Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR
The next morning, Detective Cole disappeared.
His car was found abandoned.
Marcus sent men searching every location connected to him.
Nothing.
Then we received a video.
Cole was tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
A woman's voice came from behind the camera.
"You want the ledger?"
Marcus watched without blinking.
"Then give me Emma."
My stomach tightened.
The woman stepped into view.
I recognized her.
Sofia.
Marcus's supposedly dead sister.
I stared at the screen.
"No."
Marcus didn't move.
"Sofia?"
She smiled.
"Hello, brother."
The video ended.
Marcus looked shattered.
I had never seen him like that.
"She's alive."
He nodded.
"Apparently."
"Why did you think she was dead?"
"Because I saw her body."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Three years ago."
His voice was hollow.
"I watched her die."
"Then who was in the grave?"
"I don't know."
We found the answer inside an old hospital archive.
The woman who had died wasn't Sofia.
She was a substitute.
Someone had faked her death.
Sofia had disappeared deliberately.
And she had been working with someone.
Someone who knew about the ledger.
Someone who knew my father.
My mother.
Marcus.
And me.
That afternoon, Sofia called.
"I want to speak to Emma."
Marcus refused.
"I don't."
She laughed.
"You always were predictable."
I took the phone.
"I'll talk."
Marcus looked at me.
"Emma—"
I raised my hand.
Sofia's voice came through.
"Your father loved you."
"Then why did he abandon me?"
"He didn't."
"Where is he?"
Silence.
"Dead."
My heart sank.
"Who killed him?"
"Marcus's father."
Marcus stiffened.
Sofia continued.
"Your father stole the ledger because he discovered what the Valentino family had become."
I looked at Marcus.
"Is that true?"
"My father was not innocent."
Sofia laughed.
"Neither was mine."
She gave me an address.
"Come alone."
Marcus immediately said no.
"I have to go."
"Absolutely not."
"If she wants me, she'll keep coming."
"We'll find another way."
"Marcus."
He looked at me.
I touched his hand.
It was the first time I had ever done so willingly.
"I trust you."
His expression softened.
"Then let me protect you."
We went together.
The address led to an abandoned theater.
Sofia was waiting backstage.
She looked exactly like the photograph.
But older.
Harder.
She pointed a gun at Marcus.
"You ruined everything."
Marcus stared at her.
"You betrayed us."
"I survived."
"At what cost?"
She looked at me.
"Ask him what happened the night before your wedding."
I turned to Marcus.
He didn't answer.
Sofia smiled.
"Tell her."
Marcus finally spoke.
"Your father tried to kill me."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"He thought I was going to expose him."
"And you killed him?"
"No."
Sofia interrupted.
"He didn't."
She lowered the gun.
"Someone else did."
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"The same person who ordered the attacks tonight."
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the theater.
Dozens of armed men surrounded us.
Sofia looked shocked.
"They found us."
Marcus grabbed my hand.
"Run."
We sprinted through the backstage corridors.
Gunfire tore through the walls.
Marcus pushed me behind a pillar.
Alessandro returned fire.
Sofia disappeared into the darkness.
Then a bullet struck Marcus.
He staggered.
"Marcus!"
He fell to one knee.
Blood spread across his shirt.
I caught him.
He looked at me.
"Go."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Emma."
"I'm not leaving you."
For three years, I had wanted him to touch me.
Now I was terrified that I would lose him.
I pressed my hands against his wound.
"Stay with me."
He reached for my face.
His fingers brushed my cheek.
"That's all I've ever wanted."
Then he kissed me.
Not the cold kiss from our wedding.
A real kiss.
Desperate.
Terrified.
Honest.
And somewhere in the darkness, Sofia whispered:
"Now they know he loves you."
May you like
A gunshot followed.
And Sofia screamed.
