Chapter 6
Preston’s relationship with Sofia began three years after Beatrice died.
That fact now became impossible to ignore.
At the time it felt accidental.
A foundation dinner.
A conversation.
Then another.
Preston was patient.
He never rushed her.
He listened when she spoke about Ava.
He seemed especially understanding about Sofia’s memory problems surrounding Beatrice’s death.
Too understanding.
Sofia sat inside Raffaele’s study going through old messages.
Preston had asked questions almost from the beginning.
Do you still get dreams about the foundry?
Do you remember who Beatrice was fighting with?
Did you ever remember why you went upstairs?
At the time, Sofia interpreted the questions as shared grief.
Now they looked like monitoring.
Raffaele asked:
“When did he first propose?”
“Six months ago.”
“When did your memories start getting clearer?”
Sofia thought.
“About eight months ago.”
She had begun trauma therapy after Ava woke one night from a nightmare and Sofia realized she was raising her daughter while avoiding her own.
During therapy, small fragments of the foundry night returned.
She told Preston.
Two months later he proposed.
Raffaele looked away.
He did not say what both of them were thinking.
Sofia said it herself.
“You think he married me because he was afraid of what I'd remember.”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
Raffaele turned back.
“I suspect it.”
Sofia removed her wedding ring.
The ceremony had not technically finished.
They had exchanged rings privately before the reception, but legal paperwork remained unsigned.
A detail that now felt strangely merciful.
Sofia looked at the ring in her palm.
“What if none of it was real?”
Raffaele answered:
“Your feelings were.”
That hurt more.
May you like
Because betrayal did not erase the love she had believed she was building.
It only meant Preston had been living inside a different story.
