Chapter 6 - SOPHIA’S SECRET
Sophia Carter had loved Vincent since they were teenagers. She had believed that if she waited long enough, he would eventually realize that the life he had built with Anna was a mistake. When Anna became pregnant, Sophia told herself the marriage would become strained, that Vincent would feel trapped, and that he would turn to the woman who understood his past.
Instead, he had become more protective of Anna—until the vacation.
Sophia had not caused the aircraft’s mechanical failure. She had not planned the explosion. But she had known more about the events surrounding the crash than she had ever admitted.
Three days before the flight, Sophia had met Adrian Vale, a former Moretti security consultant who had been dismissed after a financial dispute. Adrian had told her that Vincent’s business enemies were preparing to disrupt the trip. He said there would be a staged emergency, a chance to frighten Vincent into returning to Chicago and abandoning his plans to step away from certain dangerous business interests.
Sophia had believed it would be a scare, not a catastrophe. She had wanted Vincent close to her again, and Adrian had promised that the crisis would make him see who stood beside him when things went wrong.
She had not known the aircraft would explode.
But when Vincent carried her down the evacuation slide, she had seen the rear exit and heard the flight attendant calling for Anna. For a moment, Sophia could have shouted. She could have told Vincent to go back immediately.
Instead, she clung to him.
After the explosion, she heard the flight attendant tell an emergency responder that a pregnant woman had been pulled from the rear of the aircraft. Sophia said nothing. She was terrified that if Vincent learned Anna had survived, he would leave her before she had a chance to explain.
Later, Adrian told her the woman had been transferred to a regional hospital under an incomplete name. He said he would handle the paperwork and make sure the confusion did not lead back to Vincent.
Sophia had told herself that Anna would recover, contact her husband, and return to her life. When no message came, she accepted the silence as proof that Anna wanted to disappear.
Then the funeral happened.
Sophia stood beside Vincent as he mourned his wife and unborn child. She watched him place flowers on the closed coffin and whisper an apology to the grave. Each time he said Anna’s name, Sophia felt the lie tightening around her.
She could have told him.
She did not.
Three years later, after Anna appeared at the gala, Sophia knew the secret was over.
Vincent confronted her in his study that afternoon. He had placed the hospital record and the crash liaison notes on the desk.
“Tell me what you know,” he said.
Sophia stared at the papers.
“I didn’t make the plane explode.”
“I didn’t ask whether you made it explode.”
“I was frightened. I thought you would leave me.”
“You knew she might have survived.”
Sophia’s lips trembled.
“I heard someone say a woman had been pulled from the rear exit. Adrian told me he would check. He said the woman had no identification and that the hospital would contact you if she was really Anna.”
“And you let me bury her.”
“I thought she would come back!”
“You thought she would come back, and you said nothing for three years?”
Sophia began to cry. “I loved you.”
Vincent’s face became cold. “Love does not require you to let a pregnant woman vanish.”
She reached for his hand, but he stepped away.
“Who is Adrian Vale working for?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then find out. You will tell the investigators everything you remember. You will not contact Anna. You will not go near my son.”
“Our son?” Sophia whispered bitterly. “You’ve known him for one day.”
“And he has spent three years without his father.”
Sophia sank into the chair.
Vincent turned toward the door, then stopped.
“One more question. Did you know the plane was in danger before we boarded?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. I swear. Adrian said it would be a warning. He said the aircraft would land safely.”
Vincent did not know whether to believe her. He had learned that the truth often arrived in pieces, each one carrying a new reason not to trust the person who offered it.
He left Sophia in the study and called Marcus.
“Find Adrian Vale. And make sure the authorities have everything we’ve uncovered.”
“Understood.”
Vincent looked at the photograph of Anna on his desk.
May you like
He had once believed his greatest failure was leaving her behind. Now he understood that the years afterward had been shaped by another failure: accepting a convenient story instead of demanding the truth.
He would not make that mistake again.
