Damian's POV

The silence that fell over the room after my words was almost deafening. My father's rigid face slowly turned toward Sophie. His eyes burned with disbelief, but there was disappointment there too.

"Sophie… is what he said true?"

She went pale instantly, her lips trembling, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.

"I… I didn't…" she stammered, avoiding everyone's eyes. "It was my mother… just my mother! I didn't know anything, I swear!"

My father lifted his hands