Chapter 187

Ethan's POV

I walked downstairs toward the living room where Sophia was already seated, the afternoon light slicing through the curtains and casting long, thin shadows across the rug. The house hummed with the ordinary sounds of a home kept clean for appearances — the soft tick of a clock on the mantel, the distant murmur of a television left on in another room. I took a seat next to her with a small, satisfied sigh and let the moment sit between us, heavy and deliberate.

“Today is quite a day,” I said, letting the words roll out slowly and controlled. “A good one for us. I never expected us to get that little brat so easy.”

Sophia’s expression was composed but there was a glint of suppressed excitement in her eyes. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear and smiled in that way she used to when she wanted me to see the cunning behind her calm. “Neither did I,” she said. “To be honest, I was considering finding another way. I didn’t think yo