Chapter 7 - THE SISTER NO ONE KNEW
We found Sophia two days later.
She lived alone in a small apartment.
When she opened the door, she looked at me.
I looked at her.
There was something familiar in her eyes.
Something unmistakably my father's.
"You're Michael."
I nodded.
"Yes."
She stepped back.
"I've been waiting for you."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
She smiled sadly.
"Your father told me about you."
I sat down.
She explained everything.
My father had visited her secretly.
He had supported her financially.
He had promised that one day he would introduce her to us.
But he never got the chance.
After his death, my mother had continued sending money.
She had done it through the shell companies.
That was why some of the suspicious transfers existed.
Not all of them were fraud.
Some were hidden protection.
But Lawrence had discovered the system.
He had started stealing money from the same network.
That was how everything became tangled.
My mother had covered up the illegal transfers because revealing them would expose Sophia.
Lucas had then used the chaos to steal for himself.
And Lawrence had used both of them.
Sophia looked at me.
"I don't want your money."
"I know."
"I don't want your company."
"I know."
"I just wanted my father."
I looked down.
"I did too."
She began crying.
I reached across the table.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she took my hand.
My sister.
The person I had never known existed.
That evening, I called Elena.
She was staying with friends.
"How are you?"
"I'm okay."
"And the baby?"
"She's kicking."
I smiled.
"A girl?"
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
A daughter.
My daughter.
And now I had a sister.
Two women connected to me by blood.
Two people I would protect.
No matter what.
But the investigation wasn't finished.
Daniel called.
"Michael."
"What?"
"We found something in Lawrence's records."
"What?"
"A payment."
"To whom?"
"Your mother."
I froze.
"When?"
"Six months before your father's death."
"How much?"
"$300,000."
I stared at the wall.
"Why?"
"We don't know."
I hung up.
Then called my mother.
She answered from detention.
"What did you do?"
Silence.
"Mom."
She finally said:
"I made a deal."
"With Lawrence?"
"Yes."
"What kind?"
Her voice broke.
"I agreed to lie about your father's death."
"Why?"
"Because he threatened Sophia."
I closed my eyes.
"Mom."
"I thought I could protect everyone."
May you like
She began crying.
"I was wrong."
