Chapter 217

"Aunt Emily, your skin is absolutely flawless!" Vivian Ashcroft linked arms with Emily Laurent, her crescent-moon eyes sparkling. "People would mistake you for my sister!"

Emily chuckled, patting Vivian's hand. "You sweet talker. If Sophia were half as charming as you, I'd look ten years younger."

Vivian winked at Sophia Lowell triumphantly, but her smile froze mid-gesture.

"Look out!"

Her head snapped upward. A dark object plummeted from a fifth-floor window.

Sophia reacted instantly, shoving Emily aside. A flowerpot grazed their sleeves before shattering on the pavement, ceramic shards scattering like shrapnel.

"Sophia!" Vivian yanked her friend behind her, voice trembling. "Are you hurt?"

Sophia's gaze locked onto the window, catching only the fleeting swish of a skirt. The shattered remains formed a chillingly precise pattern—an unmistakable warning.

"Vivian," Sophia's voice turned glacial, "take Aunt Emily to the hospital."

Emily winced, clutching her twisted ankle. "It's too dangerous—"

"Security's on their way." Sophia already had her phone pressed to her ear. "I'll join you after I handle this."

As Vivian helped Emily toward the parking lot, she called over her shoulder, "Don't go up there alone!"

The fifth-floor café stood eerily vacant.

Sophia scanned the space. The fourth window table lacked its usual potted plant. A waiter cleared nearby dishes.

"The guest at this table—where did they go?"

"Just left." The server handed her a napkin. "The lady left you a message."

Crude letters sprawled across the paper: Stay away from Ethan Roscente. Next time it won't be a flowerpot.

Sophia's fingers turned icy. The threat mirrored previous texts, but now brazenly overt.

"Security footage?"

"System crashed this morning." The waiter lowered his voice. "She said her surname was Valentine."

Isabella Valentine!

Sophia's fists clenched, nails biting into her palms.