CHAPTER TWO
SOPHIE
There was blood everywhere, on my hands, my face, and even on my clothes. I touched my arms, and my stomach but there was no pain, no wound on my body. Then whose blood is this?
It was warm and sticky, and it sent shivers down my spine. My throat felt tight and breathing became difficult as I looked down at Ethan, and realized that the knife was buried deep in his chest. His white shirt was turning red, and the blood was quickly spreading out.
I blinked rapidly. No. No, no, no. This isn’t happening.
Ethan coughed, and he managed to smirk despite the pain. My heart pounded in my chest. I wanted to help him, and press my hands over the wound to stop the bleeding, but my body wouldn’t move. I was in so much shock.
Then suddenly, a loud scream filled the air.
“Help!” Stella screamed and her voice was filled with fear and terror. “Someone help! Mr. Ethan’s wife is trying to murder him!”
I quickly turned toward her and saw that she was at the office door, banging her fists on it, and her face displayed horror. Her words made my stomach churn badly.
“What? No!” I stumbled back from Ethan, and I could feel my entire body shaking. “That’s not true! Stella, you saw what happened!” I tried to reason with her, but she wasn’t listening. She wasn’t even trying to hear me out.
She turned toward me, and for a little moment, the fear in her eyes disappeared, and it was replaced by cold look.
She wanted this. This was their plan all along.
Before I could control myself, I began sobbing hard and desperately. “Please… you know I didn’t do this,” I pleaded in a shaky voice.
She smirked at me and then, she let out another loud cry. “Help! Somebody call the police! She’s trying to kill him!”
Panic filled my heart and everything screamed at me to run, to fight, or do something, but my body refused to move.
Ethan chuckled weakly and though his voice was hoarse, I could hear the hatred and disgust in it.
“Now you’ll never be able to expose me,” he rasped. His eyes shine with victory despite the pain he was going through. “If you ever think of ruining me, Sophie, I will come for you, and you will regret it. No one will ever believe you, I made sure of that.”
My hands trembled seriously. I looked down at the blood om my skin, and my eyes went blurry and I felt dizzy.
The office door was pushed open, and everything happened in a few seconds.
Security guards and police officers rushed in. Someone yelled and another man roughy grabbed me and put handcuffs on my wrists.
“I- I didn’t do it!” I screamed, and struggled with the officers holding me. “I didn’t do it! Please, you have to believe me!”
But they didn’t listen, they didn’t even try to hear me out.
Everything that happened after felt like a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. The police taking me away, the scary interrogation room, and the empty feeling in my chest as Stella and Ethan stood before the judge, and effortlessly told lies without batting an eye.
They said I was a jealous, mentally unstable wife who went crazy when she found out about the affair. Ethan even had the audacity to sit in the courtroom, and claimed he was heartbroken.
“She always had a hot temper,” he told the judge. “But I never thought she’d go this far…”
Stella cried dramatically beside him. “She wanted to kill him!” she sobbed. “I was so scared. She just… she just lost control.”
The lies went on and on, but I had no one. There was one to defend me. No family, and no lawyer agreed to stand by me. It was like he paid them off.
In the end, the judge ended the case, and gave me eight years in prison, and that was how my world collapsed.
“Cheer up! You can’t spend all your life thinking about him.” An inmate nudged me on my shoulders, and I forced myself to smile. I looked around the cold, gray walls of my cell that added to my depression each day.
The other inmates were chatting about something but I wasn’t interested. I never joined them, not because I felt like I was above them, but because my life was slowly slipping away.
I learnt to stop counting the days and stop feeling anything at all.
Then, suddenly the cell door was pushed open and it brought me out from my straying thoughts.
“Hey!” a guard barked in a rough voice. “You have someone waiting to see you.”
I slowly lifted my head slowly, and blinked rapidly as I tried to process what I had just heard.
Someone wanted to see me? Who’s that?
I had no one left. No one had ever come to see me since I got in. So why now?
My heart pounded in fear as I stood up and followed the guard to see whoever was waiting for me.
