Chapter 8 - THE LAST PERFORMANCE
Sophia requested one final meeting.
Her lawyer arranged it at a neutral office, with Naomi and the detective
present.
Sophia arrived without makeup. Her hair was pulled back, and she looked
smaller than Ethan remembered.
“I loved you,” she said.
Ethan did not answer.
“I did. At the beginning, I did.”
“Then why?”
She looked down.
“Adrian told me the company would collapse if you stayed in charge. He
said you were too stubborn to step aside. He said the board would never
accept me unless your condition became permanent.”
“So you helped him make it permanent.”
“I thought the medication would only slow your recovery. I never
thought—”
“Stop.”
Sophia fell silent.
“You watched me struggle to move my own body. You watched me believe I
was getting worse because I wasn’t trying hard enough. You told me to be
patient while you made sure I had less strength every week.”
Her eyes filled.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
“I thought if I helped Adrian secure the company, we’d have enough money
to leave. We could start over.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You were planning a future with the money you took from my life.”
Sophia began to cry.
The detective placed a printed message on the table.
It was from Sophia to Adrian, sent after the first laboratory inquiry.
“If he finds out, say the doctor changed it. He trusts me. He won’t
believe Maya.”
Ethan read it once.
Then he pushed it back.
“You didn’t even think a child deserved to be believed.”
Sophia covered her face.
The meeting ended with her lawyer advising her not to answer further
questions. She was later charged alongside Adrian and Reeves as the
investigation continued.
Ethan did not feel triumphant.
He felt tired.
May you like
But the tiredness was different now. It came from facing the truth, not
from being drugged into weakness.
