Replacement Bride Left With His Baby (Sophia and Easton) novel Chapter 28

**The Case of the Bleeding Shadows by Emma Blackwood**
**Chapter 28**

Since that fateful Saturday when Sophia had unexpectedly encountered Easton at the nursing home, she had taken it upon herself to alter her visiting schedule. The last thing she wanted was to run into him again, so she became deliberate about her timing.

“I’ll still visit you, Irene, I promise,” she had assured her grandmother, her voice steady despite the turmoil within. “Crestview Group is keeping me busy these days, but I’ll make sure to come by every week. Just not on the weekends anymore.”

Irene, with her keen, perceptive eyes—sharp as a hawk’s—could sense that something was amiss. The unspoken tension hung in the air like a thick fog. If anyone were to blame for this change in Sophia’s behavior, Irene suspected it was Easton, that insufferable troublemaker who had somehow managed to infiltrate their lives once more.

At that very moment, Easton was parked beside Irene, his presence a stark reminder of the complications that had arisen between them all.

“Easton,” Irene began, her voice laced with curiosity, “has Foster Group been struggling lately?”

He blinked, momentarily caught off guard by her question. The thought was absurd. ‘If Foster Group were in trouble, the entire industry would be facing disaster,’ he mused.

“Why do you ask?” he replied, furrowing his brow in confusion.

Irene shot him a piercing look, her frustration evident. “You used to visit only once every few weeks, and now you’re here every single weekend. What’s changed with you?”

Easton pondered this for a moment, unsure of how to articulate the reasons behind his increased visits. Still, he found himself drawn to the nursing home, to Irene’s company, despite the complexities it entailed.

With a hint of playful defiance, he quipped, “Sounds like you’d prefer I didn’t come around at all, huh?”

Irene sighed, her expression softening slightly. “Ever since you started showing up so frequently, Sophia has stopped coming by. Honestly, I’d take her over you any day.”

“Boring,” she continued, rolling her eyes. “You never want to chat about the latest trends online, and you won’t even read with me. What good are you?”

Irene’s fury was palpable. “If that whole mess with you and Stella hadn’t exploded online, and if she hadn’t pulled all those shady stunts that almost ruined Crestview Group, Sophia wouldn’t have been so heartbroken that she divorced you.”

“Grandma, I’ve told you a million times—Stella was just telling the truth. You keep saying she did something shady, but where’s the proof? We can’t accuse people without reason,” Easton countered, his frustration mounting.

Back when he was working tirelessly to save Crestview Group from its troubles, he had investigated everything himself. The facts aligned with what the news reported, and he believed Stella was innocent.

“But you admitted to me and Sophia that you once wanted to marry Stella,” Irene sighed, her voice softening with regret. “Any woman would feel crushed knowing her husband wished he’d ended up with someone else.”

“Easton, don’t tell me you were seriously into that streamer. If you were so crazy about her, why haven’t you married her by now—especially after your divorce?”

The air crackled with tension as Easton considered her words, feeling the weight of his choices pressing down on him.