Chapter 4 - The Contract Daniel Never Expected
“Elena is with Vittorio.”
Sophia turned the phone toward Alessandro.
He took one look and called his security team.
Antonio whispered, “God help her.”
Sophia felt anger rise.
“She chose Daniel.”
“That doesn’t mean she chose this.”
Sophia hated that her father was right.
She called Elena.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Daniel answered on the fourth attempt.
“Sophia.”
“Where is my sister?”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“She made her choice.”
Sophia’s blood went cold.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is she?”
“You should ask Alessandro.”
Sophia looked at him.
“He’s standing beside me.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Of course he is.”
“Where is Elena?”
“Ask him what happens to people who betray the Moretti family.”
Alessandro took the phone.
“Daniel.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said something Sophia could not hear.
Alessandro’s face changed.
“Don’t.”
The call ended.
“What did he say?”
Alessandro was already moving.
“He has the file.”
“We know.”
“He also has the original transfer authorization.”
Sophia followed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he can make the missing money look like you approved it.”
She stopped.
Daniel had not merely cheated.
He had built an escape route through her name.
By midnight, Sophia was sitting in Alessandro’s study with three attorneys.
Documents covered the table.
One lawyer explained that they could immediately notify the bank, board, and authorities of suspected fraud.
Sophia listened.
Then she signed.
Alessandro watched.
“You’re certain?”
She looked at him.
“Daniel counted on me being too embarrassed to expose what happened.”
“Yes.”
“He was wrong.”
For the first time that night, Alessandro looked proud of her.
Not possessive.
Not rescuing.
Proud.
Sophia signed the final document.
“What happens now?”
“We freeze the accounts,” the attorney said.
“And Daniel?”
“If he attempts another transfer, we’ll know.”
Sophia looked toward Alessandro.
“You said he took something from your office.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
A pause.
“He still had access.”
“You didn’t revoke it?”
“He’s my brother.”
There was regret in the answer.
Sophia understood that more than she wanted to.
Elena was her sister.
Blood made intelligent people stupid.
“Then we have the same weakness.”
Alessandro met her eyes.
“Not anymore.”
Her phone rang.
Elena.
Sophia answered instantly.
“Elena?”
Breathing.
Then a whisper.
“Soph?”
Sophia stood.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A muffled sound.
Elena lowered her voice.
“Daniel left me.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
Of course he had.
“What happened?”
“I found the envelope in his bag. He saw me reading it.”
“What was inside?”
Elena began crying.
“Sophia, I’m sorry.”
“Tell me.”
“I thought Daniel loved me.”
Sophia nearly snapped at her.
But there was terror in Elena’s voice.
“He told me you were controlling everything. He said you never loved him. He said the wedding was business.”
Sophia said nothing.
“He said after he left you, we’d start over.”
“What was inside the envelope?”
A pause.
“A photograph of Mom.”
Sophia froze.
Their mother had died eight years earlier.
“What photograph?”
“She was with Vittorio.”
Antonio stood so quickly his chair fell.
Sophia stared at him.
Her father looked devastated.
“Elena, send it.”
“I can’t. They took it.”
“Who?”
Footsteps sounded on Elena’s end.
“Sophia.”
“What?”
“Dad lied.”
Antonio closed his eyes.
“About what?”
“Mom didn’t die in the accident.”
Sophia stopped breathing.
The call went dead.
She stared at her father.
“What did she mean?”
Antonio sank into the chair.
“Dad.”
He covered his face.
“Your mother was investigating Vittorio.”
“What?”
“She found financial records. She wanted to help Carlo expose him.”
“And the accident?”
Antonio looked up.
“I never believed it was an accident.”
Sophia backed away.
“You let us believe that for eight years?”
“I was protecting you.”
“Stop saying that!”
Her voice cracked.
Everyone became silent.
Sophia pressed both hands against the table.
“My fiancé lied to me. My sister lied to me. Now my father tells me my mother may have been killed because of a secret everyone decided I was too fragile to know.”
Antonio stood.
“I was terrified.”
“So was Mom, apparently.”
“Sophia—”
“No.”
She walked out.
Alessandro followed only as far as the hallway.
“Sophia.”
She stopped.
“Don’t follow me.”
He stayed where he was.
She turned.
That somehow made it worse.
“Why aren’t you following me?”
“You told me not to.”
A broken laugh escaped her.
Daniel would have followed.
He would have explained why her boundary was unreasonable.
Alessandro simply respected it.
Sophia looked away.
“I don’t know who to trust.”
“You don’t have to trust me.”
“Then why are you helping me?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because helping you and possessing your trust are two different things.”
She looked at him.
He stepped closer but stopped beyond touching distance.
“I wanted you seven years ago.”
Her heartbeat changed.
“I recognized you the day Daniel introduced us. I stayed away because you had chosen him.”
“I chose wrong.”
“That doesn’t mean you owe me a turn.”
Something inside her broke softly.
Not painfully.
Like ice thawing.
Before she could answer, one of Alessandro’s men appeared.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found Ms. Bianchi’s sister.”
Sophia rushed forward.
“Where?”
“An abandoned Moretti warehouse near the old harbor.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief nearly dropped Sophia to her knees.
“But there’s something else.”
The man handed Alessandro a tablet.
Security footage.
Elena staggered from a side door.
Alone.
Seconds later, another person emerged.
Daniel.
Sophia leaned closer.
Daniel was carrying the missing file.
He entered a waiting car.
The timestamp was twenty minutes earlier.
Alessandro enlarged the license plate.
Antonio whispered, “That car belongs to Vittorio.”
Sophia looked at Alessandro.
Daniel had not abandoned Elena.
He had traded her.
And on the screen, just before Daniel entered Vittorio’s car, another figure stepped out to greet him.
A woman.
Sophia stared at the frozen image.
The woman’s face was older.
But unmistakable.
May you like
Antonio made a sound behind her.
Sophia whispered, “Mom?”
