Chapter 10 - The Woman Who Came Back from the Dead|
Sophia tried to leave, but Vincent stepped into her path.
“Tell me where Elena is.”
“Move.”
“Not until you answer.”
Daniel immediately positioned himself beside Vincent, reminding him with a glance that the hospital was not a place for threats. Evelyn called security and asked them to remain nearby.
Sophia looked from one face to another.
“You're all making a mistake.”
“Then correct it,” I said.
She turned toward me, her eyes hard.
“You have no idea what you're interfering with.”
“I know that my husband abandoned me while I was giving birth. I know someone forged my signature. I know money from my marriage was used to buy you a house and a car. And now I know you may have lied about a woman who disappeared years ago.”
Sophia's expression sharpened.
“You think you're so innocent?”
“No,” I said. “I think I deserve the truth.”
For a long moment, she seemed unable to find a response.
Then she looked at Vincent.
“Elena contacted me several years ago. She was alive, but she didn't want to come back.”
Vincent went perfectly still.
“You knew she was alive?”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“From whom?”
Sophia's eyes flickered toward Daniel.
“From your family.”
Vincent took a step forward.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you would have dragged her back into a life she escaped.”
“You had no right to make that decision for me.”
Sophia laughed bitterly.
“Isn't that exactly what you did to Claire? You decided she would stay, no matter how you treated her. You decided she would forgive you because she always had before.”
The words struck harder than any insult.
I looked at Vincent.
He did not deny it.
Sophia continued.
“Elena begged me not to tell you. She said she would only come back if she knew she could live without your family's influence. I agreed.”
“And the money?” Evelyn asked. “The company transfers?”
Sophia's expression closed.
“I didn't forge anything.”
“Then you should have no objection to a proper investigation.”
Sophia looked at Vincent again.
“Your father never stopped searching for Elena because he wanted to bring her home. He wanted to make sure she stayed away. He believed she knew things about the family that could destroy everything.”
Vincent's face changed.
“What things?”
Sophia shook her head.
“Ask your father.”
“My father has been dead for six years.”
“Then ask the people who handled his affairs.”
Before Vincent could respond, hospital security arrived. Evelyn explained that Sophia was not an approved visitor and asked her to leave the unit.
Sophia backed away, but her gaze remained fixed on Vincent.
“You think you can start over with Claire and your daughter,” she said. “You think you can become a good man because you're frightened of losing them. But there are things you don't know about your own family.”
She turned and walked away.
Vincent did not follow.
That evening, Evelyn received a message from the investigator handling the forged authorization. A woman matching Elena's description had been located in Wisconsin under the name Elena Reed.
She had agreed to speak with them.
Vincent asked if he could join the meeting.
Evelyn said she would consult the investigator and make the appropriate arrangements.
Then she showed me the final line of the message.
Elena says she has evidence that Vincent's father arranged the financial scheme—and that the person who continued it after his death is still close to Vincent.
Vincent read it over her shoulder.
His eyes moved to Daniel.
Then to me.
May you like
And finally, to the hospital door, where a shadow had paused outside the glass.
Someone had been listening.
