Sophie's heart seized with panic.
She suddenly remembered what people said about Ethan Lancaster—the cold, distant ruler of the Lancaster family.He was known for being emotionless, untouched by women. A man above desire. An untouchable god of the elite.
Could it be… she was his first?
No wonder he was so furious.
Sure, she had been the one to make the first move. But after he'd awakened… he'd taken full control and flipped the situation entirely.
Sophie's neck and collarbone still throbbed where he had bitten her. Her body was sore in all the ways that reminded her exactly what had happened.
Before she could think further, Emily's voice broke in sharply,"Darling, you must've mistaken her. This is just a new maid—Sophie."
She glared at Sophie like she wanted to skin her alive.You seductive little witch. You really think someone like you could catch a man like that? Look at your hideous face.
"A maid?"
Ethan looked down at Sophie from his towering height, his calm expression tinged with suspicion.
Under his intense gaze, Sophie's pulse quickened. But she forced herself to stay composed.Lifting her chin ever so slightly, she let the light hit the jagged scar across her cheek.
"Sir, you must be mistaken. I don't know you. I'm just a maid here."
Ethan's sharp eyes caught the scar—long and deep, running down from her temple to her chin. Harsh. Disfiguring. It distorted what might otherwise have been a beautiful face.
He frowned slightly. This face… it wasn't the one he remembered from the room.
"Then why did you try to leave just now?"
"Sir, I wasn't running away. I was just headed to the kitchen to work."
Ethan stared at her for a few moments.
The woman from last night had been Emily—or at least, that's who he'd thought. But Emily was standing right here beside him. And this girl… was nothing like her.
He turned away, voice cold."Leave."
"Yes, sir." Sophie bowed and quietly slipped into the kitchen.
Ethan said nothing more. He brushed past Emily and went upstairs.
In the Kitchen
Emily stormed in, her stilettos clicking like gunshots on the marble floor."Sophie," she snapped. "Let me make something clear. Don't ever show your face in front of my husband again!"
Sophie met her gaze calmly."I'll leave the Lancaster estate if you release my grandmother."
Emily hesitated."The arrangement isn't over. I've already told Ethan you're just a maid. If you disappear now, he'll start asking questions. You'll stay here and keep playing your role."
A maid, huh?
Sophie thought back to Ethan's piercing gaze, the intensity in his eyes. Her stomach twisted.
She didn't want to stay here. She didn't want to be near that man.
But for her grandmother, she had no choice.
"Then, Emily," she said coldly, "you'd better work fast and win back your spot as Mrs. Lancaster. You wouldn't want me around too long… it might get awkward."
Emily stared at Sophie's pure, gleaming eyes and felt a wave of hatred rise in her chest.She wanted to claw those eyes out.
How could an ugly girl like her have such beautiful eyes?
Emily's own face was the product of countless surgeries. Her plastic surgeon had once told her he'd modeled her current appearance after a breathtaking girl he saw walking down the most glamorous street in the capital.
What were the odds that Sophie—dragged in from some rural village—had the exact same bone structure… only hidden behind that scar?
Could Sophie have been that stunning girl from the capital years ago?
No. Impossible.
She was just a pathetic country girl. She probably didn't even know what the capital looked like.
The jealousy that had surged in Emily slowly faded into disdain.
So what if she had nice eyes? That scar would always ruin her.
"Freak."Emily sneered and turned, sauntering away with a flick of her hips.Before leaving, she called to the housekeeper,"Auntie Zhou! Assign Sophie to the smallest maid's quarters and give her the dirtiest, hardest chores."
Sophie sat in the cramped maid's room that night.She stared into the cracked mirror, her fingers brushing the scar that split her face in two.
In truth...