It had never truly been her intention to get anyone fired that day. Not Hua Ying. Not Samantha. Despite how icy and calculated her performance had been, Sophie knew—deep down—that her actions had crossed a line. She hadn't needed to humiliate them to such an extent. They hadn't truly wronged her. In fact, they'd barely done anything at all.
But the truth was harsher than guilt.
She needed a distraction.
A loud, chaotic, irreversible distraction to keep all eyes away from the reception desk—and Dain. And unfortunately, those two women had been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. They had become convenient pawns in a game they didn't even know they were part of. And Sophie hated that.
As the silence of the lobby settled once more and her mind spun with guilt and relief, she heard Dain's voice at her side.
"I picked a room. Let's go." His tone was low, measured—businesslike, but touched with a hint of urgency.
