PART 2 — THE GIFT SOPHIA NEVER EXPECTED

The first thing Alexander heard when he entered Sophia Reynolds’s penthouse was the sound of breaking glᴀss.

The second was her screaming his name.

“Alexander! Where have you been? I’ve been calling you for twenty minutes!”

Sophia stood in the middle of her luxurious living room, barefoot, trembling, surrounded by shattered champagne glᴀsses and scattered documents.

Her usually perfect makeup was smeared beneath her eyes.

Alexander barely recognized her.

“What happened?”

Sophia pointed toward the dining table.

“That woman! Your wife! She’s trying to destroy me!”

Alexander followed her finger.

Three thick envelopes lay on the polished marble surface.

Beside them sat a small velvet box.

And on top of everything was a handwritten note.

For Sophia. Since you wanted my place so badly, I thought you deserved to know what came with it.

Alexander recognized Evelyn’s handwriting immediately.

His stomach тιԍнтened.

“What is this?”

Sophia grabbed his arm.

“Don’t open anything else! Call your lawyers. Make them stop whatever she’s doing!”

Alexander pulled away.

“Sophia. Tell me what happened.”

She swallowed.

“Someone delivered those packages at seven this morning. I thought they were from you.”

“Why?”

“Because you promised we would celebrate soon.”

Alexander frowned.

“Celebrate what?”

Sophia hesitated.

Then she looked away.

“Nothing. Just open the letter.”

Alexander reached for the first envelope.

Inside were pH๏τographs.

Dozens of them.

Sophia entering H๏τels with different men. Sophia embracing a married real estate developer. Sophia exchanging envelopes with a man Alexander recognized as his company’s former financial director.

And finally, a pH๏τograph taken outside Alexander’s own office building.

Sophia was standing beside Richard Cole.

Alexander’s most dangerous business rival.

His blood turned cold.

“Explain this.”

Sophia rushed forward.

“Those pictures are misleading!”

“Why were you meeting Richard Cole?”

“He approached me about a charity project!”

“At eleven thirty at night?”

“Alexander, please—”

He dropped the pH๏τographs onto the table.

For three years, he had defended Sophia against Evelyn’s suspicions.

For three years, he had accused his wife of jealousy.

Now he was staring at evidence he could not explain away.

But the pH๏τographs were only the beginning.

The second envelope contained financial records.

Alexander scanned the first page.

Then the second.

Then the third.

His expression changed.

“What is the Reynolds Foundation?”

Sophia went pale.

“My charity.”

“The one I donated eight million dollars to?”

“Yes.”

“The one supposedly building shelters for disadvantaged children?”

“Yes, Alexander. Why are you asking?”

He turned the page toward her.

“Because according to these records, almost six million dollars went into private companies connected to you.”

Sophia stopped breathing for a moment.

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it?”

“The accountant handled everything!”

Alexander looked at the transaction dates.

One payment had been made the same afternoon Sophia claimed she needed emergency funding for a children’s hospital.

He remembered that afternoon.

Evelyn had been waiting at home with Lily.

Their daughter had been running a high fever.

Evelyn called him repeatedly.

He ignored her.

Because Sophia had been crying.

Because Sophia said children needed him.

Because he believed she was selfless.

Alexander stared at the financial statements until the numbers blurred.

“Where did the money go?”

Sophia began crying.

“I can explain.”

“Then explain.”

“Some of it was invested temporarily. I was going to put it back.”

“Six million dollars?”

“I never meant for anyone to get hurt!”

Alexander slowly lowered the papers.

For the first time, Sophia’s tears did not move him.

He reached for the third envelope.

Sophia lunged forward.

“No!”

He stepped aside.

“Alexander, please. You don’t understand what Evelyn is doing.”

He opened it.

Inside was a formal notice from an independent forensic accounting firm.

The foundation’s records had been reviewed.

Relevant documents had been preserved.

A report had been sent to the foundation’s board and legal counsel, with referrals to appropriate authorities concerning suspected financial misconduct.

Sophia’s hands began shaking uncontrollably.

“They’re going to investigate me.”

Alexander said nothing.

“They’ll freeze everything!”

“That depends on what the investigators find.”

She stared at him.

“You’re supposed to protect me.”

Alexander looked at the pH๏τographs again.

Then the documents.

