Sophia Lin's POV
"Mommy, why are all those people taking pictures?"
I squeezed Ethan's hand as we stepped off the private jet. Cameras flashed like lightning. Reporters shouted questions. My son pressed closer to my leg, scared of the noise.
"They're just excited to meet us, baby." I kept my voice calm even though my heart was pounding. "Remember what we practiced? Big smile. Head up. We're not afraid of anyone."
Ethan straightened his little shoulders and lifted his chin. My brave boy. So much stronger than I was at his age.
Six years. Six years since I ran away from this city, pregnant and broken. Six years since Dominic Ashford called my baby a bastard and threw me out of his office.
Now I was back. And everything had changed.
"Ms. Lin!" A reporter pushed forward. "Is it true you developed the AI technology that's going to revolutionize the entire tech industry?"
I smiled—the smile I'd practiced a thousand times in Singapore. Confident. Untouchable. Nothing like the scared girl who left.
"You'll find out at the press conference," I said smoothly. "Thank you for coming."
Adrian Cross waited at the bottom of the jet stairs. Tall, handsome, powerful. He reached for my hand—the one wearing his massive diamond engagement ring—and helped me down.
"Ready?" he whispered.
No. I'd never be ready to face this city again. To face the ghosts waiting for me here.
But I nodded anyway. "Let's show them what we've built."
The press conference room was packed. Hundreds of reporters. Business executives. Tech investors. Everyone who was anyone in the industry.
And somewhere in this city, Dominic Ashford was watching. I knew he was. Maya had confirmed it this morning—he never missed a competitor's announcement.
Good. Let him watch. Let him see what he destroyed.
Adrian stood at the podium, his hand on my back. Possessive. Protective. But something about his touch made my skin crawl lately.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Adrian began. "Six years ago, I met a brilliant young woman at a tech conference in Singapore. She had nothing but a laptop and an idea that would change everything. Today, I'm proud to introduce CrossTech Industries' Chief Technology Officer and my fiancée—Dr. Sophia Lin."
The crowd erupted in applause. Cameras flashed. I stepped forward, my hands steady even though inside I was screaming.
Dr. Sophia Lin. Not Sophia Chen. I'd earned my doctorate online while raising Ethan alone. Changed my name to my mother's maiden name. Erased every trace of the girl who was weak enough to be destroyed.
"Thank you, Adrian." I smiled at him—the fake smile that never reached my eyes anymore. Then I turned to the crowd. "I'm here to announce Project Phoenix. An AI system so advanced, it will make current technology look like toys."
I clicked the remote. The screen behind me lit up with code, demonstrations, projections.
"Project Phoenix will transform cloud computing, data security, and business intelligence. It will save companies billions in operational costs while increasing efficiency by three hundred percent."
Gasps filled the room. Whispers. Excited murmurs.
"But there's more," I continued, my voice strong. "Project Phoenix launches in three months. And our first target market—" I paused for effect. "—is every industry currently dominated by Ashford Global."
The room exploded.
Reporters shouted questions. Competitors looked thrilled. Ashford Global's representatives looked sick.
I smiled. The real smile this time. The one that felt like revenge.
Did you see that, Dominic? Did you watch me announce your empire's death sentence?
After the press conference, Adrian pulled me into a private room. His smile was wide. Victorious.
"That was perfect," he said. "Ashford's stock is already dropping. The board will be panicking. This is exactly what we wanted."
What you wanted, I thought. But I didn't say it out loud.
Adrian had found me three years ago at a tech conference. I was presenting my early AI work—the project I'd built alone in Singapore while Ethan slept, while I worked three jobs to pay rent, while I cried myself to sleep every night.
He'd offered me everything. Funding. Resources. Protection. And a fake engagement to help me re-enter high society without questions about my past.
I'd said yes because I was tired. Because I needed help. Because destroying Dominic Ashford alone would take decades.
But lately, I'd been wondering if I'd made a deal with the wrong devil.
"Sophia." Adrian's hand cupped my face. "You were incredible up there. Beautiful. Powerful. Everything I knew you could be."
His touch felt wrong. Cold. Nothing like—
Stop it. Don't think about him. Don't compare everyone to a man who never loved you.
"Thank you," I said, stepping back. "But I need to get Ethan. He's been with the nanny all day, and—"
"He's fine." Adrian's smile tightened. "Stay a little longer. Celebrate with me. We just started a war."