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVENDOMINICI waited until she was sitting before I said a word. “Judy isn’t who you think she is, Sophie,” I said and watched her, waiting for a reaction.Sophie stared at me for a moment before she asked, “What are you talking about?”“This might be a lot to take in but it’s the truth,” I began.“You’re scaring me, Dominic,” she complained.“There’s nothing to be scared about, I just need you to know that Judy is working for someone,” I said.She straightened her back and from her posture, she appeared tense, “What do you mean?” She asked.“I did a background check on her and it—““You did a background check on her?!” She perked up, then glared at me like I had committed a grave offense. She paused, then asked, “Did you do a background check on me too?!”She eyed me waiting for my answer and I knew instantly that I had to lie, “I—, Of course, not! Why would I do that?!”I did run a background check on her but she didn’t need to know that. It wasn’t important.“Are
CHAPTER THIRTY SIXSOPHIEThe hospital security managed to calm the situation and send Francis home but Dominic wasn’t still satisfied. He didn’t trust Francis, neither did he trust the hospital.Perhaps it was his controlling nature but he insisted that Mira be discharged and he’ll have doctors come over to make sure she’s okay.I didn’t argue with him, I didn’t have the energy, and if I was being honest, it was a good idea.The drive back home was quiet. While Dominic drove, I sat with Mira at the back. I couldn’t leave her alone, especially as she was clinging to me like I was all she had, and she still hadn’t said a word. It got me worried but I trusted Dominic’s doctors.When we finally got home, I led her to my room and she sat on the bed. “H..home,” she stuttered in a very quiet voice.I released a deep sigh and sat on the bed beside her. “This is your new home now,” I gently said, “You’ll be staying here with me now,” “With you?” She asked, peering up at me with her wide eyes
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVESOPHIEWhy was everything happening at the same time? I was operating on three hours of sleep and a truck load of anxiety.Judy was in a life threatening accident?!I rushed to Dominic’s office, kicking the door open. When I asked him for his help with Judy, I didn’t expect him to make her get into an accident. It was far from what I wanted, why would he do that?“What did you do?” I said the moment I entered his office.He calmly looked up from the document he was reading, “Nothing that shouldn’t be done,” he simply said, and that infuriated me.“So getting Judy and my daughter involved in an accident is something that should be done?” I glared at him angrily, hands on my waist.His brows furrowed and he straightened his back, “Mira was in an accident?”“I don’t know!” I sighed in exasperation, sliding my hand down my face, “Francis called me that Judy was in an accident and he isn’t sure if she’ll make it,”“I didn’t do it.” “Dominic, please take me to the hospi
CHAPTER THIRTY FOURSOPHIEI rushed home as fast as I could, slamming the door behind me as I stormed into the living room and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. I had to speak with Dominic and I knew exactly where to find him.I pushed open his office door and there he was, sitting behind his desk, with his phone on his ear. He looked at me, then back to the document on his table.“Dom…please, we need to talk,” I said, ignoring the fact that he was on a call.“Yeah, prepare everything and send it to my email,” he hung up, rested his arms on the desk and looked up at me. “What is it?” He asked calmly.“Uhm,” I swallowed hard, my heart racing,” I know you may be mad about what happened last night and—““I’m not mad,” he cut me off, staring right at me.“Oh,” I coughed awkwardly, “Okay, but I still want to apologize for not telling you earlier and keeping you in the dark. It was never my intention and like I said before, I was scared and—““Is this what you want to discuss with me
CHAPTER THIRTY THREESOPHIE “Is Mira your daughter, Sophie?”“I…I,” I swallowed hard, unable to get the words out of my mouth. He’d caught me, it was clear he’d found out about everything.When Judy told me he was on to her, I should have known. This was Dominic we were talking about after all, a powerful and calculative businessman.He turned to the door, ready to leave, but I stopped him before he could. “Yes,” I blurted out, “Yes, Dominic. She’s my daughter.” I swallowed hard to contain my emotions, running my fingers through my hair in frustration, “I had her in jail.”He paused and slowly turned to face me. I expected anger and unrestrained rage but he was calm, too calm for someone who just found out the truth, “Why didn’t you tell me?”“Because I was scared!” I yelled, not out of anger, but of frustration. I took a deep breath and wiped the tears that had spilled, trying to calm my racing heart, “I was scared, okay? And that was why I gave her to Judy.”“What are you scared o
CHAPTER THIRTY TWOSOPHIE“Once she’s stable, we’ll both be relocating.” Judy said seriously.“What? Why? W..What do you mean by relocating?” I was flabbergasted beyond words and I could barely make up a proper sentence.“You heard me right, Sophie. Don’t play deaf.” She scowled, then glanced left and right before she continued, “I discovered that Francis..” she paused, “My husband has been cheating on me, so I can no longer continue with the marriage.”It was weird that Judy was telling me this because we’d never been that close. I was sorry for her broken marriage but my daughter was of utmost importance.“And you’re just letting me know now?” I asked, almost dumbfounded.“I don’t answer to you, Sophie!” She declared.I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration, trying to find a way to convince her, “Must you go with her? You can leave Mira with me. You’re going to a new country, I can take care of her.” “Don’t try to play smart with me,” she said, “you can’t change my mind, th