Chapter 3 - The First Love Was Not Who Victor Thought She WasSophia didn't sleep.
At sunrise, she printed everything.
She needed proof.
Not suspicion.
Not intuition.
Proof.
She followed Victor for three days.
He visited Isabella at the hospital.
Then a private clinic.
Then a warehouse.
Then an apartment downtown.
Sophia photographed every location.
On the fourth day, Isabella left the hospital.
She wasn't sick.
Sophia knew it.
But now she needed evidence strong enough to break Victor's faith in her.
She contacted a private investigator named Daniel Cross.
Daniel had once worked for the Hastings family.
He was expensive.
Discreet.
And ruthless.
Sophia met him at a coffee shop.
“I want Isabella Reed investigated.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“Relationship?”
“Victor Grant's first love.”
“That explains the trouble.”
“She may be involved in financial fraud.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Then where do I start?”
Sophia slid the folder across the table.
“Everything.”
He looked through the documents.
“Thirty days.”
“No.”
“Twenty.”
“Ten.”
Daniel smiled.
“That's why your family scares me.”
Sophia stood.
“Ten.”
That same afternoon, Victor brought Isabella to the house.
Sophia had expected it.
She sat quietly in the living room.
Isabella entered wearing a pale blue dress.
She looked fragile.
Victimized.
Perfect.
“Sophia.”
“Isabella.”
Victor placed a hand on Isabella's shoulder.
“She needs somewhere to stay.”
Sophia smiled.
“There are hotels.”
Victor frowned.
“She shouldn't be alone.”
“She won't be.”
“I'm asking her to stay here.”
Silence.
Sophia looked at him.
“In our house?”
“Yes.”
She stared at Isabella.
Isabella gave her a nervous smile.
“I don't want to cause problems.”
Sophia almost laughed.
“You're very good at that.”
Victor snapped.
“Enough.”
Sophia leaned back.
“Fine.”
Victor looked surprised.
“You agree?”
“I do.”
Isabella blinked.
“Really?”
Sophia smiled.
“Please make yourself comfortable.”
Victor exhaled.
He thought he had won.
Isabella thought she had won.
Neither understood what Sophia had just done.
She wanted Isabella inside the house.
She wanted to watch her.
The first night, Sophia noticed Isabella wandering into Victor's study.
Sophia followed quietly.
Through the cracked door, she saw Isabella open a drawer.
She pulled out a document.
Photographed it.
Returned it.
Then she whispered into her phone.
“It's happening.”
Sophia waited.
A male voice answered.
“Good.”
Isabella replied.
“She suspects nothing.”
Sophia stepped backward.
The next morning she searched Victor's study.
The document was missing.
Sophia checked the cabinet.
Nothing.
Then she noticed a dust mark.
One folder had been removed.
She called Julian.
“Need a favor.”
“Name it.”
“Can you recover deleted security footage?”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Two hours later, Julian sent a file.
Isabella had been in Victor's study twenty-seven minutes.
Then Victor entered.
They spoke privately.
The audio was incomplete.
But one phrase was clear.
Isabella said:
“Once she gives you control, we're done.”
Victor answered:
“She doesn't know about the company.”
Sophia's blood ran cold.
What company?
That night she confronted Victor.
“What happens when I give you control?”
He stared.
“Control of what?”
“Hastings.”
His expression changed.
Sophia watched him carefully.
“I never said Hastings.”
Victor recovered quickly.
“You've been at the office. Obviously that's what you mean.”
“Maybe.”
He moved closer.
“You don't trust me.”
“Not anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because every time I ask a question, you answer a different one.”
He sighed.
“Sophia, marriage requires trust.”
She looked at him.
“Trust is earned.”
His jaw tightened.
“You're becoming cruel.”
“No.”
She walked away.
“I’m becoming careful.”
The next day Daniel called.
“I have something.”
They met at the Hastings estate.
Daniel placed photographs on the table.
“Isabella has been in debt for years.”
Sophia looked at them.
“Gambling?”
“Among other things.”
“How much?”
“Over eight million.”
Sophia frowned.
“And Victor?”
“He has paid part of it.”
“Why?”
“That's the interesting part.”
Daniel handed her another file.
“Victor didn't pay her personally.”
“How?”
“He used a private trust.”
“What trust?”
“Grant Family Recovery Trust.”
Sophia stared.
That was impossible.
Victor's family trust had been inactive for years.
“Who revived it?”
“Someone using your husband's credentials.”
Sophia looked at the next photograph.
Victor entering a bank.
Beside him was Isabella.
But the time stamp was two years earlier.
Before Sophia and Victor married.
Daniel added:
“They knew each other long before you thought.”
“I knew that.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You knew Isabella was his first love.”
He pushed another photo forward.
“This is the real problem.”
Sophia stared.
Victor and Isabella weren't kissing.
They were meeting with someone else.
A man in a gray coat.
Sophia recognized him.
Marcus Vale.
A private investor.
One of the men who had tried to acquire Hastings Holdings years before.
She had believed the company had rejected his offer.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus Vale has been buying debt connected to Grant Development.”
“Why?”
“Because if Victor defaults, Vale gains control.”
Sophia's mind raced.
“What does Isabella have to do with him?”
“Everything.”
Daniel gave her a final photograph.
Isabella leaving Marcus Vale's office.
Sophia whispered:
“So this isn't a love triangle.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“It’s a takeover.”
Sophia leaned back.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Isabella wasn't trying to steal Victor's love.
She was trying to position him.
Get close.
Gain trust.
Get access.
Then destroy him.
And Sophia?
She was collateral.
Or perhaps the final obstacle.
Daniel asked:
“What are you going to do?”
Sophia looked toward the window.
“Nothing yet.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to see how far they go.”
Daniel frowned.
“That can be dangerous.”
Sophia smiled.
“Good.”
That night, she sat across from Isabella at dinner.
Victor was in the office.
Isabella smiled.
“You seem happier lately.”
“I am.”
“Victor says you're acting differently.”
“I am.”
“Do you still love him?”
Sophia looked directly at her.
“I used to.”
Isabella relaxed.
Then Sophia smiled.
“Now I'm starting to love myself.”
Isabella's smile disappeared for half a second.
Sophia noticed.
She always noticed.
Then Isabella leaned closer.
“You should be careful.”
“With what?”
“People who don't love you the way you think they do.”
Sophia held her gaze.
“You should take your own advice.”
Neither woman moved.
May you like
The war had begun.
And neither knew which one would still be standing when it ended.
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