Chapter 8 - The Night Everything Broke
Richard Russell had expected Luke Morgan to behave like Luke's father.
That was his mistake.
He expected armed men.
Threats.
A private confrontation.
Instead, investigators traced Vanessa's phone while Luke turned over every message Richard had sent.
Sophia remained with Maya and Rachel at a secure location.
She hated waiting.
Luke hated it too.
But he stayed.
At three in the morning, authorities located Vanessa at an abandoned Russell construction property outside the city.
She was rescued alive.
Richard escaped through an unfinished service tunnel.
By dawn, Vanessa was in the hospital.
Luke drove Sophia there.
Neither spoke much.
At the entrance, Sophia touched his arm.
“You kept your promise.”
Luke looked at her hand.
“I wanted to do it the old way.”
“I know.”
“Very badly.”
She smiled faintly.
“I know.”
Vanessa suffered bruises and a fractured wrist but would recover.
When Sophia entered her room, Vanessa began crying.
“I am so sorry.”
“You didn't do this.”
“My father—”
“Is responsible for himself.”
Vanessa stared at her.
Sophia sat beside the bed.
“That's something I'm learning.”
Outside, Luke heard those words.
So was he.
Richard was arrested two days later after trying to cross into Canada using false identification.
The immediate threat ended.
But something else had already begun.
The story exploded publicly.
News outlets dug into Luke's businesses.
Photographers surrounded Sophia's office.
Online strangers dissected her marriage, pregnancy, clothes, company, and finances.
Some accused her of marrying Luke for money.
Then Bennett & Rowe released its annual business filings.
Sophia's company was worth far more than anyone realized.
One business publication estimated her personal holdings in the tens of millions.
The narrative changed overnight.
Now people wanted to know why an independently wealthy woman had remained invisible beside Luke Morgan.
Sophia hated both versions.
She didn't want to be Luke's poor abandoned wife.
She didn't want to be the secret millionaire wife either.
She wanted to be herself.
So she did something Luke would never have expected three months earlier.
She expanded.
Bennett & Rowe purchased a smaller design firm in Boston.
Then it won the hotel contract Richard had tried to sabotage.
Sophia appeared at the announcement wearing a navy maternity dress and no wedding ring.
Luke watched the press conference from his office.
Marcus stood nearby.
“She looks happy.”
Luke nodded.
“She does.”
“You could call her.”
“No.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
Luke looked at him.
“She didn't ask me to.”
Progress.
Then Luke's attorney entered.
“The divorce agreement is finalized.”
Luke stared at the folder.
Everything inside him resisted.
But he signed.
Every page.
No delay.
No hidden condition.
No fight.
When Sophia received the completed agreement, she cried for an hour.
Not because she regretted leaving.
Because Luke had finally respected her enough to let her.
Their divorce became final six weeks before the baby's due date.
Sophia Bennett walked out of court legally single.
Luke waited outside.
Not because he had to.
Because she had asked him to.
Snow drifted lightly over downtown Chicago.
“So,” Sophia said.
“So.”
“We're divorced.”
“Yes.”
Luke looked as if someone had removed an organ without anesthesia.
Sophia almost smiled.
“Dinner?”
He stared.
“What?”
“I haven't eaten.”
“With me?”
“Unless you have plans.”
“No.”
His answer came so quickly she laughed.
They went to a small Italian restaurant far from Morgan territory.
No private room.
No entourage at the table.
Sophia ordered pasta.
Luke ordered whatever she recommended.
Halfway through dinner, she caught him staring.
“What?”
“You're beautiful.”
Sophia lowered her fork.
“That's new.”
“What?”
“You saying it.”
Luke frowned.
“I've always thought it.”
“Thoughts aren't communication.”
“I am learning that.”
She smiled.
Then Luke surprised her.
“I started therapy.”
Sophia nearly choked on her water.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Voluntarily?”
“Mostly.”
“Elena threatened you?”
“She gave me a phone number and called me emotionally constipated.”
Sophia burst out laughing.
Luke smiled.
She hadn't realized how much she missed that smile.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I don't want our daughter learning love from the man I used to be.”
Sophia's expression softened.
“And because?”
Luke looked directly at her.
“Because I want to become someone capable of loving you without making you disappear inside my life.”
Her heart stopped.
“Luke…”
“I don't expect anything.”
He reached for his coat.
“I know we're divorced.”
Sophia's eyes burned.
“But I am still in love with you.”
He stood.
“That's mine to deal with. Not yours.”
Outside the restaurant, they reached Sophia's car.
Suddenly she stopped.
Her face changed.
Luke immediately panicked.
“What?”
Sophia looked down.
A puddle spread across the pavement beneath her dress.
Luke stared.
Sophia stared.
Then another contraction hit.
She grabbed his lapel.
“Oh God.”
Luke went white.
“Is that—”
“My water.”
“You're three weeks early.”
“I am aware of that, Luke.”
Another contraction came.
Sophia squeezed his hand hard enough to make him wince.
“Hospital.”
Luke opened the passenger door.
Then froze.
“What?”
“My keys.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You lost your keys?”
“I think they're inside.”
She began laughing despite the pain.
The feared Luke Morgan, a man rumored to control half of Chicago's nightlife, stood helplessly in falling snow while his ex-wife went into labor.
Sophia laughed until she cried.
Then Luke did the only sensible thing.
He called a cab.
Sixteen minutes later, Sophia was in labor.
Seven hours after that, everything went wrong.
A monitor alarm sounded.
Doctors rushed in.
Luke was pushed into the hallway.
The door closed.
May you like
And for the second time in months, he found himself outside a hospital room with no power whatsoever.
Only this time, both women he loved were behind the door.
