CHAPTER : 23
The penthouse felt different that night.
Not tense.
Not chaotic.
Too quiet.
Sophia stood by the window long after the city lights blurred into gold and white streaks. Her phone lay on the table behind her, the message still burned into her mind.
The next leak involves your son.
Ethan had already doubled security.
Liam was asleep in the guest wing, guarded.
But protection did not erase fear.
Ethan approached slowly.
“We’ll handle this,” he said.
She didn’t turn.
“I know.”
Silence stretched.
Then she said something she had not said in years.
“I should have told you the truth before I came back.”
Ethan stilled.
“What truth?”
She finally turned to face him.
“When I left eight years ago… I wasn’t just angry.”
He watched her carefully.
“I was scared.”
“Of me?”
