Chapter 99

Sophia's face flushed crimson, then paled to ghostly white. Words failed her.

The radiant, carefree smile that had graced her features these past weeks vanished completely. In its place returned the guarded, hollow-eyed expression of a woman who'd known too much suffering.

That fragile demeanor stirred something dark in Liam's chest.

He adored seeing her like this—vulnerable, cornered, trembling like a leaf in a storm. It made the game infinitely more entertaining.

"All this time, I wondered what had you glowing like a spring blossom," Liam drawled, circling her like a shark. "Turns out my dear cousin Ethan showed you some attention. But you overplayed your hand, little mouse. Did you truly believe a man like him would choose you over his rightful fiancée?"

His laughter was cruel.

"Impressive ambition for a penniless nobody. First my cousin, then Alexander Kensington fawning over you—now even I'm part of your collection. Tell me, do you enjoy playing with fire?"

Sophia remained silent.

Of the three powerful men Liam mentioned, he'd always treated her with the most leniency. In Sophia's eyes, Liam was a spoiled heir—sharp-tongued but lacking Ethan's calculating depth.

As Liam opened his mouth to deliver another cutting remark, a voice interrupted: "Liam! Your aunt is waiting!"

"Coming!" The young lord immediately abandoned his prey.

Aunt Victoria's moment had arrived.

For years, the Blackwood matriarch had longed for formal recognition from William Blackwood's family. Though Ethan now led Blackwood Enterprises, Victoria never burdened her son with this desire—until today.

Sophia knew this validation meant everything. She'd learned of Victoria's painful history during their prison days together.

Creeping to the hospital room's window, Sophia crouched beneath the sill, listening.

Victoria's broken sobs filled the sterile air.

"Daughter-in-law, enough tears," William Blackwood rumbled. "Your health is paramount. Whatever treatment you require—"

"You... you called me daughter-in-law?" Victoria's voice cracked with decades of withheld grief.

"Of course. You bore the finest heir the Blackwoods could hope for." William's pride was unmistakable.

The dam broke. Years of humiliation as the hidden mistress, of watching her son labeled a bastard, of sacrificing her body to prison tortures—all culminated in this moment.

Sophia's nails bit into her palms. She knew Victoria's story intimately:

Seduced by Richard Blackwood as a naive girl. Nine months pregnant when she discovered his overseas wife. Five fleeting years of stolen happiness before Richard's lawful family ripped Ethan away. A decade-long legal battle that landed Victoria behind bars while her son was molded into a corporate weapon.

Now, at last, the Blackwoods embraced her.

Sophia waited until the family departed before slipping into the room. She meant to say goodbye—only to find Victoria's condition had deteriorated alarmingly.

The triumphant woman from hours earlier now burned with fever, her temperature spiking past 104°F.

"The psychological strain," the doctor murmured. "She held on through sheer willpower. Now that the battle's won..."

Sophia stayed until midnight, sponging Victoria's brow until the fever broke. By the time she boarded the bus to Ethan's penthouse, dawn tinted the skyline.

Her hand hovered at the door for ten excruciating minutes.

The knob turned of its own accord.

Ethan's iron grip yanked her inside, slamming her against the foyer wall.

Sophia's breath hitched. "W-what are you—"