Chapter 10 - The House Sophie Remembered in Fragments

Sophie arrived on a Saturday afternoon with Ruth Calder and Maria.

Adrian made Dimitri remove visible guards from the front entrance. Security remained, but at a distance. Sophie noticed anyway.

“You still have a lot of men with guns.”

“Yes.”

“Do you need them?”

Adrian looked toward the gate.

“Less than I used to.”

It was not a complete answer, but Sophie accepted it.

The foyer stopped her.

She stared at the staircase, then at the east hallway.

“I remember that clock.”

A walnut grandfather clock stood between two windows.

“You used to hide behind it,” Adrian said.

“I did?”

“You thought nobody could see your shoes.”

A reluctant smile touched her face and disappeared.

They walked slowly.

Adrian did not lead her toward the photographs. Sophie found them herself.

Elise smiled from silver frames at different ages. Sophie appeared beside her in gardens, on beaches, asleep on Adrian’s shoulder during a flight.

Sophie reached toward one photograph but did not touch it.

“Catherine didn’t have many pictures of you.”

“I imagine she didn’t want you asking questions.”

“She said pictures made it harder to move on.”

Adrian heard the anger beneath the words.

Maria stayed several steps back.

Lena, who had been ordered not to rush Sophie, managed restraint for almost four minutes.

Then she appeared at the hallway corner holding a paper crown.

“Hi.”

Sophie blinked.

Lena held out the crown. “I made you one but Mommy said maybe you don’t like crowns.”

Sophie looked at Maria.

Maria sighed. “I said no such thing.”

“You said not everybody likes the same stuff.”

“That is different.”

Sophie took the crown.

“Thanks.”

Lena immediately relaxed.

Within ten minutes, she had persuaded Sophie to sit on the library floor and inspect a collection of wooden animals.

Adrian watched from the doorway.

The sight hurt in a way that felt almost good.

Dimitri approached quietly.

“We have a problem.”

Adrian stepped into the hall.

Victor had filed an emergency motion in Wisconsin challenging the reopened investigation’s access to trust records. He argued that confidential beneficiary information had been unlawfully obtained and that Mara Vale’s privacy was being exploited by Adrian.

“He’s using Sophie as a shield,” Adrian said.

“And he’s moving money.”

“How much?”

“Twenty-two million transferred from the memorial trust this morning.”

“To where?”

“An escrow account controlled by the board.”

Adrian’s old response rose immediately: freeze it through pressure, lean on a banker, force someone to reverse the transfer.

He stopped himself.

“Send it to the prosecutors.”

Dimitri nodded.

Sophie appeared behind them.

“What money?”

Neither man had heard her approach.

Adrian answered.

“Money your mother placed in a trust.”

“For me?”

“Partly. Mostly for charitable work. But if you were legally declared dead after seven years, control would change.”

“To Victor.”

“Yes.”

Sophie’s face tightened.

“So everybody kept me hidden because of money?”

“No.”

“How do you know?”

Adrian had no easy answer.

Catherine loved Sophie. The emails proved that.

Kade believed he was protecting her when he first removed her.

Victor exploited both fears.

“People can do the wrong thing for different reasons,” Adrian said. “Catherine kept you because she loved you and because she believed I was dangerous. Victor needed you hidden because your existence threatened him.”

Sophie crossed her arms.

“And you?”

“I spent six years doing the wrong things because I thought force could solve everything.”

She looked at him.

“At least you know.”

It was not forgiveness.

It was more than he deserved.

That evening, Sophie agreed to dinner.

The staff began setting the formal dining room before Adrian stopped them.

“No.”

Mrs. Avery looked confused.

Adrian pointed toward the kitchen.

They ate there instead.

Lena talked enough for four people.

Sophie asked Adrian questions about Elise.

What music did she like?

Why did she hate roses?

Did she really throw a glass at a wall once?

“Yes,” Adrian said.

Maria raised an eyebrow.

“It was my glass.”

“What did you do?” Sophie asked.

“I deserved it.”

That earned the first real laugh.

Then headlights swept across the kitchen windows.

Dimitri entered fast.

“Stay inside.”

Adrian stood.

A car had stopped outside the gate.

The driver stepped out with both hands visible.

Catherine Bell.

Her left cheek was bruised. A bandage wrapped one forearm.

Sophie was already running before anyone could stop her.

Catherine crossed the driveway and dropped to her knees.

They collided halfway between the house and gate.

Sophie clung to her.

Adrian remained on the steps.

Catherine looked over Sophie’s shoulder at him.

For six years, she had kept his daughter from him.

For six years, she had also kept Sophie alive.

Adrian’s anger and gratitude existed together, neither canceling the other.

Catherine stood slowly.

“I didn’t know where else to go.”

Adrian looked at the blood-dark bandage.

“Who did that?”

“Mercer.”

Dimitri stiffened.

Catherine’s next words changed the shape of the investigation again.

“And he wasn’t working for Victor when he attacked me.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

“Then who?”

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Catherine looked toward Sophie and lowered her voice.

“Someone on Victor’s board who thinks Victor has become a liability.”