Chapter 4 - I Found Sophia Alive in a Snow-Covered Farmhouse—But She Refused to Come Home Until I Learned What My Mother Had Done to Protect Our DaughterThe farmhouse was surrounded by snow.
No lights.
No vehicles.
No guards.
I entered alone.
Sophia stood near the fireplace.
Four years vanished in one second.
She looked older.
Thinner.
There was a scar near her temple.
But her eyes were the same.
I couldn't speak.
Neither could she.
Then she whispered:
“Dominic.”
I took one step forward.
She stepped back.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I let myself touch you, I won't leave.”
I swallowed.
“I don't want you to leave.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand everything now.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then explain.”
She looked at me.
“They threatened Lily.”
“I know.”
“They told me if you found out, they would kill her.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
The word hit me.
“She wasn't alone.”
“Who else?”
“Vincent.”
“And?”
“Your fiancée.”
I looked away.
“Isabella.”
Sophia nodded.
“She didn't want to hurt you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone seems to have a reason.”
“She was trying to survive.”
“So were you.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I knew you.”
“What does that mean?”
“You would have burned the city down.”
She wasn't wrong.
I sat.
“I spent four years thinking you left because you were afraid of me.”
She cried.
“I was afraid of losing you.”
That sentence broke me.
I reached for her.
She allowed it.
We hugged.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Sophia pulled away.
“Lily is like you.”
I smiled.
“She calls me Daddy.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“I always wanted that.”
“You could have had it.”
“I know.”
She looked toward the window.
“I made mistakes.”
“So did I.”
She laughed softly.
“I missed you.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
Silence.
Then she gave me a box.
Inside was the ledger.
The original.
I stared.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your father gave it to me.”
“What?”
“He trusted me.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother was trying to kill him.”
My heart stopped.
Sophia explained.
My father knew his wife was manipulating the family.
He wanted out.
He wanted me out.
He had planned to expose everything.
He gave Sophia the ledger.
Then he was killed.
Sophia fled.
She gave the ledger to a trusted person.
But Vincent found her.
He threatened Lily.
My mother intervened.
She paid Sophia to disappear.
But she also secretly helped.
“Your mother wasn't entirely evil,” Sophia said.
“She was protecting Lily in the only way she knew how.”
I shook my head.
“She destroyed our family.”
“She thought she was saving it.”
“What about Vincent?”
“He wanted the ledger.”
“Why?”
“Because it could destroy him.”
I opened it.
The names were there.
Payments.
Accounts.
Photographs.
Evidence.
Everything.
Then I saw something else.
A name.
My own.
A note beside it.
He doesn't know.
I stared.
My father had known I was innocent.
He had also known I would eventually inherit the trust.
Lily was the final heir.
That's why everyone wanted her.
Sophia touched my hand.
“She's in danger now.”
“I know.”
“Then you have to take her somewhere safe.”
“She is at the mansion.”
Sophia went pale.
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“She isn't safe there.”
“Why?”
She whispered:
“Because Vincent has been living inside your house.”
I froze.
“Who?”
“The butler.”
My stomach dropped.
Our butler.
Thomas.
He had worked for my family for twenty-five years.
Impossible.
Sophia shook her head.
“He was the first person Vincent recruited.”
I called Enzo.
“Lock the house.”
He answered.
“It may already be too late.”
My blood turned cold.
“Why?”
“Thomas is gone.”
“And Lily?”
Silence.
“Enzo.”
“We're searching.”
My stomach dropped.
I had left Lily.
With people I trusted.
In a house I believed was secure.
I had failed her.
Sophia grabbed my arm.
“Take me with you.”
We drove.
Every minute felt like an hour.
When we reached the estate, the gates were open.
Security was down.
The house was dark.
I ran inside.
“Lily!”
Nothing.
I tore through the rooms.
No Lily.
No Thomas.
No guards.
Then I heard something.
A tiny voice.
“Daddy?”
My heart stopped.
I followed it.
The basement.
A hidden room.
I opened the door.
Lily was sitting on the floor.
Thomas was unconscious nearby.
And standing over her—
Vincent.
He smiled.
“Welcome home, Dominic.”
I raised my weapon.
“Touch her and die.”
He laughed.
“You think she's the reason you're here?”
“No.”
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
He held up a second ledger.
“The trust isn't about money.”
I frowned.
“Then what?”
He smiled.
“It's about ownership.”
“Of what?”
He stepped forward.
“The harbor.”
The entire New York shipping network.
My family's biggest assets.
The trust would control it.
Whoever controlled Lily controlled everything.
That was the plan.
He had never wanted to kill her.
He wanted to control her.
Until she turned eighteen.
Then everything would become his.
I stepped forward.
“You're finished.”
Vincent laughed.
“You think so?”
A gunshot came from behind him.
Thomas was awake.
He had shot Vincent.
Vincent fell.
I ran to Lily.
She threw her arms around me.
I held her.
Then looked up.
Thomas was crying.
“I tried to protect her.”
I stared.
“You were working for him.”
“I was.”
“Then why?”
“Because I couldn't do it anymore.”
Sophia entered.
Thomas stared at her.
“You came back.”
“Yes.”
The family secret was finally exposed.
Vincent was arrested.
Thomas survived.
Lily was safe.
And Sophia—
was home.
But the ledger contained one final page.
A name.
Victoria Moretti.
My mother.
With one sentence:
She ordered the first betrayal.
I looked at Sophia.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
She whispered,
“She knows who killed your father.”
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