All Chapters of My Billionaire Boss's Secret Heir: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Sophia's POVMy father's surgery had gone well.The relief of that single fact had carried me through most of the night before, sitting in a plastic hospital chair with Ethan's jacket draped over my shoulders while the surgeon explained recovery timelines in a voice too calm for how terrified I'd felt walking in. My mother had cried. I had too, quietly, in the hallway, until Ethan found me there and simply held me without asking a single question.By morning, my father was stable, resting, cracking weak jokes at the nurses that made my mother swat his arm and tell him to save his energy. It was, for the first time in days, something close to good news.Which was exactly why I wanted to leave the hospital for an hour and buy him something. New pajamas, since the hospital gown made him miserable. Something for my mother too, some small excuse to get out from under the fluorescent lights and the smell of antiseptic that had followed me around for two straight days."I'll go with you," Et

I only lasted about twenty minutes sitting on those stairs before the quiet started to rot.The two brown paper bags of Chinese food were still sitting on the landing where I’d dropped them, the cheap plastic handles folded flat, the smell of grease and soy sauce going cold and thick in the draft coming off the front door. My face was still stinging where she’d slapped me, or maybe where I’d slapped myself with what I’d said. I couldn't tell the difference anymore. I kept hearing my own voice echoing off the narrow stairwell—spitting those vile, ugly words at her, accusing her of things I knew weren't true just to make her feel as small as I felt. I felt sick down to the pit of my stomach.But every time I tried to convince myself to walk back in there and drop to my knees, the picture of that guy helping her out of the car flashed back behind my eyes like a strobe light.I kept seeing his fingers near her elbow. Not quite touching her, but close enough to show he felt he had the righ

Sophia's POVMini showed up at the penthouse a little after four, no warning beyond a single text — *I'm outside, let me up before I start yelling at your doorman* — and by the time I opened the door she was already mid-sentence, dragging a rolling suitcase behind her like she'd packed for a week instead of an afternoon visit."Don't even," she said, pushing past me into the entryway, dropping her bag with a thud. "I saw the headlines. I saw the airport photos. I saw you walking past reporters like a Bond villain, and I decided my best friend needed emergency in-person intervention, and also possibly wine.""I don't have wine.""Then we're getting some. But first—" She grabbed both my hands, turning me toward the light streaming through the windows, studying my face with the particular intensity only fifteen years of friendship could earn. "You look tired.""It's been a week.""It's been a *lot* of a week." She pulled me toward the couch, kicking off her shoes, settling in like she ow

Sophia's POVThe doorbell rang less than twenty minutes after Mini's taxi pulled away.I assumed she'd forgotten something — her scarf, her phone charger, some piece of the chaos she always managed to leave scattered behind her — and opened the door still smiling, the warmth of the evening not yet fully worn off.It wasn't Mini.Penelope stood on the other side, dressed sharp and severe despite the hour, and beside her, a tall, silver-haired man with the same cold precision in his eyes I remembered from the gala. Ethan's father."Sophia." Penelope's smile was thin, practiced, entirely without warmth. "May we come in?"I glanced past them toward the empty street, half expecting a car to still be idling at the curb, some excuse for why they'd shown up unannounced at nine o'clock at night."Ethan's in his study," I said carefully. "I'll let him know you're here.""We're not here for Ethan," his father said, stepping past me into the entryway without waiting for an invitation, Penelope fo

Sophia's POVI found my mother crying the moment I stepped into the room.She was sitting up against the pillows, a tissue crumpled in one hand, her eyes red and swollen in a way that made my stomach drop before I'd even said a word."Mom?""Why didn't you tell me?"Her voice cracked on the question, and I crossed the room quickly, sitting on the edge of the bed, reaching for her free hand."Tell you what?""About the wedding. About all of it." She wiped at her eyes with the back of her wrist, more frustrated than the gesture could hide. "I had to hear the real story from your husband, Sophia. From a man I met for the first time twenty minutes ago, sitting right where you're sitting now, telling me how strong you are and how proud I should be, and I'm sitting here realizing I don't actually know the first thing about any of it. Not the proposal. Not the wedding day. Not how any of it actually happened.""Mom, I told you—""You told me the headlines. You told me what the pictures alrea