Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN EVERYONE BLAMED
Alexander stared at the message on his phone.
“If you want the truth about Sophia, find Lauren before your mother does.”
For several seconds, he didn’t move.
The ballroom around him continued.
People whispered.
Cameras flashed.
Guests who had spent the last hour praising Victoria Sterling were now watching her son with curiosity.
But Alexander heard none of it.
All he could think about was one name.
Lauren.
His wife.
Sophia’s mother.
The woman he believed had abandoned him.
The woman he had spent three years resenting.
“Daddy?”
Alexander looked down.
Sophia was holding his hand.
“Are we going home?”
The question broke his heart.
Home.
A simple word.
Something every child deserved.
But his daughter had spent years living somewhere she didn’t even feel safe.
“Yes,” Alexander said softly.
“We’re going home.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“Alexander.”
He stopped.
His mother’s voice had changed.
The confidence was gone.
Now she sounded worried.
“Don’t make decisions when you’re angry.”
Alexander turned around.
“Angry?”
He gave a cold laugh.
“My daughter was eating food from a garbage bag.”
People nearby became silent.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
“No.”
Alexander looked at her.
“I understand exactly what I saw.”
Her eyes moved toward Sophia.
For a moment, something strange crossed her face.
Not sadness.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“You need to listen to me.”
Alexander shook his head.
“I listened to you for three years.”
The words hit harder than he expected.
Because they were true.
He had listened.
He trusted.
And that trust destroyed precious years he could never get back.
Michael arrived twenty minutes later.
The moment he saw Sophia, his expression changed.
He had worked for Alexander for ten years.
He knew everything about his boss.
The meetings.
The deals.
The company battles.
But he had never seen Alexander look broken.
“Sir.”
Alexander handed him the phone.
“Find Lauren.”
Michael read the message.
His eyebrows tightened.
“Lauren?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“No.”
Alexander looked toward Victoria.
“But someone does.”
Michael understood immediately.
“You think your mother knows?”
Alexander didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Because everyone in that room knew.
Victoria had been controlling information for years.
The question was why.
That night, Alexander took Sophia to his Manhattan apartment.
For the first time in three years, his daughter walked through his front door.
But instead of running around excitedly, she stood quietly.
Almost afraid to touch anything.
“Sweetheart?”
Sophia looked at the huge living room.
“Is this where you live?”
“Yes.”
“It’s big.”
Alexander smiled sadly.
“Too big.”
She looked at him.
“Do you live here alone?”
The question hurt.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Alexander didn’t know how to answer.
Because he had spent years building an empire while losing the one person who mattered most.
Because he believed a lie.
Because he thought providing money was enough.
But a child doesn’t need a bank transfer.
A child needs a parent.
“I guess I forgot something important,” he said.
“What?”
“How much you needed me.”
Sophia walked closer.
Then she hugged him.
Small arms.
Tiny hands.
But somehow stronger than anything.
Later that night, Alexander sat in his office reviewing documents.
Michael had already sent preliminary information.
The payments were real.
Five thousand dollars every month.
Thirty-six months.
One hundred eighty thousand dollars.
Gone.
But the biggest problem was not where the money went.
It was where it didn’t go.
Not one dollar reached Lauren.
Not one dollar reached Sophia.
Then Michael found something else.
A hidden transfer.
A large payment made two weeks after Lauren disappeared.
Alexander stared at the screen.
The recipient name made his blood run cold.
Because it wasn’t Victoria Sterling Holdings.
It was a private account.
With one name attached.
Daniel Cross.
Alexander knew that name.
His mother’s personal attorney.
The man who handled the divorce paperwork.
The man who convinced him Lauren wanted nothing to do with him.
Alexander leaned back slowly.
The truth was getting closer.
But then his office phone rang.
A woman’s voice spoke.
“Alexander?”
He froze.
He knew that voice.
After three years...
May you like
He heard it again.
“Lauren?”
