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.

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

jewelry, or did you rip it off?" a reporter shouted from the

with cameras and

Ella, did you

work

Ella, why'd you do

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

nightmare, and the media suddenly remembered who she

the chaos unfold, ready to

Abigail said, stepping onto the stage with a

mic and stood next to Sophia, who looked like a wilted flower under the reporters' relentless

deliver the knockout punch, staring Sophia down

thinking this press conference was the best thing ever. Not only did the daughter of the Brown family plagiarize, but she also pretended to be the mysterious Ella.

it coming. But Emily wasn't ready

shown up in public or attended any events. She thought using Ella's name would win Michael over and push him

explain. It's not what it looks like. I can explain," Sophia cried, clinging to Michael's

of Moonlit Treasures' designer plagiarizing and pretending to be Ella was a huge blow to the company, which had just

was too busy dealing with the fallout to listen to Sophia. Ignoring her tears, he looked at her with disappointment, then pulled his arm away. With Andrew and the bodyguards

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

it feel to be exposed? Oh wait, it's not false; it's the truth. But being ruined isn't