Chapter 4

Kristi wouldn’t bend.

No matter how many doubts Brian planted, she defended Vince like a soldier defending territory.

“He’s just private.”

“He’s been hurt before.”

“You don’t understand him.”

Sophia would stare at those messages, the glow of her phone lighting up the dark bedroom while Dominic slept beside her.

You don’t understand him.

The words almost made her laugh.

Twenty-four years.

She understood him better than anyone.

But something started to shift.

Kristi wasn’t just ignoring the warnings anymore — she was escalating.

She sent Brian screenshots of Vince’s messages.

She forwarded voice notes.

She started asking Erin if she thought Brian was “testing” her loyalty.

The web was tightening from both sides now.

And then came the message that made Sophia’s pulse spike.

Kristi texted Brian:

“I think I’m going to surprise him in the city this weekend.”

Sophia’s breath caught.

That was the weekend.

The one she had planned.

The one Dominic thought was about reconnection.

Suddenly, this wasn’t choreography.

It was collision.

Sophia sat still for a long time.

If Kristi showed up uninvited, emotions would be raw.

Dominic would panic.

Kristi would feel humiliated.

And Sophia?

She would be exposed to consequences she hadn’t fully calculated.

For the first time, control felt slippery.

She imagined the hotel lobby.

Kristi walking in.

Dominic freezing.

The realization crashing over all of them at once.

And then something even more unsettling crept in:

What if Dominic chose chaos?

What if he lied in real time?

What if he turned it on Sophia somehow?

The power dynamic she’d been carefully managing could flip instantly.

Because games are predictable.

People are not.

That night, Sophia looked at Dominic differently.

He stirred in his sleep.

Reached for her out of habit.

Murmured her name.

It hit her in a way she hadn’t expected.

This wasn’t just about catching someone.

This was about deciding who she wanted to be when it was over.

Did she want to win the game?

Or end it?

Her phone buzzed again.

Kristi: “I just need proof he’s mine.”

Proof.

Ownership.

Possession.

Competition.

Sophia finally saw the full picture.

Kristi wasn’t her enemy.

Kristi was chasing validation.

Dominic was chasing ego.

And Sophia had been chasing control.

Three people. All trying to secure something fragile.

And suddenly the thrill was gone.

If she kept going, someone would get hurt in a way that couldn’t be undone.

If she stopped now, she could still walk away with dignity intact — and information in hand.

The city weekend loomed closer.

Sophia had one final move to decide:

Let the collision happen.

Or change the script entirely.

She opened Brian’s chat window.

Then Dominic’s contact.

Then the hotel reservation email.

Her finger hovered over the screen.

For the first time since this started, the most powerful option wasn’t manipulation.

It was truth.

And truth — unlike catfishing — doesn’t require a mask.