Chapter 252
Chapter 252
Though Milo looked a little disappointed, he nodded vigorously like the good boy he was. "Okay! But Mommy has to come early, okay?"
Sophia watched him disappear through the preschool gates, then stood at the curb and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number that rarely lit up her screen on its own.
The call connected almost immediately.
"Mr. Churchill."
Her voice was detached, businesslike. "I've dropped Milo off at preschool. I have work this evening. Pick him up on time."
She hung up without waiting for a response.
Sophia buried herself in work all morning.
A little after eleven, her phone rang again.
Austin's number flashed on the screen, but the voice that answered wasn't his.
The background was chaotic—loud, messy. A man was practically shouting over the noise. "You're this guy's friend, right? He's wasted, up in the third-floor VIP room. You better get over here before something goes wrong!"
Drunk again?
Sophia frowned, an uneasy feeling coiling in her gut.
She grabbed her bag, told a coworker she was stepping out, and drove to the bar.
She pushed through the front entrance. The daytime bouncer was nowhere in sight. The hallway stretched empty before her, eerily quiet.
She climbed the spiral staircase to the third floor. At the private room door, she didn't hesitate. She shoved the heavy wooden door open.
The scene inside made her pupils contract sharply.
The room reeked of something sickly sweet and decadent. Austin was crammed into the farthest corner of the sofa, making himself as small as possible.
His suit jacket was ripped to shreds. His eyes were squeezed shut, his head wrenched to one side. He wouldn't even glance toward the center of the room.
And there, on the plush carpet in the middle of the suite, a young woman sat crumpled on the floor.
She was completely naked. Only her tangled hair fell across her chest, offering the barest cover.
She hugged her knees, sobbing. "I just came for a job interview... I don't know how this happened... Don't come near me..."
Sophia stood frozen in the doorway, her mind buzzing with white noise.
But what truly stunned her—what sent ice through her veins—was the woman's face when she looked up in terror.
Sophia felt like she'd been struck by lightning.
That face. Those brows, that bone structure—bore an unmistakable five or six out of ten resemblance to her own.
"Sophia... I didn't—I didn't touch her!"
Austin's eyes flew open at the sound of her arrival. Tears spilled down his face the moment he saw her.
"They drugged me the second I walked in. I dug my nails into my thigh to keep from passing out. I never touched her. Not once!"
Sophia's brow furrowed. She turned and faced the weeping woman.
"Stop crying. Get dressed."
The sobbing cut off abruptly. The woman flinched, guilt flickering across her features.
With shaking hands, she snatched up her coat and clothes from the floor, scrambling to pull them on.
Just then, Sophia's phone buzzed again.
Gerald's name pulsed on the screen.
She glanced at it, then answered.
His voice came through with a probing edge. "Where are you?"
Sophia held the phone, her gaze sweeping over the two people in the room. She couldn't be bothered to waste a single extra word on him. "At the office. What do you need?"
Silence on the other end. Sophia rolled her eyes and hung up.
Whatever.
---
Across town, Gerald sat in a window booth, the table spread with an elaborate lunch.
Claire sat across from him, all soft smiles and warmth. She speared a piece of salmon with her fork, about to place it on his plate—when his fingers tightened around his phone with sudden, visible force.
The screen's glow reflected in his dark eyes, illuminating a photograph.
In it, Sophia and a man were locked in a tight embrace, their bodies pressed together without a sliver of space between them, before disappearing together behind a private room door.
He recognized the man's profile. Austin. His cousin.
Gerald's gaze fixed on the screen. His knuckles went white.
Claire caught the flash of ice across his face. Her heart jolted.
She sniffled delicately, leaned over to peek at the screen, then gasped with practiced surprise, hand flying to her mouth.
"Oh my... Isn't that Ms. Percy? She and Austin really are close, aren't they."
She spoke while studying Gerald's expression from the corner of her eye.
"It's risky, though—they're both semi-public figures. If photos like these get out, people will talk."
Gerald's face was dark as a storm. His lips pressed into a thin, hard line.
His fingers moved rapidly across the phone screen.
Claire didn't know what he was doing, but his expression told her everything she needed to know. Satisfaction bloomed secretly in her chest, though her face remained a mask of concern. She ventured one more careful push:
"Luckily, the public doesn't know about Ms. Percy's marital status... Honestly, rather than letting rumors spiral, maybe it's better to just confirm their relationship. She and Austin are close in age—they'd make a decent match—"
Gerald set his phone face-down on the table with a sharp click, cutting her off mid-sentence.
He turned his head. Those dark eyes swept over her with cold indifference.
The hair on the back of Claire's neck stood on end. Her throat seized as if an invisible hand had closed around it. She couldn't utter another word.
---
Meanwhile, Sophia had already gotten Austin out of the private room.
The woman had dressed and fled long ago. The hallway was empty—just the two of them.
Austin's steps were unsteady, his face still flushed from whatever they'd drugged him with. He leaned against the wall, chest heaving.
Sophia didn't have time for questions. She pulled out her phone and called Caspian directly.
"Caspian."
She gave him a rapid summary of what had happened in the room.
Two seconds of silence on the other end.
"Photos?" Caspian's voice dropped noticeably. "Someone took photos and posted them online? I haven't seen anything."
Sophia frowned. "You haven't?"
"No." His tone was certain. "Nothing on my end. But don't worry—I'll look into it. If anything's out there, I'll have it pulled immediately."
She'd barely hung up when Austin's phone rang.
Lucas's name flashed on the screen.
Austin answered, his voice still weak and rough. "Lucas..."
On the other end was Lucas Stewart, eldest son of the Stewart family. His tone was steady, betraying nothing.
"Where are you?"
"Third floor of the bar. I—" Austin gritted his teeth. "I was set up."
"Got it." Lucas didn't press for details. "Stay in the room. Don't move. I'll handle the rest."
After hanging up, Austin braced himself against the wall and turned to Sophia, forcing a thin smile. "My brother says he'll take care of it."
Barely fifteen minutes later, Caspian called back.
"Found it. Someone did post photos." His tone carried a hint of something deeper, more knowing. "But they only appeared on a tiny local forum with almost no followers. Stayed up for a few minutes. Already scrubbed clean."