His Dangerous Love On Ice Chapter 125: Sophia's POV

When I received the email that I would be working with Olive Monroe, I felt anger surge through me so violently I thought I might shatter every object in my office.

The crystal paperweight on my desk. The imported vase from Italy. The framed awards lining my walls.

All of it felt breakable. Expendable. Insignificant compared to the rage burning in my chest.

Olive fucking Monroe.

I couldn't believe I was going to have to work with her. Breathe the same air. Pretend to be professional while she paraded around like she belonged in the Mercer Company.

In my world.

I'd ensured somehow that I was involved in the Quantum AI project. Pulled strings. Made calls. Used connections that most people spent years cultivating.

A plan to secure this lifetime opportunity for myself. For Cole. For us.

I'd talked my father into letting me lead the creative team. Convinced him that my experience made me the obvious choice. That this campaign could elevate the Mercer brand to unprecedented levels.

But then Zane came crashing through those plans like a wrecking ball.

Taking the deal for himself. Taking the spotlight. Taking everything.

I know Zane. Know him better than anyone else in this family.

Zane would never take on a project like this. He had too much pride. Too much ego. Too many better things to do than model for some tech company's advertising campaign.

But here we were.

And I knew exactly why he'd done it.

Her.

Everything always came back to her.

So much had happened in the last week. Cole hadn't just lost the project—he'd been publicly humiliated, sued, dragged through the mud like common trash.

And my father. My father had been accused of fraud, embezzlement, illegal gambling. Scandals that somehow I knew he was guilty of because I wasn't stupid enough to believe my father was a saint.

My father was never a saint. He was vindictive and cruel and had a decades-long feud with Zane that I'd never fully understood but had always been there, simmering beneath every family dinner, every business meeting, every interaction.

The difference in how he treated us had always been so clear. So obvious.

How he pampered Antonio and me. How he praised us, supported us, gave us everything we wanted.

And how he treated Zane like the black sheep. The disappointment. The son who would never measure up no matter how successful he became.

I'd never done anything about it. Never said a word. Always thought it was normal.

Just father-son rivalry. First son syndrome. The pressure of being the eldest.

But not until she came into the picture.

She ruined everything.

She made Zane reactive. Defensive. Unrecognizable.

Zane used to call me every week. Take me to lunch. Ask about my life. Act like the protective older brother who actually gave a damn about his little sister.

But ever since Olive Monroe walked into his life, I became a shadow. An afterthought. Something he tolerated when he had to but otherwise forgot existed.

And it wasn't just about losing my brother's attention.

It was about Cole.

Cole, who I'd been dating for months now. Cole, who was supposed to be moving on from Olive. Cole, who still looked at her like she was the only woman in the world when he thought I wasn't watching.

Cole was still in love with her. Or had feelings for her. Or was obsessed with her. Whatever the fuck you wanted to call it.

And I was stuck in the center of it all. A third wheel in my own relationship. A pawn in whatever game Zane and Olive were playing.

Her little conniving charms. Her fake innocence. Her manipulative bullshit.

And when I heard she would be working on this project, I'd gotten angry at first. Furious, even.

But then something sparked within me.

An opportunity.

A chance to make her understand that she wasn't the only woman who existed in Zane's universe. That she was replaceable. Temporary. Nothing special.

One phone call. A few strategic connections. My surname was enough to get me assigned to the project.

I was going to make her suffer for making Zane unrecognizable. For going after my Cole and still somehow controlling Zane like a puppet on strings.

She was a manipulative bitch and I was going to make sure everyone knew it. Make sure I ruined her life the way she'd ruined mine.

I sat at my desk now, staring at the organizational chart in front of me.

The Mercer Company had been in chaos since the scandal broke. Stock prices fluctuating wildly. Board members calling emergency meetings. Investors demanding answers.

I'd be lying if I said none of it was affecting me.

Because it was. My shares were tanking along with everything else. My position as Creative Director suddenly felt less secure. My future less certain.

I knew I needed to do something. Anything. Find a way to stabilize things before everything my family had built crumbled to dust.

Antonio had been conveniently absent through all of this. Off in Australia or some other remote location, probably hiking or surfing or doing whatever the hell he did to avoid real responsibility.

Antonio was the only person in this family who saw Zane as a threat. Who understood that Zane was dangerous. Ruthless. Capable of destroying everything we'd worked for.

But was he here helping? No.

Because Antonio was weak. A coward hiding behind Father's protection and golden-boy status.

Father always covered up for Antonio's messes. Made sure he got everything he wanted. Paved every road for him while Zane fought for scraps.

And yet somehow, Antonio still managed to be useless when it actually mattered.

I hit the decorative globe on my desk so hard it spun wildly, nearly falling off the edge.

Frustration gnawed at me. Deep. Consuming. Like a physical ache in my chest.

I needed to do something. Needed to find a way to fix this mess. Couldn't just sit here while lawsuits piled up against my father and the CEO position was handed to Mr. Dante like a gift.

That son of a bitch. Dante would find a way to make his temporary position permanent. I could already see it happening. The way he'd started making decisions without consulting the family. The way he'd positioned himself as the company's savior while we all burned.

My phone buzzed on the desk.

Cole again.

Cole: Sophia, please. I need to talk to you about the lawsuit. They're saying I could lose everything. Please answer.

I stared at the message, irritation flaring hot and immediate.

Cole and his constant neediness. His desperation. His pathetic inability to handle his own problems.

But even as I thought it, guilt twisted in my stomach.

He was my boyfriend. He was going through hell. And part of that hell was because of my family. Because of whatever war was happening between Zane and my father and whoever else was involved.

I should care more. Should want to help him. Should feel something other than this burning resentment that he was still so obviously hung up on Olive.

But I didn't.

All I felt was anger. And a cold, calculating certainty that I needed to use this situation to my advantage.

I typed back quickly: Later. Working on something that will fix everything.

Then I set my phone down and leaned back in my chair, my mind racing.

A thought had been brewing for the past hour. Slowly at first, then faster, sharper, like puzzle pieces clicking into place.

I needed to do something that would make Zane hate Olive.

Something that would shatter whatever spell she'd cast over him. Something that would make them fall apart so completely, so destructively, that the only thing Zane could think about was his family.

Like he used to. Before her.

Or maybe... maybe I needed to bring someone back.

The one person Zane had truly loved before everything in his life went to hell.

His first love.

Elena.

Elena Volkov.