Confrontation and Consequences

Sophia ~

I made it back to the penthouse with twenty minutes to spare.

My heart hammered against my ribs as I paced the living room, Alexander's text burning in my mind. “Don't leave the penthouse.” How much did he know? Had Marcus reported my trip to Brooklyn? Was there surveillance I hadn't noticed?

The elevator dinged.

Alexander stepped out, and I knew immediately that something had shifted. His expression was darker than I'd ever seen it, his movements controlled but radiating barely contained fury.

"Sophia." My name was a warning. "We need to talk. Now."

"About what?" I kept my voice steady despite the fear coursing through me.

He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and turned it toward me. My stomach dropped.

It was a photo of me entering the Brooklyn café. Another of me sitting across from Rebecca. The angle suggested a telephoto lens, taken from across the street.

"Want to explain this?" His voice was dangerously soft.

"You had me followed?" Anger sparked through my fear. "You actually had someone follow me?"

"You lied to me." He set the phone down with deliberate care. "You said you cancelled the appointment. You said you were staying home."

"I rescheduled"

"To a café in Brooklyn. To meet with Rebecca Chen, one of the most aggressive divorce attorneys in New York." He moved closer, and I forced myself not to retreat. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

"I didn't think you'd have me surveilled like a criminal!"

"You're my wife planning to leave me. What did you expect?" His hand caught my chin, tilting my face up to meet his gaze. "Did you think I'd just let you walk away? Let you humiliate me? Humiliate my family?"

"This isn't about you"

"Everything about this marriage is about us. About what we built"

"We built nothing!" The words exploded out of me. "You built a life with Elena while I played house alone. You built a marriage of convenience while I fell in love with a ghost. We built “nothing “, Alexander."

His grip tightened fractionally. "You knew what this was."

"I knew what it started as. I didn't know it would stay that way forever." Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "I didn't know you'd keep your heart locked away from me for two years while giving pieces of it to someone else."

"Elena is not—"

"Don't say she's not important. Don't you dare." I jerked away from his touch. "I heard you, Alexander. That night on the phone. You told her she's the only one who understands you. You told her you'd see her at 'the usual place.' Do you have any idea how that felt?"

Something flickered across his face. "You were eavesdropping."

"I was bringing you scotch!" My voice broke. "I was trying to do something nice for my husband, and instead I overheard him tell another woman that his marriage is just an arrangement. That it doesn't matter if he doesn't love me because he's given me everything else."

"Sophia"

"Is it true?" I demanded. "Do you love her?"

The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.

"It's complicated," he finally said.

"It's not complicated. It's a yes or no question." My hands clenched into fists. "Do you love Elena Hartley?"

"I care about her. We have history"

"That's not what I asked."

His jaw tightened. "This conversation is pointless. You're not getting a divorce, Sophia. I don't care how many lawyers you meet with or how many photos end up in some investigator's file. You're my wife, and you're staying my wife."

"You can't force me to stay married to you."

"Can't I?" He pulled out his phone again, pulled up a different photo. This one showed me and Rebecca at the table, clearly in deep discussion. "One call to the right media outlet, and this becomes a story. 'Wyndham Heir's Wife Plots Secret Divorce.' Your family's name gets dragged through the mud. My grandfather's heart breaks. The company stock takes a hit because investors panic about instability in the family."

"You wouldn't." But even as I said it, I knew he would.

"Try me." His eyes were cold. "You want to play hardball, Sophia? Fine. But understand this, I will win. I always win."

"This isn't a business deal"

"Everything is a business deal." He straightened his tie, his businessman mask sliding back into place. "Here's what's going to happen. You're going to fire Rebecca Chen. You're going to stop talking about divorce. And you're going to attend the charity gala with me on Saturday as my devoted wife."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I make one phone call, and by tomorrow morning, every media outlet in New York knows that Sophia Wyndham is trying to divorce her husband for no apparent reason. They'll dig into your life. Your family. Your friends." He leaned in close, his breath warm against my ear. "They'll paint you as a gold digger who got cold feet. Is that what you want?"

Tears spilled down my cheeks. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." His thumb brushed away a tear with surprising gentleness. "You hate that you love me. There's a difference."

The accuracy of his words cut deeper than any threat.

"Why?" I whispered. "Why won't you just let me go?"

His expression shifted, something vulnerable flickering behind the mask before he shuttered it away. "Because you're mine, Sophia. And I don't give up what's mine."

He left me standing there, tears streaming down my face, trapped in a marriage that was slowly destroying me.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: “Photos deleted. No media contact. But I'm watching. - M”

Marcus. Alexander's loyal guard dog, making sure I understood the leash around my neck.

I sank onto the couch, my body shaking with silent sobs.

I'd lost this battle. But the war wasn't over.

I just needed to find a weapon Alexander couldn't neutralize.

And I knew exactly where to start.