“You’re truly going to marry into the Henry family in Sophie’s place? To that lunatic who got shot and turned into a eunuch?!”

The assistant, who had assumed she was here once again fishing for news about Richard, brightened instantly. As if afraid she might change her mind, he quickly shoved the contract into Nova’s hands.

“Wonderful! You’re finally doing something useful for Mr. Richard instead of adding to his troubles. I’ll call him right now with the good—”

“No.” Nova cut him off, a sarcastic smile tugging at her lips. “Don’t tell him yet. Let it be a surprise.” She paused, letting the silence hang. “I’m not fulfilling his wish for free. If I’m marrying Henry in Sophie’s place, I expect something in return.”

The assistant’s pleased expression vanished, replaced by open disdain. “Miss Sophie was practically raised by your father. Can’t you show her a little kindness, too?”

“The daughter of a servant?” Nova’s laugh was cold. “She’s not worthy of my kindness. My father gave his life to save her. Now I’m sacrificing my marriage. Is that not enough? Must everyone in the Nova family die for her before it counts as ‘kindness’?”

The assistant sputtered, his face flushing with anger.

Nova scoffed, her gaze drifting out the window toward the skyscraper by the river. “The old Nova Group headquarters, plus ten billion. Consider it my dowry.”

His pupils contracted in shock. “Mr. Richard spent ten years of blood, sweat, and tears just to move out of that building! All our core data is still there. You’re asking for our foundation!”

“So Richard doesn’t care for Sophie that much after all.” Nova shrugged. “No deal, then.”

Growing impatient, she turned to leave. But the assistant, steeling himself, blocked her path.

The Henrys had wealth and power that drew crowds, but Henry himself was a ruthless madman! Ever since that night, his moods had grown even more unpredictable. How could Miss Sophie be subjected to that?

Gritting his teeth, the assistant gave a tight nod. “Fine!”

Within minutes, a new contract was in Nova’s hands.

She signed without hesitation and stood to leave. The assistant watched her, a strange look in his eyes. “Have you really let go of Mr. Richard? How can you suddenly bring yourself to marry someone else?”

Nova didn’t look back. The heavy slam of the door was her only reply.

*Let go?*

Driving back to the villa, Nova found the study door slightly ajar. Through the gap, she could hear Richard’s voice—gentle, magnetic—as he taught Sophie how to write.

His face held a tenderness she had never seen. He stood behind Sophie, his arms wrapped tightly around her, leaving no space between them. Intimate.

She remembered when Richard had taught *her* to write. He’d never held her hand to demonstrate. Never wasted a word. Only the ruler, striking her palm again and again, never softening even when her skin bruised and swelled.

Grief welled up; tears spilled over. Nova’s nails dug deep into her palms.

*Ten whole years. How could I just let go?*

After her father died saving his secretary’s daughter, Sophie, only his adopted son, Richard, remained by her side.

In that abyss of despair, he held up her sky. Slowly, her dependence on him turned to love.

When Richard needed money, she gave him every penny of her savings.

When he needed connections and influence, she brought her father’s old associates to him.

Even when he was drugged and needed a woman, she offered herself.

Richard took the money, the power, the people. He took her.

But when the sun rose again, he had frozen over once more.

She thought he just didn’t know how to express love. That decades together meant he loved her, in his own way.

Then, one night, jolted awake by a nightmare, she went to the memorial hall to mourn her father. There, she saw Richard pinning Sophie against the altar table, kissing her deeply.

“We shouldn’t… What if the young mistress sees? She’s from the main family, beautiful, with a perfect figure. She adores you. I’m just a servant’s daughter—I can’t compare.”

Richard’s voice was thick with desire. “So what if she sees? Even if she stood naked before me, she couldn’t excite me the way a single glance from you does.”

“Once I’ve seized control of the Nova Group, once I make Nova lose everything, just like she lost her father… Once my revenge is complete, I can marry you…”

Nova froze, plunged into an icy void. She stood there, numb, watching the altar shake, watching a foul wetness stain her father’s portrait.

The love she’d believed in shattered in that instant. Countless overlooked details became a thousand cuts.

