Richard Mitchell's voice cut through the tense silence.

"Since Elise is clearly involved with William Levine now, you should publicly announce your relationship with Sophia. We kept it secret because we feared Elise would cause problems. That's why we waited for her to break off the engagement first. But now, that's irrelevant. If we delay any longer, we'll become the laughingstock of Crestwood."

Samuel nodded slowly. "I'll speak with Sophia. We'll make the announcement soon."

"Organize a proper, glamorous wedding," Richard commanded, though his anger from yesterday's events still simmered beneath his composed exterior. "We need to restore the dignity our family lost."

After Richard left, Samuel immediately called Sophia.

She was lounging in bed, scrolling through news articles on her phone. She noted with interest that there was no media coverage about yesterday's Levine Holdings banquet. The Levines truly operated on a different level—controlling exactly what the public could see.

When Samuel's call came through, she frowned before answering. "Samuel?"

"Did I wake you?" he asked.

She feigned a sleepy voice. "Yes, you did. What time did you leave last night? I didn't see you when my parents and I departed."

"Later than most," he said vaguely, clearly avoiding details about the previous evening. "My father thinks we should go public with our relationship."

"What?!" Sophia exclaimed, genuine alarm in her voice.

"Why are you surprised? Don't you want everyone to know we're together?"

"No, it's not that," she quickly recovered. "I'm still concerned about Elise causing trouble. If she decides to make a scene, neither of our families would be able to handle the fallout."

"Elise is with William Levine now!" Samuel snapped impatiently. "Do you really think she cares about us anymore?"

Sophia bit her lip. She had no intention of publicly committing to Samuel now.

Truthfully, she didn't want the relationship at all anymore. He'd lost his appeal the moment Elise showed no interest in him.

Besides, Sophia had set her sights on a much bigger prize.

"I'm still worried, Samuel," she said, already formulating her excuse.

"About what?" His tone grew irritated.

"You know how vindictive my sister can be. Even if she's with William now, she might still try to sabotage us. I can handle the personal attacks, but your reputation as CEO of Mitchell Corp could suffer."

She spoke with such apparent concern for his wellbeing that Samuel actually hesitated, remembering how formidable Elise had become recently.

"It hasn't even been two months since your planned wedding with Elise. People will talk if we announce our relationship too soon. Sometimes it's better to wait. What matters is that we're together, right? What others think shouldn't affect us."

Samuel considered her words and found them reasonable. "I suppose I'll have to ask you to wait a little longer then."

"As long as I'm with you, nothing else matters," Sophia purred sweetly.

They exchanged affectionate words for a few more minutes before ending the call.

The moment she hung up, Sophia's expression hardened, her eyes turning cold and calculating.

For now, she would keep Samuel on the hook—a safe backup plan in case her new ambitions failed.

Not that Samuel was a bad option... but Sophia had no intention of failing.

That perfect man would belong to her, one way or another.