Chương 8
“Before.”
That mattered.
Richard noticed Ethan noticed too.
The accusation in the hallway had been connected to the will.
But the money had already been taken.
The fear had existed before the fear she claimed to have.
“Why did you think I was changing the will?” Richard asked.
Sophia looked away.
“Because Daniel told me.”
Richard frowned.
“Daniel knew?”
“He said he had heard things.”
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard stood.
“You need to stop saying that.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Because you don’t believe me?”
“Because you keep placing yourself near dangerous situations without knowing how you got there.”
The sentence seemed to affect her.
She looked down.
For the first time, Richard saw something beyond guilt.
He saw someone who had been making one desperate decision after another and had convinced herself each decision was temporary.
Temporary problems had a way of becoming permanent.
“What is Daniel’s full name?” Ethan asked.
Sophia looked at him.
“Daniel Mercer.”
Ethan pulled out his phone.
Richard watched him.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking him up.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know who has been involved in this.”
Richard nodded.
That was reasonable.
But he also saw the same impatience that had led Ethan into the hallway.
The need to act before understanding.
“Slow down,” Richard said.
Ethan stopped.
“He might be dangerous.”
“That is exactly why I want to know.”
“And exactly why you should not do this emotionally.”
Ethan looked frustrated.
“I hit you because I thought I knew what was happening.”
Richard held his gaze.
“And now you want to fix it by doing the same thing.”
The words landed.
Ethan lowered his phone.
Neither man spoke.
Sophia watched them.
The argument was not about Daniel anymore.
It was about the pattern that had existed in their family long before that night.
Everyone wanted to protect the people they loved.
Nobody noticed how protection could become control.
Richard sat back down.
“Tell us everything from the beginning.”
Sophia remained standing.
“I don’t know if I can.”
“You can.”
Her eyes moved toward him.
“You still think I am the person who did this.”
Richard did not answer immediately.
Because the honest answer was complicated.
“I think you made choices that hurt people.”
He paused.
“I also think you are more afraid than you are willing to admit.”
Sophia looked at the floor.
That was enough for her to continue.
“Daniel helped me with the business when things started falling apart.”
“What kind of help?” Ethan asked.
“Advice.”
“That’s vague.”
She sighed.
“He invested money.”
Richard looked at her.
“Why would someone invest in a failing business?”
Sophia looked uncomfortable.
“Because he thought it could recover.”
“Or because he wanted something from it.”
She did not respond.
Richard noticed.
“What did he want?”
Sophia sat down slowly.
“At first, nothing.”
Richard waited.
“Then he started asking questions.”
“What questions?”
“About my family.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“What kind of questions?”
“About you.”
Richard felt a chill.
“Me?”
“He knew you owned property.”
Richard looked toward the hallway.
The house suddenly felt less private than before.
A camera had exposed Sophia.
Now another person’s interest seemed to stretch into their lives.
“What else did he know?” Richard asked.
Sophia shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
She looked at him.
“He knew you were considering selling the house.”
Richard and Ethan exchanged a glance.
“That information was not public,” Ethan said.
“I know.”
“Who else knew?”
Sophia looked uncomfortable.
“I heard you talking.”
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
Richard frowned.
“Where?”
“In the kitchen.”
The answer made sense.
Too much sense.
Families often protected their secrets badly because they assumed the people around them were not listening.
“I didn’t realize you heard,” Richard said.
Sophia gave a small nod.
“I heard enough.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“And then what?”
“Then Daniel called me.”
“What did he say?”
Sophia stared at her hands.
“He said I was about to lose my position in the family.”
Richard frowned.
“My position?”
“That was his phrase.”
The room became quiet.
Because the words did not sound like Sophia’s.
They sounded like someone else’s idea.
Someone else’s influence.
“Did he tell you to accuse me?” Ethan asked.
“No.”
Sophia answered quickly.
Too quickly.
Then she slowed.
“He suggested I needed protection.”
Richard watched her.
“How?”
“He said if something happened, people would believe me.”
Ethan’s face changed.
“Something happened.”
Sophia nodded.
“Yes.”
The answer frightened everyone because it meant the hallway accusation had not been an isolated impulse.
It had been built from a belief.
A false one.
But a belief that had grown somewhere.
Richard stood and walked toward the window.
Outside, the afternoon had become gray.
The weather had changed without anyone noticing.
“I want Daniel’s contact information.”
Sophia looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I need to understand what happened.”
“You are going to confront him?”
“No.”
Richard looked back.
“I am going to find out whether he has been manipulating you.”
Ethan looked at him.
“And if he has?”
Richard was quiet.
“Then we deal with that.”
The answer was simple.
But everyone knew it would not be simple.
Nothing had been simple for days.
Sophia reached into her purse and took out her phone.
Her hands shook slightly as she searched.
Richard noticed.
Not because it proved innocence.
Because it proved fear.
A few seconds later, she showed them a contact.
Daniel Mercer.
Richard copied the number.
Then he looked at Sophia.
“One more thing.”
She waited.
“Did Daniel know about the camera?”
Her face changed.
A tiny movement.
Almost nothing.
But Richard saw it.
“I don’t know.”
He did not respond.
She looked away.
And this time, the silence told him something different.
“You do know.”
Sophia’s eyes filled.
“I think so.”
Ethan stood.
“What does that mean?”
She pressed her fingers against her forehead.
“I told him about it.”
Richard felt his stomach tighten.
“When?”
“After I saw you using the system.”
“Why?”
“Because I was scared.”
May you like
“Scared of what?”
Sophia looked at him.
