Chapter 3 - The Price of Treachery
Forty-eight hours after I walked out, the hammer fell on Sophia Reynolds. Without Vincent’s constant protective detail shielding her, her husband Daniel found out everything. Daniel wasn't a gangster, but he was an extraordinarily ruthless hedge fund titan who owned half the city’s judges and politicians.
When Daniel saw the security footage showing Sophia boasting about using Vincent to fund her escape and draining their joint accounts, he froze every single asset tied to her name within four hours. He locked her out of their Gold Coast penthouse, cancelled her credit cards, and filed for immediate annulment on the grounds of fraud.
Sophia showed up at the high-end boutique hotel where I was staying under a false name, desperate and trembling. She had managed to track down Marco’s car, but Marco’s men stopped her in the lobby.
I took the elevator down to face her. Sophia’s designer hair was disheveled, her eyes puffy, wearing clothes she had clearly slept in.
""Claire, you have to talk to Vincent!"" she pleaded, dropping to her knees right there in front of the front desk clerks. ""Daniel took my car. He took my home. Vincent won't answer my calls—he burned down my condo! His men smashed everything I own! He told me if I ever step foot in Cook County again, he’ll have me thrown into the river!""
I looked down at the woman who had made my life a living nightmare for seven years. Every anniversary dinner she had interrupted with a fake crisis. Every weekend getaway she had sabotaged by pretending Daniel was hitting her. She had manipulated Vincent’s twisted savior complex, and Vincent had eagerly taken the bait because it fed his arrogant ego to rescue another man’s wife while neglecting his own.
""Why are you telling me?"" I asked, my voice devoid of emotion.
""Because you have morals! You're not like them!"" Sophia wept, reaching for my ankle. ""Please, just tell Vincent to let me leave the state safely. Tell him I’m sorry about Lily! I didn't know she was really sick! I thought you were just exaggerating to get him home!""
I stepped back, disgust curling in my stomach. ""You knew Lily had chronic respiratory issues since she was three. You heard the paramedics in the ballroom saying her oxygen levels were crashing. You didn't care because you wanted an audience.""
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I signaled the security guards. ""Get her out of here. If she comes back, call the police and report her for harassment.""
As they dragged Sophia screaming into the street, I checked my watch. It was 2:00 PM. In thirty minutes, I had a private meeting with Marcus Vance at the federal building. Vincent thought he was hunting down Sophia to avenge Lily, but he was looking in the wrong direction. The real storm hadn't even made landfall yet.
