Chapter 6 - THE SECRET SOPHIA WAS WILLING TO DESTROY TWO FAMILIES TO KEEPVincent's Perspective
“Did you know Claire was pregnant?”
Sophia stopped smiling.
We were standing inside the private conference room at Moretti Development.
The city skyline stretched beyond the windows, but neither of us looked at it.
I had asked her to come in for a discussion about her consulting contract.
My attorney, Nathan Reed, sat near the door.
Sophia's attorney had declined to attend, despite our recommendation that she bring counsel.
She'd arrived expecting an emotional confrontation.
Instead, I intended to establish exactly what she knew.
“Why are you asking me that?” she replied.
I studied her face.
“Did you know?”
She looked at Nathan.
“Is this some kind of interrogation?”
Nathan spoke calmly.
“Ms. Reynolds, you're free to leave. Mr. Moretti has questions about the financial transactions associated with your company and your access to his residence.”
Sophia crossed her arms.
“Fine. Ask.”
I placed a still image from the townhouse security recording on the table.
It showed her holding Claire's blue gift box.
Her expression changed.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked at me.
“You had me followed?”
“No. That's footage from my home.”
She gave a short laugh.
“You gave me the security code.”
“For collecting work documents. Not for searching my wife's private study.”
Sophia looked away.
I repeated my question.
“Did you know Claire was pregnant?”
Her silence answered before she did.
“Yes.”
The word barely seemed real.
I gripped the back of a chair.
“How long?”
“Since I found the box.”
“Three days before our anniversary?”
She nodded.
I closed my eyes.
For four days, I'd tortured myself imagining how different things might have been if I'd gone home that evening.
But Sophia had known.
She'd known Claire was preparing to tell me about our child.
And she'd still insisted we meet at the restaurant where my wife was waiting.
“Why?” I asked.
Sophia's expression hardened.
“Because I was tired of being second.”
I stared at her.
“You were having an affair with a married man. What did you expect?”
“I expected you to choose me.”
“You knew I was married when we met.”
“And you knew you were married when you kissed me.”
I swallowed.
She was right.
Nothing Sophia had done erased my responsibility.
But her next words revealed how deeply she'd manipulated the situation.
“Claire always gets everything.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“She got the scholarship. She got the perfect graduation. She got the career everyone admired.”
“Are you talking about college?”
Sophia laughed bitterly.
“Of course you don't understand. You never knew what she was like back then.”
I remembered Claire describing Sophia as someone who treated every relationship like a competition.
At the time, I thought she was exaggerating.
Now I wasn't sure she'd told me half of it.
Sophia continued.
“Everyone loved Claire. Professors adored her. Men wanted her. She never had to fight for anything.”
I shook my head.
“You have no idea how hard Claire worked.”
Sophia ignored me.
“Then she married you. Rich, successful, handsome Vincent Moretti. Perfect husband. Perfect house. Perfect life.”
I looked at her.
“You think our marriage was perfect?”
“No. That's the point.”
Her expression became strangely triumphant.
“I wanted to know whether you were really as loyal as she believed.”
My stomach turned.
Ten years earlier, Sophia had told Claire almost the same thing about her college boyfriend.
I wanted to see if he'd choose me over you.
It wasn't love.
It was a competition she'd never stopped playing.
And I had allowed myself to become part of it.
“Did you arrange our anniversary dinner because you knew Claire would be there?”
Sophia hesitated.
Then she shrugged.
“I suggested the restaurant.”
“Did you know she had a reservation?”
“I may have seen it on the calendar in your house.”
I stared at her.
“You deliberately took me there.”
“You agreed to come.”
The truth settled between us.
I wanted to blame Sophia for everything.
But I couldn't.
She might have arranged the confrontation.
She might have searched my house.
She might have known about the pregnancy.
But I'd made my own choices.
I'd held her hand.
I'd touched her face.
I'd sent my wife a lie while sitting only a few tables away.
There was no explanation that made those actions harmless.
Nathan opened a folder.
“Ms. Reynolds, we also need to discuss the financing documents.”
Sophia's eyes sharpened.
“What about them?”
“The company is reviewing the disputed authorization and the payments to Sable Advisory. We are preserving all relevant records and cooperating with the appropriate investigators.”
She looked at me.
“Vincent, are you really going to let Claire destroy your business?”
I felt a flash of anger.
“Claire didn't forge those documents.”
“You don't know who did.”
“No. But I intend to find out.”
Sophia stood.
“Then I have nothing else to say.”
Nathan nodded.
“You should contact your attorney before discussing the matter further.”
She moved toward the door.
Then stopped.
“Vincent.”
I looked up.
“You think admitting you made a mistake will bring Claire back?”
“No.”
My answer surprised her.
I continued.
“I don't expect Claire to come back.”
Sophia stared at me.
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because telling the truth matters even when it doesn't get you what you want.”
For a moment, something uncertain crossed her face.
Then she left.
Afterward, Nathan turned toward me.
“That conversation may become important.”
I nodded.
“Can we prove she took the pregnancy box?”
“We can prove what the security footage shows. The question is what else she accessed and whether she used any of it.”
I sat down.
“Claire received a threatening message. Someone mentioned her pregnancy.”
Nathan's expression tightened.
“Her attorney shared that information with us. We're preserving anything that might help identify the sender.”
I looked toward the window.
“Do you think Sophia sent it?”
“It's possible. We shouldn't assume anything before the evidence is examined.”
I nodded.
Nathan studied me.
“Vincent, I need to say something you may not want to hear.”
“Go ahead.”
“If Claire is pregnant, you cannot use that information to pressure her into staying married.”
I looked at him.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
I hesitated.
Four days earlier, I'd told Claire we weren't getting divorced.
I'd believed my determination could somehow undo the damage.
Now I understood how cruel that had sounded.
“I want to be a father,” I said quietly.
Nathan's expression softened slightly.
“Then begin by respecting the mother of your child.”
Those words stayed with me.
That afternoon, I signed documents placing my executive authority under temporary independent oversight during the financing investigation.
I didn't resign permanently.
But I agreed that I shouldn't supervise an inquiry involving my own approvals.
Everett Price would also step aside from the relevant financial decisions while the records were reviewed.
For the first time in years, I was allowing other people to question my judgment.
It felt humiliating.
It was necessary.
At six that evening, Marcus entered my office.
His face was unusually tense.
“Sir, we have another problem.”
I looked up.
“What now?”
He held out his tablet.
“Someone sent a photograph to a celebrity gossip website.”
My chest tightened.
“What photograph?”
Marcus turned the screen toward me.
I recognized it instantly.
Claire.
Walking through St. Catherine's Medical Center.
Holding her folder against her stomach.
The headline beneath it made me feel sick.
MILLIONAIRE'S MISSING WIFE SPOTTED AT MATERNITY CLINIC—IS A SECRET BABY BEHIND THEIR DIVORCE?
I stared at the screen.
The photograph was the same one my security contractor had delivered to Marcus.
The same photograph I'd ordered him to stop using.
Someone had leaked it.
And now, before Claire had even chosen how to tell me about our child, the entire city was being invited to speculate about her pregnancy.
I looked at Marcus.
“Find out who sent that photograph.”
He hesitated.
“Sir, we may have a bigger problem.”
“What?”
“The article includes a quote from an unnamed source.”
My hands tightened.
“What does it say?”
Marcus swallowed.
“According to the source, Mrs. Moretti is hiding her pregnancy to gain an advantage in the divorce.”
May you like
I looked at the screen again.
And for the first time, I understood that Sophia might not stop until Claire had lost everything.
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