Sophia immediately offered a saccharine smile and addressed Elise with feigned warmth. "Hello, sister."

Elise found herself genuinely curious. Why would Sophia still bother with Samuel?

Wait...

Was Sophia actually planning to reveal her own true, wicked nature to Samuel voluntarily?!

Elise chose to ignore Sophia entirely. Unlike her stepsister, Elise was incapable of such two-faced deception.

A sudden realization struck Elise as she exited the detention center and spotted the journalists camped outside the gates.

Of course! Sophia wouldn't secure her perfect ending without one final, masterful performance.

Elise quickly moved to her car and drove away before the press could even register her presence.

Inside the visitor's room, Sophia sat across from Samuel.

She showed not a flicker of guilt seeing his wretched state.

In her mind, he deserved it. His own stupidity had led him to fall for her schemes.

His current predicament was entirely the result of his own foolishness.

It truly had nothing to do with her.

"Sophia,"

Samuel's voice was soft, pleading. He even reached out to take her hand.

He knew, deep down, that every word Elise had spoken was the absolute truth.

Yet, he refused to accept it. Lying to himself at least offered some small comfort.

Sophia, however, pulled her hand away before he could touch her.

"Don't touch me with your filthy hands!" she snapped, her contempt plain.

Samuel stared at her, his eyes burning red.

Sophia didn't bother hiding her disdain anymore. The act of being deeply in love was over.

Samuel was forced to withdraw his hand, clenching it into a tight fist.

Sophia got straight to the point.

"I came here to make one thing perfectly clear. We are over. From this moment, you and your pathetic family are nothing to me."

Frankly, she had no desire to waste another second on him.

But for the sake of her public image, she had to endure this charade.

"You promised you'd forgive me for anything," Samuel snorted bitterly.

"And now you're cutting me off just like that?"

"What else would you expect me to do?" Sophia retorted, her expression dripping with scorn.

"Your family is finished. You're never recovering from this. Am I supposed to follow you to ruin? Take a good look at yourself in a mirror. Do you honestly believe you still deserve someone like me?"

"Haha!"

Samuel suddenly burst into laughter, the sound harsh and broken until it turned into choked sobs.

She used to cling to him, calling him 'darling' and 'my love,' swearing he was the only man for her.

It was all a lie.

When he lifted his gaze to Sophia again, his eyes held pure, murderous hatred.

"Elise said you never loved me," he accused. "She said you only seduced me because I was her boyfriend. Is that true?"

Sophia remained utterly unconcerned by his fury.

He was completely insignificant to her now.

"I'd have preferred you stayed ignorant. It would have spared you some dignity," Sophia said with a casual shrug.

"But since Elise already told you, I might as well confirm it. Yes, I never loved you. I only wanted you because you were hers. I take everything that belongs to her. Now that she's discarded you and fallen out of love, you hold zero value for me."

Sophia's brazen confession was a brutal provocation. Samuel knew he shouldn't react, but he suddenly lunged to his feet, hands shooting out to strangle her.

Startled, Sophia scrambled backward in fear.

The warden in the room immediately barked, "Control yourself!"

He restrained Samuel's arms, but the response was noticeably less forceful than when Elise had been present.

"Are you insane?!" Sophia shrieked, furious and shaken.

"You nearly killed me! This is your own fault! You were just too stupid! A smarter man would never have fallen for my tricks! Have you considered why Elise saw through me when you couldn't? You deserve every bit of this misery!"

"I'll kill you, Sophia Mitchell!"

Samuel shrieked, his mind completely shattered. He wanted nothing more than to drag her down to hell with him.

Sophia, however, scorned him until the very end.

"You? Kill me? Ha! Do you really think a pathetic loser like you can touch me? You're just a rabid dog, barking uselessly! Let me be perfectly clear. The only reason I came here was to put on a show for the press outside, to secure my own clean escape. It wasn't out of any lingering feeling for you! And once my family withdraws all financial support from Mitchell Corp, your company will have no choice but to declare bankruptcy!"