CHAPTER 5: The Choice of the Heiress
With Eleanor’s arrest and the validation of the true will, Sophia was officially installed as the Chief Executive Officer and majority owner of the Hawthorne Global Consortium. The transition of power was swift, but the emotional wounds inside the mansion remained wide open.
A week after the boardroom showdown, Sophia walked through the grand entrance of Hawthorne Manor. The staff, who had once looked down on her when she wore a maid's uniform, now bowed their heads with profound respect. Sophia signaled for them to leave her. She walked up the grand marble staircase and stopped outside Isabella’s bedroom door.
She knocked gently. "Bella? It's Sophia. Can we talk?"
The door slowly opened. Isabella stood there, her eyes red and swollen from days of crying. She had packed her expensive designer clothes into three large leather suitcases sitting on the floor. She looked at Sophia, her defensive arrogance completely gone, replaced by a raw, naked vulnerability.
"I’m leaving, Sophia," Isabella said quietly, looking down at the floor. "The lawyers told me that under the new trust structure, my shares are still safe, but I can't stay in this house. Not after what Mother did to you. Every time I look at the fountain outside, or look at the chandeliers, I feel sick knowing it was bought with your stolen life. And... I’m so sorry for what I did to you at the party. I was a monster."
Sophia looked at the suitcases, then stepped into the room. She reached out, gently taking Isabella’s hand—the same hand Isabella had used to strike her.
"You weren't a monster, Bella," Sophia said softly, a warm smile breaking through her serious expression. "You were a child who was raised by a wolf. You only knew the world Eleanor built for you—a world where you had to be cruel to survive, where status was the only thing that mattered. You didn't know the truth."
"But I took your place," Isabella sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "I had the birthdays, the tutors, the wealth... everything that belonged to you."
"Money doesn't define a family, Bella," Sophia said, pulling her younger sister into a gentle, firm embrace. For the first time in eighteen years, the two sisters stood side by side, the warmth of their shared blood finally melting the ice of the past. "Eleanor wanted us to hate each other because our division kept her in power. But she’s gone now. I don't want this mansion to be a museum of secrets anymore. I want it to be a home. And I can't do that without my little sister."
Isabella looked up, her tears glistening in the sunlight streaming through the window. "You... you want me to stay?"
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"I'm appointing you as the head of our new global humanitarian foundation," Sophia said, wiping a tear from Isabella’s cheek. "We are going to use the Hawthorne wealth to fund orphanages, foster care advocacy groups, and shelters across the country. We are going to make sure no other child is ever left invisible. What do you say?"
Isabella let out a shaky, emotional laugh, throwing her arms around Sophia's neck. "I say yes, Sophia. Thank you. Thank you for coming back for me."
