CHAPTER 181: THE FOUNDATION AT TWENTY-FIVE

Sophia's POVThe gala was Emma's idea.Of course it was.She'd proposed it eight months in advance with the specific energy of someone who had identified a necessary thing and was presenting it with enough lead time that resistance became impractical."Twenty-five years," she'd said. "That's not nothing. That's a milestone that deserves to be seen publicly.""I don't need a gala.""The foundation needs one. There's a difference." She'd held my gaze with the patience of twenty-five years of knowing exactly when I was conflating the personal and the institutional. "The foundation has eighteen centers across eight countries. It has Claudia's published research and Nora's climate grief program in development and scholarship recipients who are now professionals giving back to the communities they came from. That deserves a room full of people acknowledging it."She was right.She was almost always right about these things."Fine," I'd said."I'll organize everything," she'd said immediatel

CHAPTER 182: GERALD THE FOURTH

Sophia's POVAlex arrived on a Sunday in July with a box.Not a large box. A shoebox, specifically, with holes punched in the lid with the careful regularity of someone who had thought about ventilation requirements and addressed them properly.Miriam was beside him.She had the expression of someone who had not been consulted about the box and had decided, somewhere between Alex's flat and our front door, that her role in the situation was to be present without contributing to it."Don't," she said to me, before I could speak. "I know. I tried."Isabella was visiting with Catherine. Catherine was in the garden. Isabella was in the kitchen with coffee and the specific expression of someone who had seen this particular configuration before in various forms and was curious about the current iteration.David came to the door.Looked at the box.Looked at Alex."No," he said."He's very healthy," Alex said. "I've done extensive research.""You've done extensive research on a frog.""On th

All Chapters of Billionaire Contract Marriage: Her Quest : Chapter 181 - Chapter 182

CHAPTER 181: THE FOUNDATION AT TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER 182: GERALD THE FOURTH