Chapter 3 - SOPHIE’S SCHOOL RECORDS
Daniel arrived the next morning with copies of emails Victoria had sent him during the previous month.
They met in Raffaele’s legitimate business office downtown rather than the estate.
That was deliberate.
Raffaele did not want the children’s situation handled like a family operation.
Daniel placed his phone on the table.
“Two weeks ago she asked me to approve Sophie’s school transfer.”
“To Wisconsin?”
“Yes.”
“What reason?”
“She said married life would involve travel and security problems. She thought Sophie needed stability.”
Raffaele read the messages.
Victoria had been specific.
She wanted the transfer completed immediately after the wedding.
She wanted Daniel listed as Sophie’s primary school-week parent.
She even offered to reduce the support he paid if he agreed quickly.
None of that matched the woman who had looked at Noah in front of a hundred guests and declared:
My daughter comes first after we marry.
Second clue.
Sophie was apparently not going to live with them after the wedding.
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“I thought you knew.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then what the hell was she doing yesterday?”
Raffaele did not have an answer yet.
He asked something else.
“Has Sophie ever complained about Noah?”
“Not really.”
“Victoria says they don’t get along.”
Daniel frowned.
“Sophie talks about him constantly.”
“How?”
“She says he follows her around. She taught him how to draw stars. He likes when she reads him the dinosaur book.”
Raffaele leaned back.
That did not sound like two children competing for family status.
Daniel’s expression became uneasy.
“There is something she said last weekend.”
“What?”
“Sophie asked whether I would still let her live with me if she was ‘bad at being a sister.’”
Raffaele looked at him.
“What did you say?”
“That she doesn’t have to earn a home.”
Daniel swallowed.
“She started crying.”
Neither man spoke for several seconds.
Raffaele had spent decades reading adults who lied for money, fear, or survival.
Children were different.
When children used strange language, someone had often given it to them.
Before Daniel left, he said, “I’m keeping Sophie with me until we understand this.”
Raffaele nodded.
For once, there was no disagreement.
May you like
Whatever Victoria had been doing, the two fathers had reached the same conclusion independently.
Their children needed distance from it.
