What Sophie Saw Behind the Stone Lion
Chapter 03 - What Sophie Saw Behind the Stone Lion
Daniel took Sophie into the hospital chapel, away from Vanessa.
He did not pressure her. He simply sat beside her and waited.
After several minutes, Sophie began to speak.
She had been playing hide-and-seek with Teresa’s granddaughter when she heard Vanessa arguing with Margaret on the staircase. Vanessa demanded that Margaret sign an emergency transfer and accused her of ruining the family’s future.
Margaret refused.
Vanessa grabbed her hand and pulled off the diamond ring.
When Margaret tried to take it back, Vanessa shoved her arm away. Margaret’s cane slipped on the top step, and she fell.
Sophie screamed.
Vanessa rushed down, seized Sophie by the wrist, and warned her that Daniel would lose the house—and Margaret might die—if she told anyone.
“I thought it was my fault,” Sophie sobbed.
Daniel held his daughter.
“None of this is your fault.”
The manor’s security team searched for the glasses, but every camera in the foyer had been disabled during the exact five minutes surrounding the fall.
Teresa remembered seeing Vanessa’s assistant carry a black handbag out through the kitchen.
The assistant, Rachel Moore, had worked for Vanessa for six years. When Daniel called her, she refused to answer. Teresa discovered Rachel was booked on a flight leaving that evening.
Daniel and Teresa reached the airport before boarding.
Rachel broke down when Daniel showed her Sophie’s bruised wrist.
She admitted taking the glasses but claimed she had not erased the recording. Vanessa had promised to pay her debts if she helped complete the transfer. Instead, Eric had threatened to blame the entire scheme on her.
Rachel handed Daniel the glasses.
The recording was still encrypted. To unlock it, they needed Margaret’s voice code and the serial pattern engraved inside the ring.
Vanessa had both the ring and the trust documents.
Back at Sterling Manor, she had gathered the family board for an emergency vote. She announced that Margaret was mentally unfit and Daniel was too emotional to lead.
Eric appeared on a video screen from the Vantage office.
The transfer countdown showed thirty-four minutes.
Daniel entered the boardroom with Teresa, Sophie, and Rachel.
Vanessa stared at the glasses in his hand.
“You have no idea what you’re doing,” she said.
Daniel placed them on the table.
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“I’m listening to my daughter.”
For the first time, Vanessa looked afraid.