The affection she thought was real had been a lie. The companionship she cherished was long-planned revenge. Even the truth of her father’s death was shrouded in fog!

From the moment she stopped loving Richard, Nova had planned everything.

First—to reclaim all that was hers!

With that thought, Nova lifted her gaze and kicked the study door wide open—

The door burst open—and in that instant, Richard pulled Sophie into his arms. She’d been pinned against the desk, clothes half undone, but now she was shielded against him.

The intimate mood in the study shattered. Richard’s eyes narrowed, his gaze sharpening into ice‑cold daggers aimed straight at Nova.

He showed no panic at being caught. Calmly, he set down the calligraphy brush and rested a steadying hand behind a flustered Sophie.

Watching Sophie, emboldened by his touch, bravely meet her eyes, Nova felt like the villain intruding on a pair of lovebirds.

She raised an eyebrow, her voice cold and dripping with scorn.

“There aren’t any condoms in the study. Maybe pick a different spot next time? Try not to breed in my house.”

Sophie’s eyes reddened instantly. Richard’s expression darkened, every trace of gentleness toward Nova gone.

“That was uncalled for, Nova. Apologize to Sophie.”

*Uncalled for.* Again.

When Sophie had shattered the porcelain vase her father Harold loved most, and Nova had told her to get out—that was uncalled for.

When Sophie had poured coffee over her laptop, drowning three days and nights of unsaved work, and Nova had demanded she get it fixed—that, too, was uncalled for.

Sophie was all incompetence and calculated sweetness, but the moment her eyes welled up, everything became Nova’s fault.

She wouldn’t fuel their romance any longer. Nova shot Richard a frigid glance.

“I’m attending the partners’ dinner tonight.”

Their marriage had no affection in it. But if she proved valuable enough, even Henry would show her some regard.

Richard frowned, looking surprised. “I never bring women to business dinners—”

“Mr Richard, I’ve never seen how big negotiations work,” Sophie’s soft, fragile voice cut in.

Richard hesitated only a second before nodding. “Alright.”

Nova’s eyelashes fluttered. She fought back the sting of tears, turned, and left.

Of course. The moment Sophie spoke, every rule Richard set for Nova turned to dust.

It didn’t matter.

Once she uncovered the truth, she’d send them both straight to hell.

Night fell. Stepping from the villa, Nova saw Richard already seated in the car—with Sophie pressed intimately close beside him.

Without a word, Nova expressionlessly took the passenger seat.

Richard was taken aback. Before, she would have fought to sit next to him. If Sophie was there, she’d have thrown a fit to make her move.

What was different today?

Sophie’s soft hand slipped into his, interrupting his thoughts.

Throughout the drive, only their hushed conversation filled the car.

The car stopped at The Imperial Club. Nova had barely stepped out and found her footing when Sophie seized her right hand.

“Miss, are you upset because you’re remembering last time, when Mr Richard made you walk back in the rain? He didn’t mean it—he was just so worried because I was sick.”

“This is all my fault. If you need to blame someone, blame me. Punish me, if it helps.”

Nova shook her off instantly, wiping the spot Sophie had touched.

“You think you’re worthy of my punishment?”

Sophie swayed, collapsing into Richard’s arms, her head bowed to hide her expression.

Richard’s brow furrowed sharply, his gaze toward Nova turning colder by the second.

Nova had no patience for their melodrama. She strode directly into the private dining room.

Over the past decade, she had been steadily stripped of authority within the Nova Group. Before marrying into the Hunt family, she needed enough capital and projects to avoid being at a disadvantage.

The moment she entered, everyone offered polite, practiced smiles. The partners seated here were all shrewd operators.

But everyone knew who really held the reins at the Nova Group now. They offered Nova two rounds of toasts—and when Richard didn’t refuse on her behalf, his stance was clear.

So, round after round of strong liquor was forced into her hands.

The harsh spirits burned down to her stomach, bringing tears to her eyes with the first sip.

The partners edged closer. Their leering jokes, laced with foul breath, and the hands that ‘accidentally’ brushed her leg filled Nova with utter revulsion.

But she couldn’t even free a hand to push away the endless stream of alcohol, powerless to escape.

