Chapter 8 - Sofia's MemoryThe investigation turned Sofia from employee into witness.
She hated it.
Every conversation seemed to begin with someone asking her to remember another detail.
What time?
Which hallway?
Which phrase?
Which hand?
Which day?
Rebecca repeatedly told her not to guess.
"If you don't remember, say you don't remember."
Sofia appreciated that.
She also began speaking with her own attorney, Elena Ruiz, whom Daniel offered to pay for through an arrangement ensuring Elena represented Sofia alone.
Elena was direct.
"Daniel paying legal fees does not mean I work for Daniel."
"Good."
"If his interests conflict with yours, I protect yours."
Sofia nodded.
Elena asked about the slap.
Sofia looked uncomfortable.
"I don't want to ruin him."
"That isn't the question."
"He apologized."
"That also isn't the question."
Sofia sighed.
"What do you need me to say?"
"The truth."
Sofia described everything.
Elena listened.
"You have potential civil claims. There may also be other legal consequences depending on the investigation."
"I don't want revenge."
"Legal rights are not revenge."
Sofia stared at her hands.
"I just want this finished."
Elena softened.
"It won't finish faster because you pretend it didn't hurt."
That sentence stayed with Sofia.
Later, she visited Emma.
Daniel had established strict temporary arrangements. Vanessa's contact with Emma occurred only through counsel-approved procedures while the family court evaluated the situation.
Emma was quieter than usual.
She built towers from wooden blocks.
Sofia sat nearby.
Without prompting, Emma picked up a toy woman.
"Mommy."
Then another.
"Sofia."
She placed the Mommy figure near a blue block.
"Water."
Sofia felt her chest tighten.
She did not ask leading questions.
The child therapist had warned everyone not to repeatedly interrogate Emma.
Instead Sofia said, "You're playing with the pool."
Emma nodded.
"Scary."
"Yes."
"Sofia get Emma."
Sofia swallowed.
"I did."
Emma looked at her.
"Daddy hit."
The words landed heavily.
Sofia touched the carpet.
"Daddy did something wrong."
"Bad Daddy?"
Sofia hesitated.
She could have answered emotionally.
She did not.
"Daddy made a bad choice."
Emma considered this.
"Mommy bad choice?"
Sofia's eyes filled.
"Mommy made a very dangerous choice."
Emma returned to the blocks.
That afternoon, Sofia remembered another incident.
She called Rebecca.
"Three weeks before Halloween, Vanessa asked me to mail an envelope."
"To whom?"
"I didn't look at the documents, but the shipping label said Bellmont Advisory."
"Anything unusual?"
"It was supposed to be overnight delivery."
Rebecca waited.
Sofia continued.
"When I carried it downstairs, part of the envelope wasn't sealed. A document slid out."
"What did you see?"
"A property address."
"Which?"
Sofia remembered because it was Daniel's favorite building.
"Seventy-eight Beacon Exchange."
Rebecca became silent.
That was the downtown building Bellmont had undervalued.
"Anything else?"
"A number. Seven-point-four million."
Rebecca wrote.
"Did Vanessa know you saw it?"
"She came downstairs while I was putting it back."
"What happened?"
"She grabbed the envelope and asked if I'd read it."
"What did you say?"
"I said no."
"Was that true?"
"Mostly. I saw the address and number."
"Then?"
"She told me staff should never look at family papers."
Rebecca asked, "When did the bracelet accusation begin?"
Sofia thought.
"Maybe four days later."
The pattern strengthened.
Vanessa had reasons beyond jealousy to discredit Sofia.
Rebecca's accountants soon uncovered another piece.
Bellmont had paid $120,000 to a company called VGM Lifestyle Consulting.
It sounded unrelated.
It was not.
VGM was controlled by Vanessa.
The payments were labeled "design advisory."
No meaningful design work had been documented.
Daniel stared at the record.
"She was already receiving money."
Rebecca nodded.
"At least $360,000 over fourteen months."
"Why?"
"Possibly kickbacks. Possibly compensation for facilitating transactions."
Daniel looked sick.
He remembered arguments about money.
Vanessa complained she had no independence.
Daniel had responded by creating a personal investment account for her with substantial funds.
Apparently it had not been enough.
"What did she do with the money?"
"Forensic tracing is ongoing."
They eventually found part of it.
A luxury apartment deposit in Manhattan.
Private investment accounts.
And nearly $90,000 paid toward debts Vanessa had never disclosed.
Not gambling.
Not drugs.
A failed luxury-event company she had secretly backed with two friends.
The business had collapsed.
Vanessa had hidden the losses from Daniel.
Adrian discovered her vulnerability.
Then he offered a solution.
Help him restructure Whitmore assets, and he would help her replace the lost money.
Rebecca explained, "That appears to be the beginning."
Daniel stared at the timeline.
The financial scheme began before Sofia overheard anything.
But Vanessa's treatment of Sofia escalated afterward.
A motive was forming.
Sofia was a witness Vanessa wanted removed.
Emma's preference for Sofia provided an emotional excuse.
And Halloween offered an opportunity to make Sofia look negligent.
But one question remained.
Had Vanessa merely intended to frighten Emma and frame Sofia?
Or had she expected something worse?
Nathan called that evening.
He had recovered a deleted message from Vanessa's cloud backup.
It was sent to Adrian three days before Halloween.
If Sofia is blamed for a safety incident, Daniel will remove her himself. Then the house problem is solved without me looking cruel.
Daniel read the sentence twice.
The Halloween incident had been planned.
Not necessarily the exact push.
But the idea of manufacturing a safety failure was already there.
Then Rebecca showed him Adrian's reply.
Do not do anything reckless. Just create distance and get her dismissed.
Daniel looked up.
For the first time, one distinction became clear.
May you like
Adrian was corrupt.
But the decision to use Emma as a weapon appeared to belong to Vanessa alone.
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