When Sophie Shaw arrived at the main gate of the private villa community, she saw a lavish Rolls-Royce parked on the side of the road.

Damian Morgan stood beside the car in a suit, tall and imposing. Decked out in designer brands from head to toe, he looked completely transformed, like a wealthy young scion.

’She remembered Damian Morgan used to drive a second-hand Volkswagen. Had he upgraded to a luxury car this quickly after becoming the Kane family’s live-in son-in-law?’

"What are you doing here? This is the most exclusive residential area in all of Kingsport!"

Damian Morgan walked over, took the luggage from her hands, and placed it in the trunk of the Rolls-Royce. He didn’t ask if she’d been caught in the rain last night or how late she had waited. Instead, the first thing he cared about was why she was in such an affluent neighborhood.

"I stayed the night at a friend’s house," she answered dismissively.

Damian Morgan pulled open the passenger door and gestured for her to get in, then asked casually, "Which friend of yours lives in a place this lavish? How come I’ve never heard of them?"

"You don’t know them."

She got into the car and pulled the seatbelt across her body, buckling it.

Sensing her bad mood, Damian Morgan dropped the small talk. He quickly walked around to the driver’s side, got in, and started the car.

After driving a short distance, he pulled over to the side of the road.

Damian Morgan turned to look at Sophie Shaw. Her eyes were bloodshot and her complexion was poor; she clearly hadn’t rested well. "Sophie," he asked coolly, "did you see the trending topics?"

"I saw them."

"Let’s break up."

Sophie Shaw stared at him in disbelief. "I thought you were going to explain."

"I’ve decided to marry Vianne. You know my company has never really taken off. No matter how brilliant the design projects are, they’re useless without investment. I came from nothing, and it’s too hard to get ahead on your own, so..."

"So you decided to marry an heiress and move into her family’s home?"

The man’s brow furrowed. "Don’t make it sound so ugly. There are many shortcuts to success, and this is just one of them. Besides, you deceived me quite thoroughly."

"How did I deceive you?"

"You’re not an heiress at all—Vianne Kane is. Your dad married into the Kane Family, so you’re just wearing the mask of an heiress."

He had met Sophie Shaw for the first time three years ago.

She was getting into a stretch Lincoln at the school gate, a chauffeur in a suit and white gloves respectfully holding the door for her.

Back then, she exuded the allure of money, like a walking cash machine.

He began to pursue her ardently, catering to her every whim just to win her over. It wasn’t until six months ago, when Sophie Shaw took him home to meet her family, that he realized he’d been ’deceived’.

From that day on, he shifted his sights and locked his attention onto Vianne Kane.

"You did deceive me. There’s no point in denying it."

The warmth was gone from his eyes, replaced only by contempt for her.

A dull ache spread through Sophie Shaw’s chest.

She never imagined that after an entire night of torment, *this* would be the ’explanation’ she received.

And now, Damian Morgan was turning the tables, trying to sling mud at her.

’She had never claimed to be an heiress. In fact, she was always very low-key. It was all his own assumption.’

"So this is the kind of person you are? Damian Morgan, you disgust me."

"Me? What about you? Putting on the airs of a pampered heiress. I almost fell for it."

"You’re the one who deceived me."

Three years!

’She had given him everything, and all she got in return was his deception and baseless accusations.’

Sophie Shaw’s heart shattered.

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and looked at Damian Morgan, her eyes red. "You want to break up? Fine. I want Heart of the Ocean."

Damian Morgan froze. "Sophie Shaw, don’t be greedy. I founded Heart of the Ocean."

"Could you have afforded to start a company without my help?"

"It was only three million..."

"Now that you’ve latched onto a better prospect, three million is suddenly not enough for you? Without that three million, do you really think you could have started the company? I put in the money and the effort, poured all my energy into the company and into you, and this is how you treat me?"

Damian Morgan looked a bit guilty. "We ran the company together, after all. You can’t make such an outrageous demand."

"And why not? I provided the start-up capital. I’m a shareholder and the legal representative. Heart of the Ocean should have been mine from the start, shouldn’t it?"

"Impossible, Sophie Shaw. I poured my heart and soul into this company too. I’m the boss, the majority shareholder."

"Majority shareholder? You have the nerve to say that?"

’Her share should have been seventy percent, making her the majority shareholder. But she had given the three million directly to Damian Morgan back then.’

’Damian had handled all the paperwork for incorporating the company, and in the end, her stake was only thirty percent. He held forty percent, and the remaining thirty was registered under his parents’ names.’

’His parents had scraped together some money for him, so it made sense for them to have shares. But the shares Damian himself held? He had carved those right out of her portion, getting them for free.’

Damian Morgan knew what she was about to say and smirked. "Sophie Shaw, you gave me the money willingly. Just accept your loss."

"I won’t. I want Heart of the Ocean. That’s my condition for the breakup."

It was compensation for the three years of her life that he had stolen through deception.

"I’ll consider your condition. You haven’t been home all night. You should go back first. Your dad is worried about you."

Damian Morgan started the car again, no longer paying attention to Sophie Shaw in the passenger seat. He didn’t see her turn her head away to secretly wipe her tears.

The car pulled up to the Kane residence.

Sophie Shaw immediately got out, pulling her suitcase through the front door.

Joseph Shaw was the first to greet her, stopping her in the foyer. He asked anxiously, "Where were you last night? You didn’t answer your phone or reply to my texts."

"I stayed the night at a friend’s."

"Why did Vianne tell me you were planning to elope with Damian Morgan?"

As he spoke, Joseph Shaw glanced at the suitcase in her hand. "The internet is in an uproar. Were you really planning to run away with him?"

"That’s not true."

"Then why do you have a suitcase?"

"Dad, can you please stop asking? I’m exhausted and sleepy. I need to get some rest."

’Her nerves had been stretched taut all night, and she was at her breaking point. All she wanted now was to close her eyes and rest.’

Seeing her terrible complexion, Joseph Shaw knew better than to bring up the elopement again.

She changed into a pair of slippers, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, and was about to head inside when Damian Morgan walked in behind her.

"Mr. Shaw, good morning."

Joseph Shaw ignored him and followed Sophie Shaw upstairs, all the way to her bedroom door.

"Sophie, you and Damian Morgan..."

"We’re about to break up."

"Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. It’s nothing."

"Did you see the news online?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What’s so good about a schemer like Damian Morgan anyway? I support you breaking up with him. As it happens, the Blackwood family called. They’re hoping our two families can have a formal meeting to discuss the specifics of your marriage to Alaric Blackwood."

Sophie Shaw froze for a moment.

This time, she didn’t feel the same resistance she had when she first heard the Blackwoods were proposing marriage.

’She thought about how Alaric Blackwood had spirited her away from the station last night before the reporters could find her, saving her from the media frenzy that would have labeled her a homewrecker who had tried to elope. And she also remembered... how much he seemed to care for Vianne Kane, his childhood friend...’