Chapter 8 - SOFIA’S SECOND WEDDING NIGHTSofia woke to the smell of roses.
For one confused second, she thought she was back in the honeymoon suite.
Then the pain returned.
Her eye.
Her lip.
Her ribs.
And the memory of six women laughing while Carmen hit her.
She opened her eyes.
A chandelier hung above her.
She lay on a bed inside a mansion she did not recognize.
Her wrists were not tied.
That frightened her more.
People who expected resistance used ropes.
People who believed escape was impossible did not bother.
The door opened.
Javier walked in.
Sofia sat up.
“Get away from me.”
He stopped.
He looked terrible.
Wrinkled shirt.
Unshaven.
Red eyes.
“Please listen.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“I didn’t.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You’re standing in the room.”
“My mother took you.”
“And you just happened to follow?”
Javier closed the door.
“Sofia, everything got out of control.”
“Forty slaps got out of control?”
He looked away.
“I didn’t know she was going to do that.”
“You stood outside.”
“I was scared of her.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Sofia’s voice hardened.
“You listened.”
He swallowed.
“I thought if you signed the condo over, she’d stop.”
“You thought?”
“I thought it was just the condo.”
That matched Rebecca’s suspicion.
Javier had not known about Parcel 17.
Sofia watched him carefully.
“Why did you marry me?”
His face tightened.
“I loved you.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I did.”
“Then why did your mother know about my property before our third date?”
He stared.
Sofia’s stomach turned.
She had guessed correctly.
“You knew who I was before we met.”
Javier sat down.
“My mother showed me your picture.”
The last part of Sofia’s heart broke quietly.
“She told me your family owned real estate.”
“And you approached me.”
“Yes.”
“Were any of our first dates real?”
Javier’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came.
Sofia laughed.
Then cried.
“Get out.”
“Sofia—”
“Get out.”
He stood.
“My grandmother wants to meet you.”
She froze.
“Your grandmother?”
Javier looked confused.
“You don’t know?”
The door opened again.
Margaret Morales entered.
Sofia had seen photographs.
Young Margaret.
Alexander’s mother.
The grandmother Sofia had grown up believing was dead.
Sofia stared.
Margaret smiled.
“You have your father’s eyes.”
Sofia whispered, “You’re dead.”
“Not anymore.”
Javier stepped aside.
Margaret approached the bed.
Sofia moved back.
Margaret noticed.
“Good instincts.”
“You’re my grandmother.”
“Biologically.”
“My father buried you.”
“He buried a mistake.”
Sofia stared at her.
“You hurt Grandpa.”
Margaret’s expression barely moved.
“Victor made choices.”
“So did you.”
Margaret smiled.
“You’re stronger than Carmen described.”
Mentioning Carmen made Sofia’s body tense.
Margaret noticed that too.
“She went too far.”
“Forty times too far.”
“Yes.”
Margaret said it almost casually.
Sofia’s nausea returned.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
“No.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I need you conscious and cooperative.”
There it was.
At least Margaret did not bother pretending affection.
“What do you need?”
“To open something.”
“A vault.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“You already know.”
“My parents figured it out.”
“Your parents are resourceful.”
“My father is going to find me.”
Margaret smiled.
“I’m counting on it.”
Sofia understood then.
She was bait.
Not just a key.
Bait.
Margaret moved toward the window.
“Your grandfather created chaos because he couldn’t accept what success requires.”
“Murder?”
Margaret looked back.
“Do you think every fortune is clean?”
“I think most grandmothers don’t fake their deaths.”
That almost made Margaret laugh.
“You definitely have Elena’s mouth.”
Sofia’s fear began changing.
Not disappearing.
Becoming usable.
Her father had told her that.
Fear only controlled you if someone else directed it.
Sofia studied the room.
Two windows.
Third floor.
One camera above the door.
No visible phone.
Bathroom attached.
Fire alarm.
Possible vent.
Margaret continued talking.
“Tomorrow, you’re going to open Victor’s vault.”
“What if I refuse?”
“Carmen believes pain changes minds.”
Sofia flinched.
Margaret noticed.
“I prefer leverage.”
She took out a phone.
On the screen was a live video.
My house.
Sofia’s childhood home.
Two men stood across the street.
“If you refuse, someone you love suffers.”
Sofia stared.
“Mom isn’t there.”
“No.”
Margaret swiped.
Another video.
Rebecca entering her law office.
Another.
Dr. Martin Reeves leaving a hospital.
Another.
Natalie’s sister walking a dog.
Margaret had people everywhere.
“You can’t protect everyone,” she said.
Sofia looked at her.
“Neither can you.”
Margaret frowned.
“You need people to fear you.”
“And?”
“If they stop being afraid?”
Sofia’s voice steadied.
“You’re just an old woman with employees.”
Margaret slapped her.
Once.
The sound echoed.
Sofia’s face turned sideways.
For one second, the honeymoon suite returned.
Carmen’s hand.
Laughter.
Pain.
But Sofia slowly looked back.
She did not cry.
Margaret stared.
Sofia whispered, “You’re going to need more than that.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Respect?
Maybe.
Then Carmen entered.
Sofia’s body reacted before her mind.
She recoiled.
Carmen smiled.
“Look who found courage.”
Margaret’s voice became sharp.
“Leave.”
Carmen ignored her.
“She cost us the courthouse.”
“She did nothing. Caldwell failed.”
Carmen stepped toward Sofia.
“She should have signed.”
Margaret blocked her.
“No more marks.”
Carmen looked furious.
“You’re protecting her?”
