Chapter 31
Isabella’s voice was cold, but it carried a hidden edge.
Sophia felt like the ground had dropped beneath her feet.
A billion in insurance?
How could that be?
Was she made of solid gold?
Isabella’s warning was clear.
If anything happened to her, the insurance company would come after Sophia.
“Go on, hit me,” Isabella taunted. “What’s wrong? Scared?”
She cracked her knuckles.
The sound was sharp.
Sophia flinched.
“What are you doing?” she stammered. “There are people everywhere! You can’t hit me here!”
“Watch me,” Isabella shot back.
She swung her fist hard into Sophia’s upper arm.
Then she delivered a powerful kick to her heel.
A sharp crack echoed.
Sophia’s gemstone bracelet shattered.
Her stiletto heel snapped in two.
Isabella had broken both with bare hands and one kick.
Sophia stumbled, off-balance.
Rage and pain twisted her face.
“Isabella! Do you have any idea how much that bracelet cost? Half a million! I only wore it once!”
“So?” Isabella’s gaze was icy. “You broke my heel. I broke your bracelet and yours. Consider it payback. Double. Try something like this again, and I’ll return it tenfold.”
With that, she shoved Sophia aside and walked away.
Humiliated, Sophia dropped into a chair, stunned.
How did she know? She’d been so careful. No one saw.
Isabella entered her dressing room.
Julian had prepared this before the show.
A precaution against schemers like Sophia.
She was no fool.
She’d hidden a thin steel wire in her cape.
That wire allowed her aerial stunt.
Though she wore protective gear, the impact still left a deep cut.
“Let’s hope the headlines are worth the blood,” she murmured.
She changed and headed for the back exit.
But outside, a crowd swarmed her.
“Isabella Montgomery! I’m a huge fan! I’ll pay you to walk again!”
“Isabella, I booked us a table at a Michelin-star restaurant! Come with me!”
“I bought you a diamond necklace! I’ll get you anything you want!”
“Isabella, I’m from Vogue! Give me a moment!”
“Isabella! Look this way!”
Dozens pressed in.
Some grabbed her arms.
Reporters shoved microphones in her face.
She couldn’t move.
Then, hands groped her waist.
Someone tugged at her clothes.
A sleeve began to tear.
Her eyes narrowed.
She was ready to fight.
Suddenly, a team of bodyguards in black pushed through.
“Make way! Now!”
They formed a protective circle around her.
Their leader spoke curtly. “Miss Montgomery, Master Christopher sent us to escort you out.”
Christopher. Oliver Blackwood.
She didn’t want to owe him.
But she had no choice.
She allowed them to lead her away.
Surrounded by guards, she moved like royalty.
Fans watched helplessly as she left.
Paparazzi snapped photos from every angle.
Amelia watched from a distance, boiling with envy.
Isabella’s first show was a triumph.
Her popularity was skyrocketing.
And those bodyguards… they weren’t ordinary.
The ones Amelia hired for fifty thousand were nothing compared to these.
These men looked premium. A hundred thousand a month, at least.
What had Isabella been doing in Africa for five years?
How did she return like this?
Amelia had to know.
She pulled out her phone and called Lillian.
“Use all our resources. I want to know everything about Isabella’s time in Africa. Every detail.”