Chapter 40 - Do not let them bully you

This could not be happening, Sophie thought as she forced herself to keep her expression smooth, though deep inside she was barely suppressing a violent shudder. Not again. Not after everything she had done, every careful maneuver, every smile, every whispered word of manipulation to secure her position within the Gray family. Fate could not be so cruel as to place her back in this situation where all her efforts might unravel in a single afternoon. She had played her role to perfection for years, and yet here it was again, the threat of ruin, embodied in the woman who should never have returned. Sophie glided closer to Jonathan with an elegance that had been practiced and perfected countless times in front of her mirror. She allowed her shoulder to brush lightly against his arm, a fleeting contact that to the outside world might appear natural but was in truth carefully engineered.