The CEO's Empathy Pregnancy Pains

Chapter 31 Ruined Reputation

The crowd realized Ella was actually Sophia, and reactions were all over the place-some folks were shocked, others bummed out, and a few just plain skeptical. Sophia kept her cool and smiled on stage, while Emily just sneered, watching the whole thing go down.

"Let's see how she gets out of this one," Abigail said with a grin, clearly enjoying the drama.

Michael was caught off guard for a second but quickly went back to his usual poker face. The host kept the show rolling, asking, "So, why did Ella decide to join this event?" Sophia gave a shy smile, grabbed the mic, and said, "I wanted to surprise someone." The crowd started booing and buzzing about who this mystery person could be.

Emily shot a glance at Michael, and the media picked up on it, swinging their cameras his way.

Michael's face went stiff, but he kept his cool, sitting there like a statue.

Sophia looked bummed when Michael didn't react.

"Think she'll surprise you or just shock you?" Emily whispered to him.

Michael turned to her, cold as ice, "What are you getting at?"

Emily just shrugged, not giving anything away, while Sophia kept rambling about her jewelry design and inspiration.

Out of nowhere, the big screen behind her went dark, then lit up with a sketch of the jewelry Sophia had just shown off, dated way earlier than she claimed.

had been lying, and the place went nuts. Sophia spun around, her face

design this jewelry, or did you

with

did

work

Ella, why'd you

all Emily's doing. She looked at Michael, desperate, but he just stared back coldly. Her heart sank. She

and the media suddenly remembered who she was the daughter of the Brown

Abigail watched the chaos unfold,

turn," Abigail said, stepping onto

and stood next to Sophia, who looked like a wilted flower under

punch, staring Sophia

press conference was the best thing ever. Not only did the daughter of the Brown family plagiarize, but she

thinking she had it coming. But

world was crashing down. She had done her homework and knew Ella had never shown up in public or attended any events. She thought using Ella's

let me explain. It's not what it looks like. I can explain,"

be Ella was a

tears, he looked at her with disappointment, then pulled his arm away. With Andrew and the bodyguards clearing a path, he dodged

her eyes were swollen, her makeup a mess. She glared at Emily

false; it's the truth.