Chapter 118

Ethan Roscente hung up the phone, his brow furrowed.

"Isabella's in trouble." He turned to Sophia Lowell. "I'll have someone take you home."

Sophia spun on her heel and walked away, the hem of her dress slicing a sharp arc through the air.

"Don't bother."

She left without hesitation, not even sparing him a glance.

The restaurant was only a ten-minute walk from her apartment. The cool night breeze helped dispel the lingering frustration in her chest.

The roar of an engine came from behind. A black Maybach sped past, the tense profile in the backseat flashing by in an instant.

Sophia scoffed.

If he was in such a hurry, why had he bothered seeking her out?

......

Two peaceful days later, the architecture industry gala Theodore Orlando had mentioned arrived.

Sophia applied the final stroke of eyeliner before the mirror.

Her jasmine-embroidered gown shimmered with a pearlescent sheen under the light, the off-shoulder design accentuating her delicate collarbones like butterfly wings. After a moment's hesitation, she took out the jade hairpin from her jewelry box.

The moment her hair was pinned up, the reflection in the mirror suddenly came alive.

The jasmine motif dangling from the hairpin complemented the embroidery on her dress perfectly, as if they had always belonged together.

The doorbell rang just as she was lost in thought over the hairpin.

"Sophia?" Sebastian Valdemar's voice came through the intercom. "I'm downstairs."

When the black Cayenne pulled into the hotel plaza, Sebastian's phone lit up.

"Go ahead inside," he told the valet opening the passenger door. "I need to take this call."

Under the glow of crystal chandeliers, Sophia had just stepped onto the staircase when an uncertain voice called out from behind.

"Sophia?"

The voice was like a blunt knife, slicing open the sealed memories without warning.