Chapter 234


    She nced at the handcuffs that bound her wrists and struggled fiercely for a moment. The skin


    beneath the culls was no longer merely reddened; now it was streaked with blood, yet she seemed


    impervious to the pain.


    Outside the door, the murmurs of the bodyguards continued, while Brielle’s sweat fell in heavy droplets


    to the floor. Suspended like this, her body was in extreme difort, her mind taut. with tension. If she


    screamed and shouted now, it would only y into their hands.


    She bit her lip, keeping silent, while internally she counted the minutes.


    Ten minutester, someone pushed the door open–it was Sophia. A stark contrast to her earlier


    hysteria, Sophia had regained herposure, like a pot of boiling water pushed to its brink.


    Brielle looked up, met her gaze, and cracked a smile. “I knew you’de back.”


    Sophia crossed her arms over her chest, the resentment in her eyes as evident as ever, but she knew


    her emotions couldn’t touch Brielle in the slightest.


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    Brielle was a formidable woman. That was Sophia’s current conclusion.


    “Brielle, what did you think about what I said earlier?”


    Brielle blinked away the sting in her eyes, ignoring the other aches in her body. “I didn’t think much of it,


    but I know that if you could bite your tongue with Tessa for so long, you’re not a pushover. You value


    your life, so now that you know I’ll go after you once I’m out, you wouldn’t just sit by and watch. Either


    you leave me here forever, or you help me, right?”


    Sophia realized she had underestimated Brielle. With such a sharp mind, no wonder she topped the


    exams and excelled at Beaconsfield College.


    Sophia was a pragmatic person. Just as she realized she couldn’tpete with Tessa, she became


    Tessa’s little henchman, running errands for her. Now that she found herself unable to contend with


    Brielle, she naturally wouldn’t go looking for trouble.


    “Sophia, I know you’d love to see me dead, but William wille after you because you’re weak. Tessa


    bosses you around for the same reason. Your weakness led to your tragedy, not my existence. Unlike


    you, if those guards left me with just a breath left in me, I’d use thatst breath to get back at those who


    wronged me, not hypnotize myself into shifting the me.”


    Sophia sneered, “You’re nothing without Max.”


    Brielle lowered her head and after a long pause, her smile slowly returned. “You asked me what I think


    I am to Max. I know I’m nothing, but given his nature, he wouldn’t let me be humiliated


    by the Rond family. He’lle for me; it’s just a matter of sooner orter.”


    H


    Sophia frowned, then nodded in understanding. “You said you’d help me. How?”


    “The Rond family will never value a side branch like you. Even if Tessa falls, they won’t care.


    Chapter 234


    about you. Your best bet is to strike out on your own. I’vee across apany with great potential


    and I’d like to invite you to be a partner. Interested?”


    Money was never an issue for Beaconsfield’s rich kids. It was everything else that was at luxury. Brielle


    was smart. She quickly realized that if she couldn’t invest in Mason’spany under the name of


    Dorsey International, why not join as a partner?


    Book could write a business legend in a short time; Mason’spany could be the next unicorn she’d


    personally endorsed.


    Sophia stood still, as if a revtion had struck her. But she had her doubts. “What if Max abandons you


    one day? What then?”


    Sophia was different from the other women; she had never fallen for anyone. She looked down on


    those Beaconsfield heirs. She was full of ambition and adept at masquerades.


    Brielle chose her, not for anything else but because Sophia had survived the cunning William. Even if


    she yed the part of a naive heiress, she knew the score.


    “I don’t care if he abandons me. Max protects me now, andter, I’ll protect myself. I’ve never imagined


    a future with him.”


    Her lucidity dispelled thest of Sophia’s hesitations. She didn’t stop loathing Brielle. She hated. her


    still, but she realized that since she couldn’t change the sordid past, she might as well fight for a


    hopeful future.


    “I just told the guards at the door that Tessa has new instructions and to wait. But I can’t be sure Tessa


    won’te to torment you herself. You better pray Max gets here before that happens.”