Chapter 172

The person in charge of the Buckner family sent Xander to make trouble for the Brown family. Xander's original plan was to use what happened to Cressida to push Finnegan over the edge, make him commit murder, and bring the Brown family to its knees for good.

"But nobody expected that Finnegan would actually manage to keep his cool in that situation and not do anything criminal. Still, Cressida's death did send the Brown family into a downward spiral, which meant the Buckner family's plan was half a success."

"If your father hadn't grown the Brown Group so fast after taking it over, the Buckner family wouldn't have come after the Brown family again."

Those few simple sentences lifted the fog that had been hanging over Sophia all this time. Before Benjamin could even finish, she cut in.

"So the car accident that killed my father — the Buckner family arranged that?"

Benjamin nodded gravely. "Zephyr had worked out a deal with a major international family at the time. Once that partnership was signed, the Brown family's status would have shot through the roof. The old-money families in the country wouldn't have been able to touch them — not even the Buckner family, as long-established as they are. The Brown family would have been on top."

"The Buckner family had been throwing their weight around for so long — there was no way they'd let the Brown family get the upper hand. So they had someone set up a chain-reaction car crash, killed your father, and the Brown family never recovered. They fell apart completely."

Hearing this, Sophia's hands tightened in her lap. Her cool eyes burned with fury.

She never could have imagined it. Zephyr had only wanted to build the Brown family up, to run his business in peace — and it had brought down something this devastating on him.

"So when I first came to you and you refused to honor the engagement — and even after we got married, you wouldn't help the Brown family — it was because you didn't want to get dragged into all this." Sophia smiled, but it was a bitter one.

"That's not it." Benjamin denied it immediately. "I actually knew about our engagement before the Brown family fell on hard times. Back then, I wanted to marry you."

Sophia let out a cold laugh, a flash of scorn crossing her eyes. She didn't believe a word of it.

"I know you don't believe me after everything I've put you through over the years. But I swear it's the truth." Benjamin's voice was serious. "The thing is, if I had married you back then and given the Brown family any real support, they would have become a thorn in the Buckner family's side all over again."

"Knowing how the Buckner family operates, they very likely would have wiped the Brown family out completely. I wasn't in a position back then to protect the Brown family or you. So when you came to me asking me to honor the engagement, my first instinct was to say no."

"As long as the Brown family kept struggling, the Buckner family would leave them alone. That was the only way you, Finnegan, and everyone else in the Brown family could stay safe."

Sophia's eyes flickered with shock at his words — but years of hurt made it impossible for her to believe him completely.

Benjamin's voice carried a trace of helplessness. "I never expected you to go as far as you did — ruining your own reputation just to marry me. When I saw that, I knew I had to marry you. And I had to protect you."

"After we got married, I couldn't let myself show you how I felt. I couldn't let myself be tender with you. When you came to me for help with the Brown family's problems, I couldn't reach out a hand. Everything I did was to keep the Buckner family off our backs."

"I had to hold it all in. Wait until I was strong enough. Wait until I could take on the entire Buckner family on my own — and only then could I tell you any of this."

"I have no feelings for Alice whatsoever. Everything between us was an act."

"From the moment Alice showed up in my life, I knew she was a spy planted by the Buckner family. If I married her, they'd have a way to use her to strip me of everything I own."

"Destroying the Brown family wasn't enough for them. They wanted to use Alice to take down the entire White family too."

When Sophia finished listening, it felt like a century had passed. So much of what he said had turned her understanding of everything upside down. She couldn't tell if she was dreaming or awake.

All this time, she'd thought the problem between her and Benjamin was about feelings. But in the end, what had really stood between them was endurance and protection.

It was too much to take in all at once. She gave Benjamin a small wave. "Go take care of what you need to. I want some time alone."

"Don't worry. I'm strong enough now to go up against the Buckner family. I won't let you go through anything like that again."

Benjamin didn't push her for an answer. He stepped out and left Sophia the quiet she needed to think.

For the entire journey, Sophia leaned back in her seat, watching the clouds through the window, watching the plane's tail wing — her mind drifting somewhere far away.

She thought about Benjamin's coldness toward her over the years. The way he'd looked right through her. Harry's contempt for her, the way he'd pushed her away.

And now, out of nowhere, someone was telling her it had all been a lie — that it had all been part of a plan. How was she supposed to accept that?

After the plane landed, Sophia said a quick goodbye to Nicholas and Ethan and went straight back to her apartment. For the next few days, she shut herself inside and didn't come out.

Then one morning, she woke up to noise coming from outside — the kind of commotion that sounds like someone moving in.

She looked through the peephole. Sure enough, furniture was being carried into the apartment next door. It looked like a new neighbor was moving in.

Sophia didn't think much of it. She grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and drank it down in one go.

Less than half an hour later, a sharp cramping pain hit her lower abdomen. She curled up on the couch, unable to straighten herself out.

The noise next door had quieted down by then — it seemed like whoever it was had finished moving in. What Sophia didn't know was that the person who'd just moved in was someone she knew very well.

Harry looked at Benjamin, who was acting like he was up to something sneaky, and sighed. "Dad, you said you were taking me to see Mom. How come we still haven't seen her? And why do you keep peeking through the peephole?"

"It's nothing." Benjamin straightened up and stepped away from the door. "Your mom lives right next door."

"Then let's go say hi to her right now! She doesn't even know we moved in — I want to surprise her."

Before Benjamin could respond, Harry was already bolting out the door and pressing the doorbell next door.

Sophia was in so much pain she was nearly blacking out. Through the haze, she heard the doorbell ring. She wanted to answer it, but she couldn't get up — couldn't even make a sound.

Outside the door, Harry looked up at Benjamin with sad eyes. "Dad... is Mom not home? I've been ringing the bell forever, and she's not coming."