Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BETWEEN US
Z
Daniel was out of the chair before I could speak.
“Bring her to me.”
His voice was flat.
Deadly.
Aaron began responding, but Daniel ended the call.
I stared at him.
“Sophia knew?”
“We don’t know what she knew.”
“You just heard the same thing I did.”
“I heard that her credentials deleted a report.”
“About my pregnancy.”
“Possible pregnancy.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Still protecting her?”
Daniel’s head snapped toward me.
“No.”
“It sounds like it.”
“You want me to decide she deliberately kept my daughter from me before I hear what happened?”
“I want you to remember this is the same woman whose phone call ended our anniversary.”
His expression darkened.
“I remember every second of that night.”
“Good.”
Twenty minutes later, two vehicles stopped outside.
Sophia entered the apartment with Aaron behind her.
For the first time in seven years, she didn’t look polished.
Her hair was loosely tied back.
No designer coat.
No perfect makeup.
She looked exhausted.
And frightened.
Her gaze immediately found me.
“Elena.”
I didn’t answer.
Daniel placed the security report on the table.
“Explain.”
Sophia looked down.
All color left her face.
“Oh, God.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You have ten seconds.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Your credentials.”
“Were used by Vincent.”
My stomach tightened.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Sophia continued quickly.
“Seven years ago Vincent controlled internal intelligence. He requested access to executive credentials constantly. Mine included.”
“You expect me to believe he happened to use yours for this?”
“No.”
Sophia’s voice cracked.
“I think he chose mine deliberately.”
Daniel went still.
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because everyone knew what Elena thought about me.”
I wanted to hate her.
I really did.
But there was genuine shame in her expression.
“You loved him,” I said.
Sophia didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
She looked at him.
“And you knew.”
“Yes,” he answered.
Another old wound opened.
Sophia swallowed.
“I told Vincent once.”
“Told him what?” Daniel asked.
“That Elena believed something was happening between us. That your marriage was falling apart.”
Daniel’s face became stone.
“You discussed my marriage with Vincent?”
“I was stupid.”
“You were disloyal.”
“Yes.”
I almost admired how quickly she admitted it.
Sophia looked at me.
“He encouraged me.”
A cold understanding began forming.
“He told you Daniel needed somebody who understood his world.”
Her eyes widened.
“Yes.”
“He told you I was holding Daniel back.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked between us.
“How did you know?”
“Because Vincent told me the same thing for years.”
Silence.
Suddenly the past looked different.
Not innocent.
Daniel had still betrayed our marriage emotionally.
Sophia had still crossed boundaries.
But somebody had been feeding both sides of the fracture.
Sophia sat slowly.
“Vincent told me you were going to leave Elena eventually. He said your marriage belonged to a younger version of you.”
Daniel’s expression was murderous.
“And you believed him.”
“I wanted to.”
That answer cost her something.
She looked at me again.
“The anniversary night was real. My brother had died. I called Daniel because I didn’t know who else to call.”
“I know.”
Her eyes filled.
“But afterward, Vincent told me Elena would force you to choose.”
I remembered the next morning.
The divorce papers.
The silence.
The cold certainty that Daniel had selected another woman.
Sophia whispered, “I thought if you divorced her, eventually you might choose me.”
Daniel’s face didn’t change.
“But I didn’t.”
“No.”
Pain flickered across Sophia’s expression.
“No, you never did.”
I folded my arms.
“Then why stay?”
“Work.”
I gave her a look.
“And guilt.”
That surprised me.
Sophia reached into her purse and removed a small flash drive.
“Three years ago, I realized Vincent was moving money through subsidiaries Daniel had ordered closed. I started copying records.”
Daniel stared at the drive.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know who I could trust.”
“You could have trusted me.”
Sophia laughed sadly.
“Daniel, you were becoming suspicious of everyone. Vincent made sure of that.”
She slid the drive across the table.
“I think he has been preparing to remove you for years.”
My skin prickled.
“Remove him how?”
Sophia looked at Lily’s bedroom door.
“I think Lily changes the plan.”
Daniel’s entire body became still.
“Explain.”
“Vincent believes in bloodlines. Succession. Legacy.”
She looked directly at him.
“If you died without an heir, pieces of the organization would fall to the senior council.”
Daniel understood first.
“Vincent.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“But now Daniel has Lily.”
Sophia nodded.
“Which means Vincent has a problem.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Or leverage.”
Nobody spoke.
Then I heard a floorboard creak.
I turned.
Lily stood in the hallway wearing pink pajamas, clutching Mr. Pickles.
She looked from Sophia to Daniel.
“Why is everyone mad?”
My heart cracked.
I crossed the room and crouched.
“We’re not mad at you.”
“I know.”
She looked at Daniel.
“Are bad guys looking for us?”
Daniel froze.
Children heard everything.
He knelt.
“Yes.”
Lily’s fingers tightened around the rabbit.
“Because you’re my dad?”
The silence became unbearable.
Daniel could have lied.
He didn’t.
“Yes.”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I don’t want a scary dad.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I thought the words might destroy him.
He opened them again.
“Neither do I.”
Lily sniffed.
“Can you stop being scary?”
Daniel looked at our daughter for a very long time.
Then he glanced at me.
Something changed.
Not softness.
Decision.
“Yes.”
He stood and looked at Aaron.
“Call every division head.”
Aaron frowned.
“For what?”
Daniel picked up Sophia’s flash drive.
“For the end.”
“The end of what?”
Daniel’s eyes moved to Lily.
“The organization.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You dismantle it now, Vincent will come for you before sunrise.”
Daniel nodded.
“I know.”
May you like
Then he looked at me.
“That’s why he won’t know until it’s too late.”
