Irreplaceable as the Ocean

The day after Sophia Lane and I got engaged, she volunteered to take on the first SSS-level mission my father had issued.

When I tried to stop her, her eyes were gentle but resolute.

“I know this mission is dangerous, but I have to become the top female mercenary in the industry. I want to stand on the summit for you. Wait for me.”

That wait lasted five full years.

And what I finally got was her standing in front of my father, battered and scarred.

“Boss, I don’t want any reward. I only ask to call off the engagement.”

Behind her stood a man, pale with fear, yet still holding her hand firmly.

My father yanked the man forward and threw him in front of me.

“Ethan Cole, say the word, and I’ll make sure they don’t walk out of the Cole Family Estate alive!”

Everyone thought I would nod without hesitation. After all, anyone who had dared to cross me before had already become nothing but bones.

But looking into the man’s terrified eyes, I only gave a faint smile.

“Should I call you brother-in-law?”

When I watched Sophia shielding him as they walked out of the estate, I turned to my father.

“Go to the Hart family. I’ll marry their daughter.”

But at the wedding with Emily Hart, Sophia pressed a gun to her own temple.

“If you marry her, I’ll pull the trigger.”

My father was the head of the largest private military organization in the American underworld, and I was his only son. Since childhood, I’d had four personal bodyguards sworn to protect me. Sophia was the youngest of the four—and she was my fiancée.

Five years ago, she had insisted on taking the organization’s first SSS-level mission. My father and I tried everything to stop her, but she went anyway. She said she wanted to be the highest-paid mercenary in the underground world, the woman who could stand shoulder to shoulder with me.

Five years later, I finally heard she was back.

When I rushed to the estate without even stopping to put on a coat, what I saw was my three sisters standing beside my father, their eyes full of hostility toward Sophia.

I was stunned.

“Isn’t it good that Sophia is back? Why are you treating her like this?”

The moment they saw me, both my father and my sisters showed a trace of pity in their eyes. But I didn’t think much of it. I was only overjoyed that five years of waiting had finally come to an end.

“Sophia, you’re back…”

My words froze in my throat when I saw the man holding her hand. His gaze swept over me, while Sophia avoided my eyes and looked only at my father.

“Boss, I don’t want the credit for this mission. I only ask to break off the engagement with the young master.”

With that, Sophia dropped to her knees. The sound of them hitting the floor slammed into my chest like a hammer.

My father stayed silent, while my sisters glared at Sophia with fury.

“Are you insane? Have you forgotten why you left in the first place?”

“Ethan has waited five whole years for you. Do you even know how he’s lived during that time, worrying every day that you might die out there? Is this how you repay him?”

“Sophia Lane, do you want to break off the engagement because of the man standing behind you?”

Their accusations filled the hall, but Sophia pressed her lips together and said nothing, as if waiting for my father’s decision.

He took a coat from the butler and draped it over my shoulders.

“Ethan, say the word. If you don’t want this, those two won’t walk out of the Cole Family Estate alive today.”

I let him put the coat on me, but my eyes stayed fixed on Sophia.