Sophia Chen's POV
I was throwing up again.
My knees hit the cold bathroom floor. My stomach twisted and heaved until there was nothing left. This was the third morning in a row.
"Sophia?" Maya's voice came through the door. "I'm coming in."
My best friend had been staying with me since that horrible morning six weeks ago. The morning I woke up in Dominic Ashford's bed and my life fell apart.
I hadn't told anyone what happened. Not Eleanor. Not Victoria. The shame burned too hot, too deep.
But Maya knew something was wrong. She always knew.
The door opened. Maya knelt beside me, pulling my hair back. Her face was worried.
"This isn't the flu," she said quietly. "How late is your period?"
My heart stopped.
No. No, it can't be.
"Six weeks," I whispered.
Maya's eyes went wide. She stood up fast, grabbed her purse. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
She returned fifteen minutes later with a small plastic bag. Inside was a pregnancy test.
My hands shook as I took it. "Maya, I can't—"
"You have to know." Her voice was gentle but firm. "Whatever it is, we'll deal with it together."
Two pink lines.
I stared at the test, watching those two lines get darker and darker, like they were mocking me.
Pregnant. I'm pregnant.
"Oh, Sophia." Maya wrapped her arms around me. "It's okay. We'll figure this out."
But nothing was okay. Nothing would ever be okay again.
I was twenty-two years old. Unemployed. Living in my father's house with a stepmother who hated me. And now I was pregnant with Dominic Ashford's baby—a man who thought I was a prostitute, who threw money at me and told me to leave.
A man I couldn't even remember being with.
"What am I going to do?" I sobbed into Maya's shoulder. "Eleanor will kill me. The company is already falling apart, and now—"
My phone rang.
Eleanor's name flashed on the screen. My stomach dropped.
"Don't answer it," Maya said.
But I had to. I always had to.
"Hello?"
"Get to the house immediately." Eleanor's voice was ice. "We have a family meeting. It's about the company."
She hung up before I could respond.
Maya grabbed my hand. "I'm coming with you."
"No." I wiped my tears, trying to breathe. "I need to face this alone."
I need to be strong. For the baby. For Father's memory.
But I'd never felt weaker in my life.
The Chen family house felt like a tomb.
I walked into Father's old office—the room where he taught me about business, where he promised me I'd run the company someday. Now Eleanor sat behind his desk like a queen on a throne.
Victoria stood by the window, her face full of fake concern.
"Sit down, Sophia." Eleanor pointed to a chair like I was a child being scolded.
I sat. My hand instinctively went to my stomach, protecting the tiny life inside me that no one could know about. Not yet.
"Chen Technologies is finished," Eleanor said bluntly. "The board voted this morning. Ashford Global is acquiring us. The deal closes next week."
The words hit like bullets.
Ashford Global. Dominic Ashford's company.
"No," I whispered. "Father built this company. We can't just—"
"Your father built a house of cards." Eleanor's eyes were cold. "And it collapsed the moment he died. We're drowning in debt, Sophia. This acquisition is the only way to save anything."
"There has to be another option. We could restructure, find new investors—"
"We tried." Victoria turned from the window, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "But no one wants to invest in a dying company run by a grieving widow and an inexperienced girl."
Inexperienced girl. The words stung because they were partly true.
"The board blames you," Eleanor continued. "They say your father was too sentimental, training you instead of hiring a real CEO. They say his favoritism toward you weakened the company."
Tears burned my eyes. "That's not fair."
"Fair?" Eleanor laughed, bitter and sharp. "Life isn't fair, Sophia. Your father left me with a mess, and now I'm cleaning it up. The Ashford acquisition happens whether you like it or not."
My mind raced. Dominic Ashford was taking over Father's company. The man whose baby I was carrying. The man who thought I was a scheming liar.
Maybe this was fate. Maybe this was my chance to make him understand what really happened that night.
"I need to talk to Mr. Ashford," I said suddenly. "Before the deal closes. Maybe I can—"
"You?" Eleanor's eyebrows shot up. "What could you possibly say to Dominic Ashford?"
I'm carrying his child. Someone drugged us both. We're victims, not enemies.
But I couldn't say any of that. Not here. Not to Eleanor and Victoria.
"I want to understand the terms," I lied. "Father would have wanted me to be involved."
Eleanor waved her hand dismissively. "Fine. The final meeting is tomorrow at Ashford Global headquarters. Two o'clock. But Sophia—" Her eyes turned sharp. "Don't embarrass this family more than you already have."
More than I already have?
I wanted to ask what she meant, but Victoria spoke first.
"I'll come with you," she said sweetly. "For moral support."
Something in her smile made my skin crawl. But I was too tired, too scared, too overwhelmed to argue.
"Thank you," I whispered.
Victoria's smile widened.
That night, I lay in bed with my hand on my stomach.
"I don't know what to do," I whispered to the tiny life growing inside me. "But I promise I'll protect you. No matter what happens tomorrow, I'll make sure you're safe."
Maya had helped me research Dominic Ashford online. His parents died when he was nineteen in a car accident. His uncle took everything. He built his empire from nothing, fighting his way to the top with ruthless determination.
He'd been hurt. Betrayed by family, just like me.
Maybe he'll understand. Maybe when I tell him about the baby, he'll realize we were both victims that night.
Hope was dangerous. I knew that. But it was all I had left.
My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:
"Tomorrow at 2pm. Don't be late. And Sophia? Come alone."
My blood ran cold.
How did they know about the meeting? How did they have my number?
I called the number back. It rang once, then disconnected.
Another text came through immediately:
"You're walking into a lion's den. But maybe that's exactly where you belong."
Then a photo loaded on my screen.
Me. In Dominic Ashford's bed. The same photo from six weeks ago.
But this time, there was something new written across it in red letters:
"Act 2 begins tomorrow. Let's see if you survive this one."
My hands shook so badly I dropped the phone.
Victoria. It has to be Victoria.
But why? What did she gain from destroying me?
I grabbed my phone, pulled up Victoria's number, my finger hovering over the call button.
Then I stopped.
Because if Victoria was behind this, confronting her would only make things worse. I needed proof. Evidence. Something concrete.
Tomorrow, I would go to Ashford Global. I would tell Dominic the truth about the baby. And somehow, I would figure out who was trying to destroy my life.
For you, I thought, touching my stomach. I'll be brave for you.
But as I lay in the darkness, fear wrapped around me like a snake.
Because deep down, I knew tomorrow wouldn't bring answers.
It would bring a nightmare far worse than anything I could imagine.