Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO CALLED SOFIA “DAUGHTER” HAD BEEN DEAD FOR TWENTY YEARS—AND ELEANOR KNEW EXACTLY WHO HE WAS
The elderly man did not enter immediately.
He simply stood in the doorway.
Perhaps seventy.
Silver hair.
Dark blue suit.
A cane in his left hand.
His eyes were fixed on Sofia.
Eleanor whispered:
“Jonathan.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“You know him?”
Eleanor's hands tightened around the wheelchair.
“He's supposed to be dead.”
The stranger smiled.
“People keep saying that today.”
Sofia had had enough.
“Who are you?”
“Jonathan Vale.”
Daniel's expression changed.
Sofia noticed.
“Who is he?”
Daniel answered.
“My father's former business partner.”
Gabriel looked furious.
“You.”
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
“Gabriel.”
Sofia looked between them.
“You know each other?”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You destroyed Isabella's life.”
Jonathan's expression hardened.
“No.”
“You disappeared when she needed you.”
“I disappeared because Richard Ashford tried to kill me.”
Victoria snapped:
“My father is not here to defend himself!”
Jonathan looked at her.
“Your father is alive.”
Victoria froze.
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Victoria's father had supposedly died four years earlier.
Jonathan laughed softly.
“Apparently death became a family hobby.”
Sofia rubbed her forehead.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward Jonathan.
“Are you my biological father?”
Jonathan looked directly at her.
“Yes.”
“Proof?”
He seemed surprised.
Sofia continued.
“I've heard enough stories today to last several lifetimes. I want proof.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Good.”
He removed a sealed DNA report.
Sofia did not take it.
“That proves someone tested something.”
Jonathan almost smiled.
“Then test me yourself.”
Sofia looked at Daniel.
“Can we?”
“Yes.”
Daniel called a private physician.
Samples were taken in front of everyone.
Independent laboratory.
No family intermediaries.
Results would take several hours.
Until then, Jonathan talked.
Twenty-six years earlier, Isabella had been caught between three powerful men.
Charles Hawthorne loved her.
Gabriel loved her.
Jonathan Vale had loved her first.
But Richard Ashford had loved control.
Jonathan claimed Richard discovered Isabella's pregnancy and manipulated everyone.
Charles was told the baby might be his.
Gabriel was told the baby was definitely his.
Jonathan was told Isabella had terminated the pregnancy.
Sofia stared.
“And you believed him?”
Jonathan lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“I was a coward.”
Sofia respected the admission more than excuses.
“Why fake your death?”
“Because after I discovered you existed, I tried to return.”
“And?”
“Richard arranged a car accident.”
Daniel frowned.
“Your death.”
Jonathan nodded.
“I survived.”
“Why didn't you go to police?”
“Richard owned too many of them.”
Sofia laughed bitterly.
“So you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“For twenty years.”
“Yes.”
“And watched my mother raise me alone.”
Jonathan's face broke.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I didn't know where you were.”
Sofia stared.
“You expect me to believe a wealthy businessman couldn't find one woman and her daughter?”
“No.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“I expect you to hate me for failing.”
Sofia said nothing.
That answer hurt more than a defense would have.
Across the room, Victoria remained unusually quiet.
Daniel noticed.
“What aren't you saying?”
She looked at him.
“Nothing.”
“You knew Jonathan?”
“No.”
Jonathan laughed.
Victoria's eyes flashed.
He reached inside his coat.
A photograph.
Victoria and Jonathan.
Taken two years earlier.
Daniel stared.
“You lied.”
Victoria's face collapsed.
Sofia whispered:
“You knew he was alive.”
Victoria turned toward Daniel.
“I can explain.”
“I'm getting tired of that phrase.”
Jonathan continued.
Victoria had found him two years earlier.
Not to reunite Sofia with him.
To purchase his silence.
Sofia looked at Victoria.
“Why?”
“Because Jonathan could challenge the trust.”
Victoria's voice shook.
“If he proved you were his daughter, certain clauses changed.”
Daniel stared.
“So this entire marriage…”
Victoria screamed:
“I LOVE YOU!”
Daniel remained still.
“Maybe.”
That answer destroyed her.
“But you loved the estate too.”
Victoria cried.
“You don't understand what my father did to me.”
Sofia looked at her.
For the first time, Victoria seemed less like a monster and more like someone raised inside one.
That did not erase the bat.
It did not erase Eleanor's medication.
But it complicated the picture.
“What did Richard do?” Sofia asked.
Victoria stared.
Nobody had asked her gently.
Her anger weakened.
“He trained me.”
Daniel frowned.
“For what?”
“To marry you.”
Silence.