We. He always said "we" like we were equals. But I was starting to realize I was just another tool in his revenge against Dominic.
"I need to check on my son," I said firmly.
Something flickered in Adrian's eyes. Annoyance. Control. But it disappeared fast, replaced by his charming smile.
"Of course. Family first. That's what I love about you." He kissed my forehead. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight. We're having dinner with the board."
I left before he could say anything else.
Maya was waiting in the car with Ethan. My son was drawing in his sketchbook, his tongue sticking out in concentration.
"Mommy!" He looked up with those gray eyes—the ones that haunted my dreams because they looked exactly like his father's. "Look what I drew! It's you being a superhero!"
I studied the picture. A stick figure woman with long hair and a cape, standing on top of a building.
"Am I fighting bad guys?" I asked, climbing in beside him.
"Yeah! The bad guys who made you sad." His voice was so innocent. So pure. "But don't worry, Mommy. You always win in my drawings."
My throat tightened. "What makes you think I was sad, baby?"
Ethan looked at me with eyes too wise for five years old. "You look at the city with angry eyes. Like it hurt you once."
God, he's too smart.
"The city did hurt me," I admitted. "But Mommy's strong now. And nothing can hurt us anymore."
"Because you're a superhero," Ethan said matter-of-factly, going back to his drawing.
Maya pulled into traffic. "So? How did it feel?"
"Announcing Dominic Ashford's destruction to the world?" I stared out the window at the city skyline. "It felt... empty."
Maya's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "Empty?"
"I thought revenge would feel good. Sweet. Powerful. But instead—" I touched the engagement ring I didn't want. "Instead, I just feel like I'm becoming someone I don't recognize."
"Then maybe it's not too late to stop," Maya said quietly. "Maybe—"
"I can't stop." My voice hardened. "Ethan deserves justice. And Dominic Ashford deserves to know what it feels like to lose everything."
But even as I said it, doubt crept in. Because revenge was supposed to feel satisfying, not hollow.
My phone buzzed. An email from an unknown sender.
I opened it, and my blood turned to ice.
Inside was a photo. Ethan, walking to the car after the press conference. Circled in red.
Below it, a message:
"Welcome home, Sophia. Your son looks just like his father. Does Dominic know yet? Or should I tell him for you?"
My hands shook so badly I almost dropped the phone.
"Maya." My voice came out strangled. "Someone's watching Ethan."
Maya's eyes went wide. "What?"
I showed her the email. Her face went pale.
"It's the same sender," I whispered. "The same person who sent those messages six years ago when Ethan was born. They've been watching us this whole time."
"Who? Victoria? Eleanor?"
"I don't know." Panic clawed at my throat. "But they know about Dominic. They know Ethan is his son. And they're threatening to tell him."
Another email came through.
This one had a countdown timer: 72 HOURS.
And a message:
"You have three days to complete your task, or I expose everything. Destroy Dominic Ashford's company. Steal his algorithms. Finish what we started six years ago. Or your son's paternity becomes front-page news, and you lose him forever in a custody battle against a billionaire. Your choice, Sophia. Tick tock."
The world spun around me.
This isn't about revenge. This isn't about justice. This is a trap. And I just walked right into it.
"Mommy?" Ethan looked up from his drawing. "Why are you crying?"
I hadn't realized tears were streaming down my face.
"I'm okay, baby." I pulled him close, breathing in his little-boy smell. Soap and crayons and innocence. "Mommy's okay."
But I wasn't okay.
Because whoever was behind this—whoever had been pulling strings for six years—they'd just revealed their hand.
And I had three days to either destroy Dominic Ashford completely...
Or lose my son forever.
Maya's voice was tight with fear. "What do we do?"
I looked at the countdown timer. At the photo of my son. At the city outside the window where Dominic Ashford lived his perfect life, not knowing he had a son. Not knowing someone was using that secret as a weapon.
"We find out who's behind this," I said, my voice hard as steel. "Before the timer runs out. Before they destroy us all."
Ethan held up his drawing. "Look, Mommy! I drew the bad guy too! He's ugly and mean!"
I looked at the stick figure villain. Dark hair. Gray eyes. Tall and powerful.
Ethan had drawn Dominic Ashford.
Because to him, the man who made his mother cry was the bad guy.
But as the countdown timer ticked away, I realized something terrifying:
What if the real bad guy isn't Dominic at all? What if we've been fighting the wrong enemy this whole time?