Sophia sat at her father's massive mahogany desk, the grandeur of his office only adding to the weight she felt pressing down on her shoulders. Richard Bennett was pacing, his expression hard, like a man who had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. But the request he was about to make was not what she had expected. Her stomach churned with dread as she listened."Sophia," Richard said, finally coming to a stop in front of her. His steel-gray eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that made her feel small. "You know how important this business is to us. The Coles have been nothing but trouble since Harold cheated me out of that deal. We need an opportunity to level the playing field."Sophia swallowed, already feeling the unease rising in her chest. "Dad, what are you saying?"Richard's voice dropped to a conspiratorial tone. "This... situation with Ethan Cole? Use it. Use this fake relationship to get inside their world. Find out what you can about their business dealings, their strategies. Get close to him, and when the time is right, we'll take them down."Her breath caught in her throat. The very idea felt wrong, and yet, here it was—her father, the man she had spent her whole life trying to please, asking her to deceive the person she had been faking a relationship with. Except now... it wasn't all fake, was it?Sophia had never felt so torn. She had grown up under her father's watchful eye, always following his commands, always striving to live up to his expectations. But somewhere in the midst of her fabricated romance with Ethan, her feelings had shifted. She wasn't sure when it happened, but it had. She wasn't just pretending to be close to him anymore—she was. And the thought of betraying him to appease her father made her stomach twist in knots."Dad, I..." she began, but the words got stuck in her throat."You've always been my strong girl, Sophia. You know what's at stake here," Richard said, his tone softening for a moment. "You're the only one I can trust with this."The weight of her father's expectations crushed her. She had always been the dutiful daughter, striving to do what was right in his eyes. But this—this felt like stepping over a line she wasn't sure she could cross."I just need a little more time," she said, her voice shaky.Richard studied her, his face unreadable, before he gave a curt nod. "Fine. But don't wait too long. I expect results, Sophia. We can't afford to lose again."When he finally left the room, she exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Her heart pounded in her chest as a fresh wave of confusion washed over her. How could she do this to Ethan? But how could she not do what her father asked of her?The conflicting emotions swirling inside her were too much to process. She had spent so long striving to meet her father's expectations, living up to his image of the perfect daughter, and now she was caught between the two people she cared about—her father and the man she never expected to have real feelings for.Ethan was kind, funny, and, above all, he saw her as something more than just Richard Bennett's daughter. He saw her for who she was. And that was what scared her most.As the door clicked shut behind her, she realized that for the first time in her life, Sophia was going to have to make a choice—obey her father as she always had or follow her heart, even if it meant defying everything she had known.