My Cruel Stepmother Forced Me to Clean, but Her Fiancé Discovered My True Identity

Secrets of the Past

The silence that followed Edward’s words was deafening. Katherine stood frozen, her cocktail glass trembling in her hand until a few drops of liquid spilled onto the very floor she had forced Sophie to clean. "Edward, what is the meaning of this joke?" she stammered, trying to force a laugh that died quickly in her throat. "You can't cancel the engagement. The guests are arriving in minutes!"

Edward ignored her entirely. He walked over to Sophie, offering his hand to help her rise from the wet floor. Sophie hesitated, looking at her soapy hands, but Edward gently took her wrist and pulled her up.

"You should never have been on your knees, Sophie,"

he said softly, his voice filled with a deep, protective warmth.

"Not in this house. Not ever."

Katherine’s panic turned to rage. She stepped between them, her face contorted. "She is a nobody! A charity case my late husband left behind! I let her stay out of pity, and this is how she repays me? By turning my fiancé against me?" she shrieked.

Edward turned a freezing glare toward Katherine.

"Pity? Is that what you call stealing her inheritance?"

he asked, his voice low and dangerous. He opened his brown leather case and pulled out a document.

"Twenty years ago, Sophie's father and I started our first business together. He was my closest friend. When he passed, he left a secret trust, naming me as the executor. I have spent the last three months auditing your accounts, Katherine. I know about the forged signature on the will. I know you stripped Sophie of everything that was rightfully hers."

Katherine’s face drained of color. She stumbled back against a polished marble column, her eyes darting wilding. She realized her empire of lies was crumbling in an instant.