courage?" My voice came out cold, cutting. "To come near me? To pretend you cared?"Eleanor withdrew her hand. Tears were already shining in her eyes."I can tell you everything," she said, hurried, desperate. "Richard… he lied. About your mother, about the car, about everything. I would never have ordered your mother's death. She was my daughter. My only daughter."I looked at the car's ceiling. Swallo
Sophia's POVMy body reacted before my mind. I retreated slightly in the chair, as if the folder might burn me."No."The word came out before I could think. Dry. Direct.Alexander raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem surprised. "You don't want to analyze it calmly?""I don't need to." I lifted my eyes to him, and felt the old pain rise from my chest to my throat. "I know what it is. It's the place where I was humiliated. Where they demoted me. Where I worked for the woman who destroyed my life. Where you…" My voice faltered, but I forced it to continue. "Where you looked me in the eye and announced your engagement to her, knowing what I felt for you."My hands were trembling. I pressed them over my bag to hide them."And you want me to buy shares?"Alexander didn't answer right away. He let my words hang in the air, heavy, necessary. When he spoke, his voice was lower."Yes. It's exactly that place. And that's why I need you here."I frowned, confused."You know this company better tha
Sophia's POVThe man I had loved almost to death was on the other side of the desk, leaning on a cane, and the autumn in New York seemed colder simply because I was there.Seven months. Seven months since I saw his blood seep between my fingers. Seven months since I climbed into an ambulance not knowing if he would make it to the hospital alive. Now Alexander Reed was there, alive, and I was back at the Reed Group by my own choice.The revolving doors of the glass and steel skyscraper reminded me of the day I last left here as an employee. The day he announced his engagement to Victoria and I crossed this same lobby with my head held high, even with my heart in pieces. Today I was returning for a business meeting.The security guard in the lobby recognized me. Nodded with a discreet smile. I nodded back, my heels echoing on the polished marble as I crossed the hall.Everything seemed the same, yet different. People walked faster, their eyes more alert. Richard Pierce's shadow still hu
Sophia's POV The light turned green, and vehicles flooded Michigan Avenue. I had barely set foot on the crosswalk when I was pushed back by the human current. On the other side of the street, the familiar silhouette of the cleaning lady was moving fast, head down, blending into the crowd pouring
Sophia's POV It was 3 a.m. Emma and I were sprawled out on the king-size bed in the apartment that Irina used to lock from the outside whenever she left. Outside, River North shimmered with its illuminated skyscrapers.But the heavy velvet curtains blocked all that light. The room was in total dar
Sophia's POV The question hung in the air between us, heavy and laden with a disbelief that was eating me up inside. How? Michael sighed, a deep, weary sound that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. He ran a hand over his face, rubbing the stubble, and avoided my gaze for a moment, as if
Victoria's POVThe phone slipped from my hand and fell onto the plush white rug in my room. Calling Alexander... the screen said, for the fifth time in a row. Nothing. Nothing. And nothing again."He's not answering," I said to the maid, who was arranging flowers on the nightstand. My voice sounded