Victoria began crying.
From childhood, Richard told her the Hawthorne family had stolen what belonged to the Ashfords.
She learned Daniel's favorite foods.
His schools.
His friends.
His relationships.
She was sent to the same charity events.
The same universities.
The same circles.
Their “accidental” meeting had not been accidental.
Daniel looked sick.
“You were assigned to me.”
Victoria whispered:
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“I thought if I made you love me, it would become real.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Sofia looked at Victoria.
“Did you poison Eleanor?”
Victoria's face changed.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
Eleanor spoke.
“The pills were in your room.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria looked terrified.
“Because someone put them there.”
Sofia almost laughed.
“Convenient.”
“I know.”
Victoria looked at her.
“But I swear to you, I didn't poison Eleanor.”
Sofia remembered something.
Victoria had raised the bat.
But why?
If she were trying to kill Eleanor slowly with medication, attacking her publicly at a party made no sense.
Hot-tempered, yes.
But strategically absurd.
Sofia looked at Eleanor.
“What exactly happened before I saw the bat?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“I confronted Victoria.”
“Then?”
“She denied everything.”
“And the bat?”
Victoria answered.
“I picked it up.”
“Why?”
Victoria looked ashamed.
“I was angry.”
“At Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
“Were you going to hit her?”
Victoria looked toward the lawn.
“I don't know.”
Sofia's expression hardened.
“That isn't a no.”
“No.”
Victoria swallowed.
“It isn't.”
At least she admitted it.
Daniel remained cold.
“You still raised a weapon over my mother.”
“I know.”
“You're still leaving.”
Victoria nodded.
“I know.”
Then Eleanor suddenly coughed.
Once.
Twice.
Her hand covered her mouth.
Blood appeared between her fingers.
Daniel rushed toward her.
“Mother!”
Sofia's stomach dropped.
Eleanor collapsed against the wheelchair.
Emergency services were called.
The birthday party became chaos.
Guests fled.
Paramedics rushed through the villa.
Daniel rode with Eleanor.
Sofia remained with Gabriel and Jonathan.
Victoria stood alone near the staircase.
Then Sofia noticed her.
Victoria was staring at Eleanor's abandoned teacup.
Sofia approached.
“What?”
Victoria pointed.
“That's not the tea I gave her.”
Sofia frowned.
“How do you know?”
“The cup.”
“What about it?”
“Eleanor always uses porcelain.”
The cup beside her chair was glass.
Sofia stared.
“Who brought it?”
Victoria looked toward the kitchen.
They checked staff records.
One temporary server.
Male.
Forty-eight.
Name:
Michael Grant.
No employee by that name existed.
Security footage showed him entering the villa.
Then disappearing through a service corridor.
Daniel returned from the hospital three hours later.
Eleanor was stable.
Barely.
Doctors confirmed anticoagulant poisoning.
Someone had increased the dose that afternoon.
Sofia told Daniel about the server.
His expression hardened.
They searched footage.
Michael Grant appeared clearly on camera.
Jonathan saw him.
His face turned white.
“That isn't Michael Grant.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Who is he?”
Jonathan whispered:
“Richard Ashford.”
Victoria, standing behind them, stopped breathing.
“No.”
Jonathan pointed at the screen.
Older.
Beard.
Different hair.
But unmistakable.
Victoria's supposedly dead father had served Eleanor tea.
Daniel turned toward her.
Victoria began shaking.
“I didn't know.”
Sofia believed her.
For once.
Then the DNA results arrived.
Sofia opened them.
Probability Jonathan Vale was her biological father:
99.99%.
She stared.
Jonathan cried.
Sofia did not hug him.
Not yet.
Daniel looked at her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
It was the most honest answer she had.
Then Marcus entered.
“Mr. Hawthorne.”
“What?”
“We found Richard Ashford's vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned.”
“Anything inside?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“A phone.”
Daniel frowned.
Marcus placed it on the table.
The screen contained one video.
They played it.
Richard Ashford appeared.
Alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Daniel.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Her father continued.
“If you're watching this, Eleanor survived.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Richard smiled.
“Good.”
Sofia frowned.
Why would the man who poisoned Eleanor want her alive?
Richard continued.
“Because I wasn't trying to kill your mother.”
Everyone stared.
“I was trying to force you to test her blood.”
Daniel whispered:
“What?”
Richard leaned toward the camera.
“Ask the doctors why Eleanor Hawthorne's blood type changed seventeen years ago.”
Daniel froze.
Victoria stared.
Sofia felt cold.
Richard smiled.
Then delivered the sentence that silenced the room.
May you like
“That woman in the hospital isn't Daniel Hawthorne's mother.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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