Chapter 2 - THE SECRET SOPHIE COULDN'T TELL
At 7:12 that morning, Daniel sat in his office overlooking the Chicago River.
He hadn't slept.
His phone lay on the desk.
Six unanswered calls.
Three messages.
And one terrible feeling that something irreversible had happened.
His business partner, Marcus Bell, entered carrying coffee.
“You look awful.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Marcus set the cup down.
“What happened?”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Emma thinks I'm having an affair with Sophie.”
Marcus went still.
“What?”
Daniel nodded.
“She saw us together.”
Marcus stared.
“And you explained?”
“I tried.”
“Then?”
Daniel looked away.
“Sophie begged me not to tell her.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Oh, Daniel.”
The truth was complicated.
Three weeks earlier, Sophie Carlisle had approached Daniel privately.
She was frightened.
Her former boyfriend, Adrian Mercer, had been threatening her.
Adrian had borrowed money using Sophie's identity.
When she discovered the fraud and tried to leave him, he threatened to release private photographs and accuse her of participating in his financial crimes.
Sophie was terrified.
Not only of Adrian.
But of Emma finding out she'd been hiding another disastrous relationship.
Daniel had helped Sophie contact an attorney.
He'd arranged for independent financial advice.
And he'd urged her to tell Emma.
But Sophie refused.
“Emma has spent her whole life fixing my mistakes,” she'd said.
Daniel remembered the way she'd cried.
“I can't do that to her again.”
At the charity gala, Sophie had received a threatening message from Adrian.
He claimed he was outside the hotel.
She panicked.
Daniel found her in the service corridor.
She collapsed against him.
He held her while she cried.
Then Emma appeared.
Marcus listened.
Then shook his head.
“You should have told Emma.”
Daniel looked at him.
“It wasn't my secret.”
Marcus sighed.
“No. But it became your problem when you let her walk away believing you were betraying her.”
Daniel stared at the window.
He knew Marcus was right.
At nine, Daniel called Sophie.
She answered immediately.
“Danny?”
His jaw tightened.
“Don't call me that.”
Silence.
Sophie swallowed.
“I'm sorry.”
Daniel took a breath.
“Emma's gone.”
Sophie froze.
“What?”
“She isn't answering.”
Her voice trembled.
“Daniel—”
“You need to tell her the truth.”
Sophie began crying.
“I will.”
“When?”
Silence.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Sophie.”
She whispered:
“Adrian knows where my mother lives.”
May you like
Daniel went still.
And suddenly, the situation became far more dangerous than either of them had understood.
