The Almighty Dominance

Chapter 374

Josephine stretched with a lazy yawn, arms high over her head.

"Good morning, Miss Sophia."

When she noticed Alex was awake, her face lit up. "And good morning to you, Alex."

"Morning, Josephine," Alex replied, unsure what else to say under Sophia's sharp, burning stare.

Josephine swung her legs off the bed, cracking her neck like nothing unusual had happened.

"I'll make breakfast for the three of us, okay?" She started toward the door as if it were any other day.

Sophia stepped in her path, eyes narrowing. "How can you two be sleeping together?"

Josephine met her gaze without a flicker of guilt. Growing up in the cramped orphanage, sharing a bed had never been a scandal.

"Oh, Alex fainted in front of the clinic, so I brought him to his bed," she said through another yawn.

"But then he got all teary and didn't want to let go. Maybe he needed a friend, so I stayed. I was tired too, so I fell asleep there. That's all."

With that, Josephine turned and headed off to make breakfast, leaving them alone in the room.

Sophia's eyes flicked between them-both fully clothed, nothing looking out of place.

She wanted to scold Alex, but Josephine's words pulled her up short.

Alex... fainted? And teary-eyed?

Could that have been because she had shot a bullet to his forehead yesterday?

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked from the bed.

Sophia moved to his side, her warm fingers brushing his forehead before she could think better of it.

"Did that little stunt I pulled yesterday-shooting the bullet to you-make you faint? Did it hurt so bad you almost died?"

Alex's eyes sharpened. This wasn't the Sophia he knew the one who lashed out first and thought later.

was softer. Concerned. It threw

lately, there's been too much

lip. "You're right. For both

stretched between them before Sophia drew a

you

her face-beautiful, but

her hands together tightly,

widow now...

understood instantly where she was headed. In the past, he might have

her way into his life, everything felt tangled and out of

couldn't give her an

speak, Sophia's phone shrilled. She glanced at the

turned away. "Mother? What

through, frantic. "Our neighbor just called-Our

"What?"

engines roared in front of the blazing

side, watching orange flames devour the

pulled up in a taxi, still wearing their hospital patient clothes, eyes wide

as she lurched toward the burning mansion. "My money!

yanked her back hard, her

still inside!

The money's probably

until the flames are out! If you go in now, you're running straight to

around her mother, holding her in place with

home-our

face as she stared at

his expression unreadable, had already given the order-forty guards to deal with Henny and Clarissa, then burn the

looked like they'd done exactly

already swallowed by flames, its walls groaning before collapsing into the

take

tore through the air, the ground shuddering beneath

Mansion apart, reducing it to a heap of smoking rubble, while a wave of black

must have been the gas-or something just as deadly-going up

raw and furious.