Chapter 5 - The Daughter Who Disappeared
Sofia’s bedroom window was open.
Her phone sat on the bed.
Arthur became terrifyingly calm.
“Search everything.”
His men moved instantly.
I looked around the room.
“No.”
Arthur turned.
“What?”
“She wasn’t taken.”
“How do you know?”
“Her backpack is gone.”
He stared at the empty hook beside the desk.
“So are her sneakers.”
Luca appeared.
“I know where she went.”
Arthur turned.
“Where?”
Luca hesitated.
“Mom’s grave.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Today’s her birthday.”
The room went silent.
Arthur had forgotten.
He grabbed his coat.
“I’m going.”
“So am I.”
“No.”
“Arthur.”
“Evelyn—”
“She may not want you first.”
That stopped him.
Thirty minutes later, we found Sofia sitting beneath an umbrella in the cemetery.
Arthur stayed beside the car.
I approached alone.
Sofia didn’t look at me.
“He forgot.”
I sat beside her.
“Yes.”
“He never used to forget.”
“People forget things when they’re hurting.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You’re supposed to defend him.”
“I’m your stepmother, not his attorney.”
She almost smiled.
Then her eyes filled.
“If he loves you, does he love Mom less?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because love doesn’t work like a glass of water.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“You don’t empty one person out to make room for another.”
Sofia looked toward the car.
Arthur stood beneath the rain.
Waiting.
“Is he angry?”
“Terrified.”
“At me?”
“For you.”
She stood.
Arthur met us halfway.
He stopped in front of Sofia.
“I forgot.”
She looked down.
“I know.”
“No excuses.”
Arthur swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Sofia suddenly threw herself against him.
Arthur held her tightly.
I turned away.
Then I noticed another car.
Black sedan.
Parked across the cemetery.
Engine running.
The rear window lowered.
My father sat inside.
My blood turned cold.
“Arthur.”
He followed my gaze.
The sedan accelerated away.
That night, Arthur’s investigators discovered the truth.
My father had lost more than three million dollars.
Much more.
And he had been quietly feeding information about Arthur’s businesses to men who wanted him weakened.
Arthur stood behind his desk.
“He used you to get close to me.”
I shook my head.
“He couldn’t have known you’d choose me.”
“No.”
Arthur looked at the report.
“But once we married, he adapted.”
“What happens now?”
“I remove him from our lives.”
I stiffened.
Arthur noticed.
“Legally.”
I exhaled.
“He committed fraud. Financial crimes. Extortion. There’s enough here to destroy him without anyone getting hurt.”
I looked at him.
“You’d do that?”
“For you?”
“Yes.”
He walked around the desk.
“No.”
I frowned.
Arthur stopped in front of me.
“I’d do it because it’s the right way.”
Then he touched my cheek.
“But I’ll admit I enjoy the fact that it protects you.”
I smiled despite myself.
“Arthur.”
“Yes?”
“I think Luca asked me a question before you came home injured.”
“What question?”
“Whether I love you.”
Arthur became completely still.
“And?”
I stepped closer.
May you like
“I think I finally know the answer.”
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