"You-!" Sophia''s eyes widened in shock and fury.


    She lunged forward, yanking Alex away from Kelly as if protecting a child from a predator.


    Humiliation and rage surged through her veins, and she snapped fiercely, "Kelly Kingston! What the hell do you think you''re doing?"


    Kelly tilted her head, her red lips curving into a taunting smile as she eyed Alex hungrily.


    "Sophia Lancaster, shouldn''t I be asking you that? We were just enjoying ourselves. Why''d you spoil our fun?"


    Sophia hesitated, suddenly aware she had no right to intervene.


    Alex wasn''t hers-at least, not anymore.


    "We were still talking before you interrupted," Sophia retorted, refusing to back down. "And Alex didn''t seem very thrilled."


    "Oh?" Kelly''s eyes shed dangerously. "From what I felt, Alex seemed pretty enthusiastic."


    "Kelly," Alex started cautiously.


    But Kelly cut him off, spinning back to face him, her voice dripping with seductive bitterness.


    "Fine, Alex, y your games. But you know you''re hurting me. Someday soon, you''ll have to tell Sophia exactly what we have between us."


    With a final smirk, she turned sharply, striding confidently toward a sleek luxury car waiting silently by the curb.


    The chauffeur held the door open as she slid inside without another nce.


    "That shameless witch!" Sophia hissed, stomping her foot angrily. She whirled around to face Alex, her eyes zing with frustration.


    "Alex, you owe me an exnation. What exactly is going on between you and Kelly Kingston?"


    Alex sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair.


    Kelly, once predictable and loyal, had be impossible to read, and he felt trapped by theplications.


    "It''splicated," he muttered.


    Sophia felt a sharp ache burn through her chest.


    "Fine. Keep your secrets," she snapped. "But in exchange, you''reing with me to Paris."


    "But-" Alex tried to protest.


    "No ''buts,'' Alex. You''re helping me at the office, and afterward, we''ll fly back to Vancouver tonight," Sophia demanded firmly, her expression warning him against any resistance.


    Alex surrendered, knowing any argument was futile.


    Secretly, though, he couldn''t suppress the joy swelling inside him at the thought of spending time alone with Sophia-the very thing he''d dreamed of for so long.


    As darkness fell, chaos erupted at the entrance of the Lancaster Mansion in Vancouver.


    The front doors exploded inward, shattering wood splinters across the marble floor.


    Henny, nked by rissa and an imposing force of Montir bodyguards, stormed inside with ruthless determination.


    Nearly two dozen towering men filled the entrance hall, each one built like a fortress, their sculpted muscles straining against tailored suits.


    They radiated menace, casting shadows of dread across the grand foyer.


    "Sophia Lancaster!" Henny roared from her wheelchair, her voice raw with fury, eyes zing like coals.


    The pain in her injured knee fueled an uncontroble rage, propelling her forward. "Show yourself right now!"


    Florence hurried out from the living room, stopping dead in her tracks at the terrifying sight.


    She paled instantly. "Madam Henny! W-what brings you here?"


    "Where is Sophia?" Henny snarled through clenched teeth, her voice dangerously low.


    Tonight, she came with guards the best money could buy-and nothing, no one, would save Sophia Lancaster now.


    Florence trembled, her voice barely


    holding together. "They haven''t


    thought they were meeting you-to apologize in person."


    "Ask forgiveness? Are you blind? Sophia came and shot my knee!" Henny screamed.


    Florence recoiled in shock.


    "Impossible! Sophia is gentle, she''d never harm anyone. You must be mistaken!"


    "Never harm anyone?" Henny''s face turned crimson with rage. "Look at what she did to me and rissa!"


    Florence nced behind Henny and saw rissa''s battered face, bandaged nose, and swollen lips, clearly the result of a brutal beating.


    "Sophia did this to you?" Florence gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.


    "No... that can''t be. Sophia would never hurt anyone."


    "How dare you question us!" rissa hissed, her eyes zing with resentment.


    "Sophia showed up with a gun. She shot grandmother and bashed me in the face with the gun handle. Your daughter is a vicious animal!"


    rissa, who had always relied on her striking beauty to mask herck of talent, seethed with humiliation.


    Sophia had shattered her perfect image, knocking out three of her teeth. Her rage was palpable.


    "What?" Florence''s voice cracked. "Sophia shot Madam Henny and assaulted you? That can''t be true!"


    "Florence," Henny snapped impatiently, her voice ice-cold. "If you don''t produce Sophia right now, you''ll regret ever giving birth to her!"


    "Madam Henny, please! I swear I don''t know where Sophia is!" Florence pleaded desperately, her voice trembling.


    "My daughter is innocent and gentle.


    This must be Alex''s fault-ever since


    he appeared, Sophia changed! Just


    find Alex and punish him, but spare my daughter, please!"


    "You dare beg mercy for Sophia?" Henny snarled. Her fury erupted, raw and uncontroble. "Guards, break her nose!"


    "Yes, Madam!" Four towering guards instantly grabbed Florence, forcing her to her knees.


    Thergest guard raised his massive hand and struck Florence''s face hard, sending blood pouring from her broken nose.


    "Don''t you dare touch my mother!" Jack shouted, rushing from his room in a blind


    rage.


    Two other guards intercepted him effortlessly, gripping him by the arms and hoisting him into the air as if he weighed nothing.


    Jack gasped for breath, his face turning purple as he struggled in vain.


    Henny leaned forward coldly. "Florence, tell me Sophia''s whereabouts right now,


    or your son dies here and now."


    "I told you, I don''t know!" Florence sobbed hysterically, terrified.


    Henny shook her head slowly, her eyes merciless. "You never learn, do you? Stab him."


    "Yes, Madam." Without hesitation, one guard drew a military knife, its de glinting ominously under the lights.


    He approached Jack, who hung helplessly in the air, panic etched into his face.


    "No! Stop!" Florence screamed desperately.


    But it was toote. With cold


    ?????


    precision, the guard plunged the knife deep into Jack''s stomach Blood burst forth, spilling onto the polished marble floor.


    "Today," Henny dered, her voice chillingly calm, eyes glinting with savage


    intent, “everyst Lancaster will pay with their lives!"