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.

and the place went nuts. Sophia spun around, her

to explain this sketch? Did you design this jewelry, or did

set off a frenzy, with cameras and mics all pointed

Ella, did you

work did

why'd

drowning in questions and spotted Emily smirking in the audience. It hit her-this was all Emily's doing. She looked at Michael, desperate, but he just stared back coldly. Her

nightmare, and the media

Abigail watched the chaos unfold, ready to drop the final

turn," Abigail said, stepping onto the

next to Sophia, who looked like a wilted flower under

deliver the knockout punch, staring Sophia down and asking,

did the daughter of the Brown family plagiarize, but she also pretended to be the mysterious Ella. Then someone spilled the beans

media swarm Sophia and chuckled to herself, thinking she had it coming. But Emily wasn't ready to

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

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

of Moonlit Treasures' designer plagiarizing and pretending to be Ella was

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 clearing

cried until her eyes were swollen, her makeup a mess. She glared at Emily with pure

to be exposed? Oh wait, it's not false; it's the truth. But being ruined isn't fun, is it?" Emily shot back, meeting her gaze without