“I’m protecting the key.”
That hurt in a different way.
Margaret did not see Sofia as family.
Only access.
Carmen left.
But before she did, Sofia noticed something.
Fear.
Carmen was afraid of Margaret.
Javier reentered later carrying food.
Sofia refused it.
“You need to eat.”
“You need a conscience.”
He winced.
“I’m trying to help you.”
“Open the door.”
“I can’t.”
“Then you’re not helping.”
He sat.
“My mother is scared.”
“Good.”
“You don’t understand Margaret.”
“Apparently neither did my father.”
Javier looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered.
“My mother wants to take the vault for herself.”
Sofia stared.
“What?”
“Margaret thinks Carmen is loyal.”
“She’s not?”
Javier shook his head.
“She wants whatever Victor hid.”
“So why tell me?”
“Because my mother is planning to kill your grandmother.”
Sofia almost laughed at the absurdity.
“My dead grandmother who came back from the dead.”
Javier’s face stayed serious.
“After the vault.”
Sofia studied him.
“Why do you care?”
“She’s my mother.”
“That didn’t stop you from letting her beat your wife.”
He looked ashamed.
Good.
Let him.
Javier leaned closer.
“If I help you escape, will you tell your father I helped?”
Sofia stared.
There it was.
Not love.
Self-preservation.
“You want a deal.”
“I want to live.”
“Then earn it.”
His eyes widened.
“How?”
“Get me a phone.”
“I can’t.”
“Then stop wasting my time.”
He left.
Twenty minutes later, a phone slid under the bathroom door.
Sofia stared at it.
No note.
No explanation.
Javier.
Maybe.
She picked it up.
No service.
But Wi-Fi.
Locked network.
Then she noticed one saved connection.
MARGARET_GUEST.
No password needed.
Careless.
Or arrogant.
Sofia messaged the only person she could remember through social media.
Rebecca Sloan.
HELP.
MARGARET MORALES ALIVE.
MANSION UNKNOWN.
VAULT TOMORROW.
She attached a photo of the bathroom window view.
Trees.
A water tower.
A distant church steeple.
Not much.
But maybe enough.
Before she could send more, footsteps approached.
Sofia hid the phone inside the toilet tank.
Carmen entered.
“Get dressed.”
“For what?”
“Your husband wants another wedding photograph.”
Sofia stared.
Carmen threw a white dress onto the bed.
Not Sofia’s original gown.
A simple white dress.
“You’re insane.”
Carmen smiled.
“Tomorrow, when you open the vault, cameras will show a happy newlywed couple handling family property together.”
Sofia understood.
They were creating evidence.
Again.
A second fake version of reality.
She picked up the dress.
Then looked at Carmen.
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“My bruises.”
Carmen’s face hardened.
“We’ll cover them.”
Sofia smiled.
“No amount of makeup covers what you are.”
Carmen crossed the room and grabbed Sofia’s chin.
“You think your father is coming to save you?”
Sofia looked into her eyes.
“Yes.”
Carmen laughed.
“And if he doesn’t?”
Sofia’s smile remained.
“Then my mother will.”
For some reason, that bothered Carmen more.
She released her.
Two women came to apply makeup.
Sofia sat quietly.
She noticed their names.
Their faces.
Their voices.
She memorized everything.
When they finished, the bruises were mostly hidden.
Sofia looked in the mirror.
A bride again.
But not the woman who had entered the honeymoon suite.
That Sofia had believed love made people safe.
This Sofia knew evidence did.
Carmen handed her a bouquet.
“Smile tomorrow.”
Sofia looked at her reflection.
“I will.”
Later that night, Margaret entered one final time.
“Your parents are almost back in Chicago.”
Sofia’s heart jumped.
“They’re coming here?”
“Eventually.”
Margaret sat beside her.
“You know, your father once chose you over me.”
Sofia frowned.
“When?”
“Nineteen years ago.”
Margaret looked almost nostalgic.
“I asked him to help me disappear.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“He didn’t know.”
“He knew something was wrong.”
She smiled sadly.
“He refused to leave you and Elena.”
Sofia stared.
Margaret continued.
“That was when I knew he was Victor’s son.”
For all Alexander’s failures, one truth landed inside Sofia.
He had not abandoned her because he loved something more.
He had spent years making the wrong choices because he was terrified of losing her.
The bathroom phone vibrated faintly.
Sofia’s eyes flicked toward the door.
Margaret noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Margaret stood.
“Sleep.”
After she left, Sofia waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then retrieved the phone.
Rebecca had replied.
PHOTO RECEIVED.
WE FOUND WATER TOWER.
STAY CALM.
DO NOT TRY TO ESCAPE.
Sofia nearly cried from relief.
Then another message.
YOUR PARENTS ARE COMING.
Sofia pressed the phone against her chest.
Outside the mansion, unknown to Margaret, two federal surveillance teams were already moving through the trees.
And inside another black SUV, Alexander Morales stared through binoculars at the third-floor window where his daughter was being held.
Beside him, I checked my watch.
“Can you see her?”
Alexander nodded.
His voice cracked.
“She’s wearing white.”
I looked through the binoculars.
Sofia stood behind the glass in another bridal dress.
My hands became fists.
Alexander whispered, “They’re staging something.”
I lowered the binoculars.
“Then we ruin the show.”
At 5:12 the next morning, Margaret’s convoy prepared to leave for the Chicago bank vault.
At 5:13, Sofia smiled for the first camera.
May you like
And at 5:14, every light in the mansion went dark.
Alexander had arrived.
