Chapter 7 - Sophia Let Her Husband Think She Still Loved HimFor the next eleven weeks, Sophia became the wife Victor thought he wanted.
She stopped asking questions.
She attended events beside him.
She smiled for cameras.
She held his hand.
She even defended Isabella publicly.
The newspapers began calling them a perfect couple.
Victor started trusting her again.
That was exactly what Sophia wanted.
She needed him careless.
She needed Isabella careless.
And she needed Marcus to believe the original plan was still working.
At night, Sophia met secretly with her brothers.
Alexander controlled the legal strategy.
Julian tracked financial movements.
Nathaniel handled private security.
Her mother remained hidden.
Daniel monitored Marcus.
The operation became a family project.
Then Victor proposed renewal of their vows.
Sophia almost laughed.
“Why?”
“Because I want to start again.”
She looked at him.
“Where?”
“On a yacht.”
Sophia's heart stopped.
A yacht.
Water.
The old memories returned.
But this time she smiled.
“All right.”
Victor kissed her.
He had no idea he was proposing the location of his own downfall.
The yacht belonged to Marcus Vale.
Sophia knew.
She approved anyway.
The night of the ceremony arrived.
Seattle glittered below them.
Isabella was there.
Victor's closest friends were there.
Business executives were there.
Sophia wore white.
Victor wore black.
Someone joked that it looked like a wedding between an angel and a criminal.
Sophia smiled.
They exchanged vows.
Victor's voice shook.
“I thought I had lost you once.”
Sophia looked into his eyes.
“You did.”
He frowned.
She smiled.
“But you found me again.”
The guests applauded.
Isabella clapped too.
But her eyes were cold.
At midnight, Sophia slipped into the private cabin.
She found a hidden safe.
Inside:
Passports.
Cash.
A gun.
And a folder.
She opened it.
Her death plan.
Exact date.
Exact location.
Exact people.
She photographed everything.
Then she found a second document.
The real target wasn't Victor.
It was Hastings Holdings.
Victor was disposable.
Sophia smiled.
“Good.”
She closed the folder.
The door opened.
Marcus entered.
He froze.
“What are you doing?”
Sophia turned.
“Looking for you.”
Marcus stared.
“You know who I am.”
“Yes.”
He reached for his gun.
Sophia raised hers first.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“You've been investigating me.”
“For months.”
“You should have stayed away.”
“I died once.”
Marcus laughed.
“You believe you're clever.”
“I know I'm prepared.”
He looked around.
“Where is Victor?”
“Upstairs.”
“And Isabella?”
“Waiting for you.”
Marcus looked confused.
Sophia stepped closer.
“She knows everything.”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Enough.”
Marcus reached for the phone in his pocket.
Sophia said:
“Don't.”
He stopped again.
“You can't stop the operation.”
“I already did.”
“How?”
She smiled.
“Because the bank transfer you've been waiting for doesn't exist.”
Marcus's face darkened.
“What?”
“I moved the money.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere you can't reach.”
He lunged.
Sophia fired.
Not at him.
At the ceiling beside his head.
He froze.
Security doors slammed shut around the yacht.
Nathaniel's voice came over the intercom.
“Marcus Vale, you're surrounded.”
Marcus looked at Sophia.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“You're insane.”
“No.”
She walked toward the door.
“I’m a Hastings.”
Before leaving, she turned.
“And I don't lose twice.”
Marcus was arrested.
But Isabella escaped.
Sophia knew she would.
Because Isabella was never working alone.
She had someone inside the Hastings organization.
Someone who had access to private security.
Someone who knew every part of Sophia's plan.
The traitor was close.
Very close.
The next morning, Sophia received a message.
A photograph.
Victor.
Bound.
Alone.
The caption:
Your turn to choose.
Sophia stared at it.
The past had caught up with the present.
May you like
But this time, she knew something Victor had never understood.
She would choose differently.
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