Chapter 175

Ethan was the man that night.

Sophia laughed breathlessly, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she gazed at the sky. "My baby's father is alive? And it's Ethan Blackwood?" Her voice trembled with disbelief. "God, are you playing some kind of joke on me? Or is this a blessing?"

She pressed a hand to her chest, her heart pounding wildly.

"Will he acknowledge me? Will he accept our child?"

Her steps were unsteady as she stumbled back to her tiny rented apartment, her mind spinning.

People on the street whispered as she passed.

"That's her—the gold-digger who tried to trap two rich heirs at once."

"Pathetic. Did she really think someone like Ethan Blackwood would ever look at her?"

"Her little scandal got scrubbed from the internet overnight. Those elite families don’t let their dirty laundry stay public for long."

"Honestly, she’s just a pawn in their games."

Sophia didn’t hear them.

She was too focused on one thing—finding Ethan before he married Isabella.

Her phone was shattered, and she had no way to contact anyone—not Ethan, not Liam, not Noah. But she vaguely remembered Alexander Kensington slipping her a number yesterday.

She had thrown it away in anger.

Now, she needed it.

Her small apartment was already packed, two cheap duffel bags waiting by the door. The landlord stood outside, arms crossed.

"You were supposed to be out last night," the woman snapped. "My new tenant is waiting."

"I’m sorry," Sophia murmured, already moving past her to dig through the trash.

Her fingers closed around a crumpled slip of paper.

She clutched it like a lifeline.

Without another word, she grabbed her bags and left.

At a payphone down the street, she dialed Alexander’s number.

He answered on the second ring. "Sophia?"

"Where is Ethan getting married?" she demanded, her voice raw.

Alexander hesitated. "What’s going on?"

"I need to see him. Now."

"You know today is his wedding—"

"Tell me where!"

Her shout carried.

On the other end, William Thornton—Isabella’s grandfather—overheard. He snatched the phone from Alexander.

"You," he snarled. "I knew you were trouble the moment I saw you. First, you manipulate my grandson, then you dare disrupt Ethan’s wedding?"

Sophia didn’t flinch. "I have to stop it."

William laughed coldly. "You think you can just waltz into high society and ruin lives? You’re nothing but a nuisance."

Alexander tried to intervene. "Grandfather—"

But Sophia wasn’t listening.

She couldn’t let this wedding happen.

She was the one who had been with Ethan that night.

And she wouldn’t let Isabella steal what was hers.