Then the little velvet box.

“What’s inside that?”

Sophia shook her head.

“Please don’t.”

He opened it.

Inside was a diamond bracelet.

He recognized it immediately.

He had purchased it three years earlier.

For Evelyn.

On their first wedding anniversary.

He remembered giving it to her in their bedroom.

He remembered her smiling.

He remembered how carefully she had placed it back into its box.

But he also remembered something else.

Six months later, the bracelet disappeared.

Evelyn told him she suspected someone had taken it during a dinner party.

Alexander had laughed.

He told her she was careless.

Sophia had been at that dinner.

And now the bracelet was here.

Alexander looked up.

“Why do you have my wife’s bracelet?”

Sophia’s lips trembled.

“She gave it to me.”

“No, she didn’t.”

“You don’t know that!”

Alexander removed a small folded note from beneath the velvet lining.

It was written in Evelyn’s handwriting.

I found this bracelet in Sophia’s jewelry cabinet three weeks ago.

I also found the receipt for the private jeweler who removed my initials and replaced them with hers.

You called me paranoid when I said things were disappearing from our home.

Now you can decide whether I was paranoid—or simply married to a man who refused to see the truth.

Alexander stared at the bracelet.

On its inner clasp were two engraved letters.

S.R.

Sophia covered her mouth.

He closed the box.

“Get out of my way.”

Sophia grabbed his sleeve.

“You can’t leave me now!”

Alexander turned.

“Why not?”

“Because Evelyn planned this! She wants us to turn against each other!”

Alexander looked at her with an expression she had never seen before.

“Did you steal from my wife?”

Sophia said nothing.

“Did you misuse the foundation’s money?”

Silence.

“Were you meeting Richard Cole behind my back?”

Sophia’s face twisted.

“You wouldn’t understand!”

“Try me.”

She wiped her tears angrily.

“You were supposed to marry me, Alexander! Everyone knew it! Your family knew it! My family knew it!”

He stared at her.

“That was years ago.”

“And then Evelyn appeared!”

Alexander felt a strange chill.

Sophia continued.

“She took everything that should have been mine. Your name. Your house. Your child. Your future.”

Alexander stepped backward.

“Lily is my daughter.”

Sophia laughed bitterly.

“And Evelyn made sure you never forgot it.”

Something about her tone disturbed him.

“What does that mean?”

Sophia looked toward the windows.

“Nothing.”

“Sophia.”

“I said nothing!”

Alexander’s phone vibrated.

A message from his attorney.

Mr. Moretti, we need to speak urgently. Mrs. Moretti has filed for divorce and requested temporary custody arrangements. There is also a separate matter involving your company.

Alexander frowned.

What separate matter?

The reply came almost immediately.

It concerns a shareholder agreement executed before your marriage.

Alexander read the message twice.

Before their marriage?

He had no idea what his attorney meant.

Then another message appeared.

Sir, I strongly advise you not to contact Mrs. Moretti until we discuss the documents.

Alexander looked at Sophia.

She was still crying.

But he barely heard her anymore.

Because suddenly he remembered something Evelyn had once said.

It had been during an argument about his company.

“You keep forgetting, Alexander. I was there before Moretti Global became what it is.”

He had dismissed her.

He had told her business was too complicated for her.

Now, standing in Sophia’s penthouse, he wondered what else he had dismissed.

His phone rang again.

This time, it was his chief financial officer.

“Mr. Moretti, we have a serious problem.”

“What problem?”

“There’s been a change in voting control.”

Alexander went still.

“What are you talking about?”

The man hesitated.

“Sir, someone has exercised rights attached to the original founder shares.”

Alexander gripped the phone.

“Who?”

There was a long silence.

Then the answer came.

“Your wife, sir.”

Alexander slowly turned toward the windows.

Somewhere thousands of miles away, Evelyn was holding their daughter.

And apparently, she had just reminded Chicago that she had never been merely Alexander Moretti’s wife.

But the next words from his chief financial officer were worse.

“Mr. Moretti, there’s something else.”

“What?”

“Mrs. Moretti has requested an emergency board meeting.”

Alexander closed his eyes.

“When?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“About what?”

The answer made his heart stop.

“Your removal as chief executive officer.”

And for the first time in his life, Alexander Moretti realized he might lose far more than his marriage.