My words froze in my throat when I saw the man holding her hand. His gaze swept over me, while Sophia avoided my eyes and looked only at my father.
“Boss, I don’t want the credit for this mission. I only ask to break off the engagement with the young master.”
With that, Sophia dropped to her knees. The sound of them hitting the floor slammed into my chest like a hammer.
My father stayed silent, while my sisters glared at Sophia with fury.
“Are you insane? Have you forgotten why you left in the first place?”
“Ethan has waited five whole years for you. Do you even know how he’s lived during that time, worrying every day that you might die out there? Is this how you repay him?”
“Sophia Lane, do you want to break off the engagement because of the man standing behind you?”
Their accusations filled the hall, but Sophia pressed her lips together and said nothing, as if waiting for my father’s decision.
He took a coat from the butler and draped it over my shoulders.
“Ethan, say the word. If you don’t want this, those two won’t walk out of the Cole Family Estate alive today.”
I let him put the coat on me, but my eyes stayed fixed on Sophia.
Five years had passed, and Sophia had grown much thinner.
When she knelt earlier, her right leg had given out, leaving her weight on her left. Clearly, her right leg was ruined.
I swallowed the sting in my eyes and pulled the coat tighter around me.
“Grant her request.”
I looked at the man beside her.
“And you? Should I call you brother-in-law?”
Hearing that, Sophia’s eyes lit with relief. She bowed her head heavily to me.
“Thank you for letting me go, young master!”
I said no more. I simply turned and left the hall.
Not long after, my father came into my room.
“Ethan, don’t force yourself. The organization has plenty of excellent mercenaries besides Sophia Lane. All I care about is that my son is happy.”
I raised my head and looked at him.
“Dad, go to the Hart family. I’ll marry Emily Hart.”
My father frowned.
“The Harts are a top-tier family. Marrying into them would help us clean our name, but their daughter is… not right in the head. Ethan, I don’t want you marrying out of spite.”
I cut him off.
“This has nothing to do with spite. At least a fool won’t betray me.”
My father sighed deeply but said nothing more.
That night, in the silence of my room, I felt someone enter and stop by my bedside. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know who it was.