Chapter 3 - Sophie
Daniel finally told me the story.
Not because he wanted to.
Because there was nowhere left to hide.
We sat across from each other in my apartment that afternoon.
Chloe sat near the window.
She looked exhausted.
Daniel looked ten years older.
“Sophie was my friend,” he began.
“Not your girlfriend?”
“No.”
I watched his face.
“She worked for Bennett Holdings.”
Chloe lowered her eyes.
“My father owned the company,” she said.
Daniel continued.
“Sophie discovered financial fraud.”
I frowned.
“Fraud?”
“Millions of dollars were being moved through shell companies.”
“By your family?”
Chloe shook her head.
“By my father and his business partner.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your father blamed Sophie when the audit started.”
“She had proof,” Chloe said. “She was going to report everything.”
I felt cold.
“What happened?”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“My father died before the investigation could reach him.”
“And Sophie?”
“She disappeared.”
I stared at him.
“You said she moved away.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
He looked at me.
“Because I was afraid.”
That answer made me angrier than anything else.
“You were afraid?”
“Yes.”
“And that was enough to let a woman disappear?”
“I was twenty-seven.”
“So?”
“I thought I could fix it later.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Chloe began crying silently.
“Sophie was my friend too,” she said. “My father threatened her. Daniel tried to help her leave.”
I looked at Daniel.
“What happened?”
“She never made it.”
Silence.
“Her car went off a mountain road.”
I closed my eyes.
“Accident?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Chloe did.
“The police called it an accident.”
My eyes opened.
“You don't believe that.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Sophie called me two hours before she died.”
Chloe's voice broke.
“She told me my father knew everything.”
I looked at Daniel.
“And you?”
“I arrived too late.”
“Then why were you outside the courthouse?”
He stared at me.
“The photograph.”
“Yes.”
“That was after Sophie's death.”
“What was in the folder?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Chloe whispered, “The original financial records.”
I stared at her.
“You had proof?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you report it?”
“My father had already died,” Chloe said. “But his partners were still powerful. They threatened my mother. They threatened me.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“And they threatened Sophie before she died.”
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
“Why tell me now?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Because someone has been sending me messages for weeks.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What kind?”
“Pictures. Documents. Threats.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I thought I could handle it.”
“You always think that.”
He flinched.
I stood.
“Who sent the messages?”
“We don't know.”
My phone buzzed.
All three of us looked at it.
Unknown number.
I opened the message.
Ask Daniel why Sophie was carrying his watch when she died.
I looked up.
Daniel's face had gone white.
“Your watch?”
He didn't speak.
I grabbed my coat.
“Where are you going?”
“To find out whether you've been lying to me about everything.”
Daniel stood.
“Emma—”
“No.”
I held up my hand.
“You don't get to call me your fiancée anymore.”
He stopped.
“I don't know who you are.”
I walked out.
Behind me, Chloe whispered:
“She was right.”
Daniel turned.
“About what?”
Chloe looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“You didn't lose Emma this morning.”
May you like
He stared at her.
“You lost her three years ago.”
