The Almighty Dominance

Chapter 242

"Pardon me, folks-out of the room, now. The patient needs quiet if she's going to heal."

The nurse herded them into the corridor, her heels clicking like a judge's gavel announcing adjournment.

Instead of dispersing, they clustered beneath the fluorescent lights still reeling from the bombshell that had just gone off in their lives.

"Can you believe it? Alex, of all people, is the Lancaster Group's silent bankroll!" Jack's uncle whispered, voice rough with intrigue.

"Think the guy's hiding some secret pedigree?"

"Alex?" Florence scoffed.

"I dug through every record-he's a nobody. Sure, he did a stint in the military, which makes him tough enough to hit Bella, but besides that he's an orphan with empty pockets."

Heads nodded; the story was too tidy to question.

One of the family suddenly asked, "Why are all of you looking down on Alex?"

"Looking down on him?" Florence laughed.

"Impossible. We simply don't care about him. We're not heartless. We don't prejudge people. Even if he's poor, we can't look down on him, right?"

"Yeah," another added.

"He came here to marry Sophia with nothing but the clothes on his back. He's just a poor guy without anything. We're going to do whatever it takes to keep him out of our family."

Once they labeled someone poor, there was no hope.

He would be forever marked unfit, never trusted; every mistake would be laid at

He was guilty-simply because he was poor.

his feet.

"Then there's Charles Kingston," someone murmured. "Didn't see that curveball coming."

Florence rolled her eyes. "Charles is drunk on love for Sophia-lying, scheming, anything to lock down her heart."

"Honestly," another relative chimed in, "a guy who torches his own reputation for love? That's the kind you hitch yourself to forever!"

"Take notes, people! He dumped Bella Kane flat-for Sophia, our Sophia. She ought to be thanking her lucky stars."

In a dizzying U-turn, the crowd vaulted Charles from villain to folk hero.

still, nearly everyone applauded the

the Lancaster family, there was

right, and you're never wrong. Whatever you do is forgiven-it's the

Sophia perched motionless on the mattress, her gaze hollow

blurred after the first tear tracked across her cheek, after the tremor set her

she folded in on herself,

ragged sobs

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Chapter 242

hadn't wept when the company

tear through humiliation, bruises, even

in tears she'd never allowed

queued for miles, yet none had loved her with Alex's fierce,

devotion set

was gone, footsteps fading

own blindness, the epiphany

now and laid

heartbeat longer-loved me a fraction more-I would've shown him I'd

the hourglass was

of a rattling cab, Alex

of faith from Sophia," he muttered, "and

like a

their flirtations and flowery promises, not a single one of them genuinely

believed Sophia was different-her delicate kindness hinted that she might truly

the end, however, her affection proved nothing more than a mirage,

yourself. This is the

with sorrow

***

later, at Kane Villa, Bella sat sunk into the plush cushions

her gaze

Kane strode in, his

he asked, eyes scanning

"Yes," Bella replied softly.

in your room?" Jericho pressed. "No more parties, no more dancing through

you still here? Usually you never

with irony. "You know I lost my position as governor. I've got

a rare moment of vulnerability, Bella's

can you hug

features softened with paternal warmth as he drew her

melted against his chest, her words barely above a breath, "It's been so long since

guilt surfacing in his chest as he recalled endless days consumed

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