"Mom, what the hell''s going on?”


    Sophia asked, her voice shaky as she looked at Florence with wide incertain


    eyes.


    Florence edged closer and perched on the bed, fixing Sophia with awary gaze.


    "Listen, Sophia. Be Kane attacked you, remember? Then the Kares sent their goons to tear down ourpanies. Charles promised to help us out this mess, but only if I agreed to let him marry you."


    "Mom-"Sophia began.


    "Sophia, hush,” Florence said with a pointed smile.


    "We''re talking about Charles Kingston here, the top dog in Vancouver, practically royalty. You couldn''t snag a better husband if you tried. You''re divorced now, and sooner orter, you''ll have to marry again. I want grandkids, and I want them from the best stock."


    "Mom..." Sophia tried to speak, but Florence cut her off.


    "I already gave Charles my word. Your uncles are all in on it. Every single one of them wants you to marry Charles to cement an alliance between the Lancaster and Kingston families."


    "The Lancaster Group board approved it-Megan says the shareholders are salivating over a Lancaster-Kingston merger. The stock will explode the moment you put on his ring."


    A sharp headache throbbed through Sophia''s skull.


    She couldn''t recall the moment everything got thisplicated.


    "Sophia, you don''t have to agree," Alex said tly. "Charles didn''t solve anything with the Kanes."


    "Oh, Alex," Jay snapped, stepping in front of him.


    "If Charles didn''t do it, who else could? Don''t forget, you owe him a damn apology on your knees. You started this chaos by beating people up, and Charles saved your skin. You''d be a corpse by now if not for him."


    "That''s right,” Florence chimed in. "You''d have been six feet under a hundred times over if Charles hadn''t stepped in."


    "You''re giving Charles way too much credit," Alex replied with an icy stare. "He''s not half as powerful as you people think."


    It astonished him how they twisted the facts to paint Charles as some kind of hero, propping him up without the slightest clue of what really happened—and Charles just stood there,pping up the praise like a smug vulture.


    Worse yet, he wanted toy im to Sophia.


    Alex vowed never to let that happen.


    "Hah! You think you''re more capable than Charles?" someone taunted. "Go look


    in the mirror and see the loser staring back at you!"


    "Exactly! You''re a walking disaster, nothing but trouble," another spat.


    "How can you be so vile?" another Lancaster snarled.


    "Charles saved your miserable hide, and this is how you repay him-talking crap behind his back?"


    The Lancasters hurled insults at Alex, convinced he was the worst kind of ingrate for biting the hand that sav


    "Seriously, Alex. Would it kill you to just say thank you?" Sophia snapped, her voice sharp with disbelief. "If it weren''t for Charles, you''d be six feet under."


    To her, a little gratitude was the least someone could offer after having their life saved.


    But Alex? Still clinging to that brittle pride of his, as if dignity mattered more than survival. Foolish pride-empty, fragile, and Autterly misced.


    "I''d thank him if he''d actually done something," Alex said, his tone unyielding."


    "But not only did he fail to help, he''s the one who triggered this inadness in the first ce."


    Sophia''s brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"


    "I dug up the facts. Charles and Be are engaged. Be targeted you because she was jealous-thought you were fooling around with Charles behind her back. That''s what started it all. Charles is the real cause, from the beginning."


    "Bullshit!" Florence shot up from the bed in outrage.


    "Don''t you dare malign Charles! He''s a decent man, nothing like what you''re describing."


    "That''s right!" Jack barked. "You must be seething with jealousy. Probably doctored all kinds of evidence to tear him down since he''s better than you in every way."


    "Oh, Alex," several Lancasters chorused with contempt.


    "Who knew you''d stoop so low?"


    "Why do you always have to stir up trouble?" Sophia snapped.


    "Can''t you act like an adult for once? Is it really that hard to just say thank you?”


    Alex frowned. Saying thank you wasn''t the problem-but admitting Charles had helped?


    That would mean epting Sophia had to marry him.


    "Never," he whispered.


    To Sophia, it looked like ssic Alex-his jealousy twisting into yet another act of reckless sabotage.


    "If you don''t believe me, ask ra,” Alex said, jerking his chin in her direction.


    "She saw everythingst night-and she''s the reason Be came after you in the first ce."


    All eyesnded on ra, who froze in rm, speech hitching in her throat.


    "Tell us what you saw, ra. No holding back," Florence demanded, arms crossed tightly.


    "Yeah, spill it," the Lancasters echoed. “We''ll prove this bastard is full of lies.”


    ra swallowed nervously. She looked like a deer in headlights, but Alex''s calm tone prodded her on.


    "You know what really happened, ra. Time to let everyone else know."


    Sophia cut in, frowning. "Enough already, Alex. Stop embarrassing yourself."


    "There''s no need to be scared, ra," Florence added, suddenly ying the role of protective aunt.


    "Whatever you say, I''ll stand behind you."


    Finally, ra steadied her nerves and spoke with forced resolve. "Last night, Be threatened to kill me. S only spared my life on one condition-that I slip her


    golden bracelet into Sophia''s bag"


    "What?" Sophia asked, puzzled.


    ra continued, voice quivering.


    "I had no choice. She made it clear she hates Jasmine Kingston and wants to kill Alex-her boy toy. She knew going after Sophia was the surest way to lure Alex out."


    "What?" Alex said, reeling from the revtion.


    Charles, in the background, traded a knowing look with ra, a slow, satisfied smile creeping across his face.


    "It''s all Alex''s fault that Be everid a hand on Sophia," someone concluded, as


    if that sealed the me.