There was a video attached.
Her heart began to beat faster for a completely different reason now.
She hesitated only a fraction of a second before pressing play.
The footage showed Violet at a bus stop, her face clearly visible. Three men stood behind her, taking turns. Even though their private parts were blurred and blacked out, what they were doing left absolutely no room for misunderstanding.
Sophia’s hand flew to her lips, fingers pressing hard as if she could block the scene from entering her eyes.
The reporter’s voice continued over the clip.
‘This is only one of the videos that has surfaced. Several photographs and recordings of Miss Violet King in indecent situations, in public places with different men, have now been leaked—completely exposing her and tearing apart the carefully built image she presented to the world. Miss King has always been a popular figure among the elite, so seeing her like this certainly wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card this year.’
Sophia gasped.
Her eyes widened in horror as she shot upright.
“There’s no way…” she whispered. “Uncle Joseph would never let something like this come out…”
But the broadcast did not stop.
‘And this is not the only video. There are many more that have now spread across the internet.’
The screen shifted to a compilation of several videos.
Different angles. Different locations.
In every clip, Violet’s face—sometimes fully visible, sometimes only half—appeared clear enough to recognize.
There was no room left for misunderstanding.
Then her gaze flickered toward the door where Magnus had disappeared.
Her heart began to pound harder and harder as she stared at the empty doorway, a strange heat spreading through her chest, chasing away the cold shock.
Her lips parted.
“Did he… do it to avenge me?” she muttered under her breath.
Another memory from last night suddenly crashed into her mind without warning.
The bathtub.
The steam.
Magnus.
Her toes curled at the recollection. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and her pulse jumped wildly in her throat.
She remembered her own helpless sounds, the way she had clung to him, fingers gripping his shoulders as she breathed hard, unable to control herself while her body pressed and moved against his.
He had held her tightly. One of his hands had slid to the back of her head, his fingers threading into her hair as he gently lifted her face.
She could still see the way he had looked into her troubled eyes.
And then he had leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I will take good care of you, Sophia,” he had whispered, his voice painfully sweet.
