Raina looked at her provocatively, propping her head with one hand, and groaned weakly, "Oh, my head hurts."

Sophia’s expression briefly faltered. She half-closed her eyes, reached for her phone, and dialed 911. "Is this the emergency center? This is 'THE ONE' Gallery. Someone has a headache, and it looks like they're about to faint. Could you please—"

Before she could finish, Raina knocked the phone from her hand, glaring at her with fury. Her beautiful face twisted in anger.

Having been in the entertainment industry for years, Raina thought she could remain calm and unshaken, but every time she faced Sophia, she lost control.

"Miss Dolce, some things have already been exposed, and there's no need to pretend nothing's happened, right? Aaron and I..."

"I’m not interested in your drama."

Sophia coldly interrupted her, then bent down to pick up her phone. She stood and moved toward the door. "Are you leaving on your own, or do you want me to have someone escort you out?"

"Do you dare to have someone touch me? I just lost the baby, and if anything else happens here, Aaron won’t let you get away with it." Raina's voice became sharp, tinged with urgency. "He's the father of my child. Although the baby was lost due to an accident, he said he loves me, and we’ll have more children in the future."

"Why, Miss Dolce, do you cling to such a marriage and refuse to divorce?"

Sophia felt as though she had fallen into an ice cave, the cold making her body tremble. Slowly, she looked up. "You say the child was his?"

"That's right." Raina said smugly.

Sophia nodded, her expression unreadable as she waved her phone. "Mm, I understand. Thank you, Miss Quinn, for providing your testimony!"

It took Raina a moment to realize what had just happened.

She immediately lunged forward, trying to snatch the phone, but Sophia dodged her. Raina crashed into the table, her forehead immediately swelling and turning red.

“Sophia, you’re scheming against me—”

“Scheming? Don’t make it sound so dramatic. You’re not worth me putting any thought into it,” Sophia replied with a light laugh, but her eyes remained cold, devoid of any warmth. The air around her felt deathly still and chilling. “You’re even dumber than those other women. Coming here to lecture me? Trying to get me to divorce him? Do you really think you have that kind of power over Aaron?”

Raina pressed her lips together, at a loss for words.

“If you’ve got nothing else to say, then please, get out of my gallery. Unless, of course, you want me to make your little affair as the other woman public. Trust me, your carefully built career will be destroyed in an instant.”

“You dare?” Raina gritted her teeth.

Sophia raised an eyebrow. “Try me.”

Raina was frightened by Sophia's expression and didn’t dare to challenge her.

"Miss Dolce, no one likes a woman full of schemes," Raina said before turning on her heels and leaving, her high heels clicking sharply on the floor.

Sophia stood frozen in place, her pale skin almost translucent. Her exquisite face was devoid of expression, yet somehow, it exuded an inexplicable sense of sadness.

Full of schemes?

She chuckled softly, looking down at her hand. The bloodstains had dried, but the long streak of blood still stood out, sharp and glaring.

Sophia returned to her office, placing the divorce papers and briefing in an envelope, ready to send them to Ryker Corp.

"Sophia, I heard that bitch Raina came by? Where is she?" a sharp voice cut through the air. "Does she have a death wish? I'm going to put her in her place."

Sophia looked up to see Raelynn entering, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead. "She's gone."

"Gone?" Raelynn’s energy deflated immediately. She walked over to Sophia’s side and glanced at the documents on the desk. "He didn't sign it?"

Sophia lightly bit her lip, a subtle pain between her brows. "No."

Raelynn was enraged. "That dog Aaron must be out of his mind! I should’ve yelled at him at the hospital that day. No, I can't take it. I’m going to expose him on X!"

Sophia grabbed Raelynn’s arm. "Forget it. It’s already decided. There's no need to make a scene."

Even if she didn’t care about Aaron, she still had to consider Grandpa Ryker.

Sensing her sadness, Raelynn pulled her into a comforting hug, gently patting her back. "Alright, how about you come home with me?"

Sophia smiled. "Thanks for taking me in, Miss Johnson."

After settling the gallery's affairs, Sophia was about to leave with Raelynn to send the papers, but she stopped when she saw Joe standing by the gallery door.

"Ma'am, Mr. Ryker sent me to take you home," Joe said, stepping forward respectfully.

Sophia paused, took the envelope from her bag, and handed it to him. "Since you’re here, take this to Aaron."

"Ma’am..."

"Joe," Sophia interrupted softly, "please tell him, for the sake of growing up together, let’s part on good terms. I don’t want things to get ugly in the end."

Her tone was calm, almost detached.

Joe was stunned. By the time he snapped out of it, Sophia had already gotten into Raelynn’s car.

He looked down at the envelope in his hand, feeling like it was burning him.

Sure enough, when he arrived at Ryker Corp's CEO office and handed the envelope to Aaron, the man’s face darkened as he opened it and saw the documents inside.

Joe immediately regretted taking it.

Aaron briefly skimmed the contents before his gaze settled on the woman's signature, a faint sneer playing on his lips. "Where did she go?"

Joe quickly responded, "Ma’am is at Miss Johnson’s house." He hesitated for a moment, then recalled Raina’s visit to the gallery. "Miss Quinn caused a scene at the gallery today. Ma’am got angry and kicked her out."

Aaron stared at the divorce papers for a while before tossing them carelessly on the desk. "I heard Dolce Group is raising funds?"

Joe froze. "Would you like me to talk to the bank about it?"

"No need."

After a moment of thought, Aaron spoke again, more subtly. "Mr. Ryker, Dolce Group and Ryker Corp have a long-standing relationship. If you ignore the crisis at Dolce Group, you might have some explaining to do to Connor."

The office fell silent in an instant.

Joe looked at Aaron’s handsome face, now shadowed with a storm of emotions, and couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He thought to himself,

Is he crazy?

How dare I say something like that?!

Aaron raised an eyebrow, his voice icy. "Joe, are you planning on reporting me to the old man?"

A bad premonition flooded Joe’s mind, and just as he was about to speak, Aaron scoffed. "Since you're so loyal to Connor, why don't you go back to the old mansion and take care of him from now on? If anything happens to him, it’s on you."

Joe nearly cried.

"Don’t you have somewhere to be?" Aaron snapped.

Joe scrambled to leave, reluctantly pulling out his phone to make the call to the bank.

...

Five days passed without a word from Aaron about the divorce paperwork. Meanwhile, both Dolce Group and the gallery faced problems.

The land Dolce Group was competing for was snatched away for $20 million more than their offer, and the collaboration with renowned foreign artist Ann was canceled, even with a hefty penalty.

After hearing the news, Sophia quietly hung up the phone and instructed the legal department to draft a compensation contract and contact the other party.

She knew Aaron was behind all of this.

But she couldn’t understand—was he doing this to support Raina?

Just because she had yelled at her that day?

She thought to herself, love and hate, so painfully obvious.

Her phone rang. It was the butler calling. "Miss, you need to come to the hospital quickly. Sir’s having a heart attack. He’s in the emergency room now."