“Enough!”

Nova finally caught her breath, collapsing weakly to the floor.

When she lifted her gaze, what she saw struck her like a blow: Richard shielding Sophie, his expression torn between fury and concern.

“Who said you could force a drink on her!”

“It was just one sip. Even Miss Nova drank. What’s the harm in letting the secretary’s daughter have a taste?”

The business partner—who had always looked down on Richard for being merely a foster son—darkened visibly at the rebuke.

A sharp twist pierced Nova’s heart as she watched Richard protect Sophie so completely.

Nova herself had been forced to drink an entire bottle, groped and jeered at by the crowd—and Richard had turned a blind eye.

Yet when the partner offered Sophie a single sip, Richard had overturned the table without a second thought, the project be damned.

The tense standoff broke only when the partner’s phone rang. He answered, and his face went pale.

“My sincerest apologies, Miss Sophie. I had no idea you were Mr. Richard’s… ah, special friend. To make it up to you, we’ll concede an extra point of profit on this deal.”

He bowed his head, though his eyes darted toward Richard behind him.

As the partner bowed deeply before her, Sophie shot Nova a triumphant glance, then feigned helplessness.

“Miss Nova has worked so hard on this project. It should go to her. I don’t know the first thing about business—how could I possibly handle such a major venture?”

With the lead partner backing down, the assistants around them quickly chimed in.

“Miss Sophie, you’re truly blessed. Just enjoy the rewards—we’ll deliver the dividends straight to your residence.”

“Mr. Richard cares for you so much. Soon enough we’ll be calling you Mrs. Richard, I’m sure. No one would dare look down on you then.”

The adoration in Richard’s eyes was a poisoned barb.

The deeper it sank, the faster the venom spread—and tearing it out would take flesh with it.

Every effort Nova had made, every humiliation she’d endured, now felt like a cruel, elaborate joke.

The main project was handed to Sophie, practically begging for her to accept. The remaining smaller deals were bundled together and tossed to Nova like free souvenirs.

*Mr. Richard?*

*Richard, you really know how to love someone.*

Nova forced her alcohol-heavy limbs to move, pushing herself up to leave the VIP lounge.

But Sophie stepped out from the crowd and called after her.

“Miss Nova, even though Mr. Richard doesn’t want me sharing the main project with outsiders… since you want it so badly, how about I let you have the smaller ones?”

Her tone dripped with condescension, eyes gleaming, smile radiant.

Nova’s head throbbed violently. She had no energy left for this charade. “Contracts won by clinging to a man? I find them disgusting.”

Sophie’s eyes welled up as she turned to Richard. “Is that true, Mr. Richard? Do you think I’m disgusting too?”

Richard shot Nova a venomous look before lowering his head, his voice softening into a tenderness she’d never heard.

“You’re innocent and lovely. How could anyone dislike you? I adore you.”

“Besides…”

The moment his burning gaze left Sophie, it frosted over. A mocking smile touched his lips.

“The truly low ones are those who sell themselves for a project, drinking with other men. Isn’t that right?”

*He was the one who let them touch me!*

Nova bit down hard on the inside of her cheek until the metallic tang of blood filled her mouth. A bitter laugh escaped her.

She’d loved the wrong man. Richard was a block of ice no amount of warmth could melt.

As Nova pushed the door open, a wave of scorching heat slammed into her.

“Fire! Get out! Now!”

Panicked shouts erupted. Thick black smoke billowed upward; the room descended into chaos as everyone scrambled for the exit.

Nova barely dodged a burning beam crashing down. Dense smoke stung her eyes, blinding her.

When she finally spotted the exit, searing pain exploded across her back.

Richard shoved her aside without a glance, sweeping Sophie into his arms as he bolted outside.

“Richard…”

Flames consumed his retreating figure. In the heart of the inferno, she saw him again—the day her father brought him home, holding her tightly:

“No matter what happens, I’ll always protect Nova! She’s the most important person to me!”

Timbers crackled, turned to ash, and snapped. The Royal Palace Restaurant gave way entirely.

With a deafening roar, in the heart of the blazing furnace, Nova plunged into darkness.