Chapter 14 - SophiaThe Christmas Miracle Nobody Wanted
Nobody moved.
Not even me.
The young woman stood in my doorway like someone who had walked out of a photograph.
Twenty-four years old.
Her face held traces of Arthur.
The eyes.
The mouth.
The small crease between the brows.
I stared.
“Your name is Sophia.”
She nodded.
“My name is Sophia Miller.”
My knees weakened.
She took one step forward.
“I've been trying to find you for three years.”
I whispered:
“I was told you were dead.”
“I was told you gave me away.”
My heart broke.
“I didn't.”
“I know.”
“Who told you?”
“Arthur's lawyer.”
Daniel lowered his head.
Sophia looked at him.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
Daniel's voice shook.
“Arthur ordered me not to.”
She looked back at me.
“I spent years believing I wasn't wanted.”
I crossed the room.
“I'm sorry.”
She stopped me.
“You didn't know.”
“No.”
“But he did.”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
Before I could answer, Vincent stepped inside.
He had been standing just outside the door.
Trevor moved in front of me.
Vincent laughed softly.
“You Miller children always did love dramatic entrances.”
Sophia turned.
“You're Vincent Hale.”
“Yes.”
“You killed my father.”
Vincent's face became cold.
“No.”
Nathan said, “You know who did.”
Vincent looked at him.
Then at Sloan.
Then at me.
“I know who gave the order.”
“Who?”
He pointed toward Sloan.
I turned.
Sloan's face had gone white.
“No.”
Vincent nodded.
“She knows.”
Sloan backed away.
“You said you wouldn't tell.”
“I said many things.”
“Who gave the order?”
Sloan started crying.
“My father.”
Trevor shook his head.
“Gregory is dead.”
“He gave it before he died.”
“Why?”
Sloan looked at me.
“Because Arthur was going to expose Sophia's existence.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because if you knew she was alive, you'd search for the trust.”
I looked at Sophia.
“And that trust controlled what?”
Vincent answered.
“Everything.”
The room went silent.
Sophia reached into her coat.
She pulled out a folded document.
“My adoptive parents gave me this last month.”
I opened it.
A handwritten letter.
Arthur's signature.
Sophia,
I am sorry.
The letter explained everything.
Arthur had discovered that Gregory and Rebecca were fighting over the missing money.
He had created a hidden structure to protect Sophia.
He had transferred the controlling interest.
He had staged evidence of her death.
He had told me she had died because the only way to keep her safe was to make the world believe there was no daughter to protect.
Then came the final line.
When Diane learns the truth, tell her not to forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness simply because Christmas is coming.
I looked at Sophia.
She was crying.
I hugged her.
For twenty-four years, I had imagined what my lost child might have looked like.
I had imagined a face.
A voice.
A life.
I had never imagined she'd walk into my house on Christmas Eve.
Behind us, Vincent slowly stepped backward.
Nathan noticed.
“Where are you going?”
Vincent smiled.
“You have the girl.”
“I have what?”
“The one thing none of you understands.”
He reached into his coat.
Daniel stood.
“Don't.”
Vincent pulled out a small recorder.
He pressed play.
Arthur's voice filled the room.
“This is the last message.”
The room became silent.
“If Sophia is alive, then Diane must know the truth about my death.”
The recording continued.
“I was not killed by Rebecca.”
I looked at Sloan.
She began shaking.
Arthur's voice said:
“Rebecca arrived after the attack.”
I felt the room spin.
“She did not kill me.”
Then Arthur said the final sentence.
“The person who did was the one person I trusted to protect Diane.”
I looked at Trevor.
Then Daniel.
Then Sloan.
Arthur continued.
“Her name is Eleanor Miller.”
I froze.
Eleanor.
My sister.
My sister who had died ten years ago.
Except I remembered something.
At my mother's funeral, Eleanor had disappeared.
She had never answered my calls.
I had been told she moved overseas.
I had never seen a body.
I looked at Sophia.
She whispered:
“That's my grandmother.”
Then every face in the room turned toward me.
May you like
My sister wasn't dead.
And she had known about Sophia all along.
