Chapter 14 - Sofia
Anton stared at Sofia’s photograph for nearly a minute.
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
He sat down.
I did not know what emotion I was seeing.
Relief.
Anger.
Grief.
Maybe all three.
For ten years, Anton believed Sofia had abandoned him.
Then perhaps died.
Now she was apparently working with Lucia.
The photograph had been taken outside a grocery store in New Mexico.
Federal agents traced Sofia within hours.
She agreed to meet.
Not with Anton.
With me.
We met inside a federal building.
Sofia was thirty-eight.
Elegant.
Calm.
She studied me.
“So you’re Clara.”
“You know me?”
“I know about you.”
“From Lucia?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Sofia smiled sadly.
“If Lucia wanted me to tell you, she would have told you herself.”
I hated that answer.
Then Anton entered.
Sofia stood.
Neither spoke.
Ten years of history filled the room.
Finally Anton said, “Why?”
Sofia looked away.
“Victor.”
Her story mirrored mine.
Before her wedding, she discovered unusual company transfers.
Victor learned she had questions.
He threatened her younger brother.
Then he convinced her that Anton’s family would destroy her if she exposed anything.
Lucia, already living under another identity, somehow discovered Victor’s plan.
She helped Sofia disappear.
The letter Anton received had been written under pressure.
Not by Sofia.
Forged.
Just like mine.
“Why didn’t you contact me later?” Anton asked.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three years after I left.”
“I never heard from you.”
Sofia looked at him.
“Your mother intercepted the message.”
Anton closed his eyes.
Of course.
Carmela again.
Even when she was not the mastermind, her need to control people created damage.
Sofia continued.
“Carmela believed you were finally healing.”
“So she decided for me.”
“Yes.”
Anton laughed bitterly.
“That sounds familiar.”
Sofia apologized.
Anton did too.
There was no romantic reunion.
Only two people acknowledging a decade stolen from them.
Then Sofia turned toward me.
“Victor will come for you before the trust deadline.”
“Why?”
“Because once you file your claim, he loses leverage.”
“His crimes remain crimes.”
“Yes.”
“But control of the company lets you release internal records Carmela has kept sealed.”
I looked toward Anton.
“What records?”
He did not know.
Sofia did.
Victor had used Valdez subsidiaries to hide transactions for decades.
Some records were protected by internal corporate privilege.
As controlling trustee, I could authorize full cooperation.
I could open everything.
Victor could not allow that.
“So he needs me to miss the deadline.”
“Yes.”
“How much time?”
Rebecca answered from the doorway.
“Eleven hours.”
My claim paperwork was ready.
DNA confirmation was underway.
But one original document remained necessary.
Schedule C.
Victor had taken it from the marina during the blackout.
We had seen it.
We had photographed part of it.
But the trust required the original.
Carmela claimed there might be another certified copy.
Where?
The Valdez family vault.
Location unknown.
Only three people had known.
Alejandro.
Carmela.
Victor.
Alejandro was dead.
Victor was missing.
Carmela was in the hospital.
We called her.
She gave us the address.
An old family estate outside Austin.
Then she added one warning.
“Do not open the lower vault.”
Anton frowned.
“Why?”
“What’s inside?”
May you like
Carmela closed her eyes.
“Everything I was too afraid to destroy.”
