Sophia woke up to the sound of someone moving around in her room. She opened her eyes to find Alexander seated in a chair next to her bed, patiently waiting for her to wake up.
"Good morning," he said, with a small smile on his face.
Sophia sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. She couldn't believe that Alexander was here, in her room. She looked at him, confusion and anger evident on her face.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice cold and distant.
Alexander leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I wanted to apologize," he said. "I know that what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry for that. I should have never kidnapped you."
Sophia glared at him. "Apology accepted," she said, sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Now what do you want?"
Alexander hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I spoke with your father last night," he said. "He was...less than cooperative. But I've decided that I'm going to do things my own way from now on, without involving you any further."
Sophia frowned. "What do you mean?"
Alexander stood up, pacing back and forth across the room. "I mean that I'm going to take back my company, with or without your father's help. But I wanted to offer you a way out. I'm letting you go."
Sophia stared at him surprised, "just like that?"she asked, her voice firm.
"Yes."
"What if I want to help you? I mean my father has always had a hand in everything, and I know that he's capable of doing something like this. If you truly believe that he's behind your downfall, then I want to help you take him down."
Alexander stared at her, shocked. He couldn't believe that Sophia was offering to help him, after everything that he had done to her.
"Why would you want to help me?" he asked.
Sophia shrugged. "Because I believe in what you're doing," she said. "And because I don't want to be controlled by my father any longer. I want to make my own choices, and I want to be able to stand on my own two feet."
Alexander nodded, a small smile on his face. "I understand," he said. "And I appreciate your offer. But I need to be sure that you're doing this for the right reasons, and not just because you feel obligated to me."
Sophia shook her head. "I'm doing this because I believe in you, Alexander. I believe in what you're trying to accomplish, and I want to help you achieve it."
Alexander thought for a moment before nodding. "Alright," he said. "Then let's do this together."
Sophia smiled, feeling a sense of determination wash over her. She knew that this wouldn't be easy, but she was ready to fight for what she believed in. Together, she and Alexander were going to take down her father and take back what was rightfully theirs.
Sophia's mind wandered back to the few times she had caught her father hiding things. Once, she had found him hiding away a large sum of money in a secret compartment of his office. When she had asked him about it, he had looked at her with cold eyes and told her not to worry about it. Another time, she had found a stack of legal documents hidden in his study. Again, when she had asked him about it, her father had brushed it off, saying it was just work-related stuff and that she shouldn't worry about it. But now, as Sophia lay in her room, still feeling the effects of the drugs that had been used to knock her out, she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than her father had let on.
She waved her head to take such thoughts from her head now, she raised her head and
saw Alexander still sitting in a chair across from her, watching her intently. She flinched slightly, still feeling uneasy around him after all that had happened. But then he spoke, his voice soft and apologetic.
"Sophia, I'm sorry for what happened to you. I never intended for you to get caught up in this. But your father...he's done something that has affected a lot of people, and I need to make sure he's held accountable."
Sophia's mind raced as she tried to process what he was saying. Was her father really capable of doing something that would hurt so many people? She didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was starting to stack up against him.
"What can I do to help?" Sophia asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Alexander's expression softened, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I can't ask you to get involved in this, Sophia. It's too dangerous. But if you're willing, I would be grateful for any information you can give me about your father's business dealings."
Sophia thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "I'll do what I can," she said, her voice firm.
Alexander stood up, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "Thank you, Sophia. First I need you to get dressed, you would be going somewhere later in the day."
With that, he turned and left the room, leaving Sophia to ponder what she had just agreed to. She knew it was risky, but she couldn't sit idly by while her father's actions hurt innocent people. She would do whatever it took to make things right and to clear her father's name if he was innocent. She freshened up, dressed and went to look for Alexander to start the plan.
**********
As she stepped outside her room, she saw Alexander's boys standing outside but none of them made to stop her. She was surprised but saw it as an opportunity to finally leave the place. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the ground floor. Stepping out of the elevator she smiled to herself. Finally she would leave this hellhole but her eyes caught something that immediately took the thought of escaping far from her mind.
She noticed a man leading her father and Michael to the private stairs leading to the second-story balcony as they passed. As he followed the man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, her father appeared irritated and reticent; her dad's reddening face was lined with enough anxiety to worry her. She followed the three men, falling into step behind them and staying near to the columns and edges so she could hear their talk and keep an eye on her father while also avoiding being seen herself.
" Gabriel, I don't think this is the time or place to handle this subject," her father remarked in a stern, agitated voice.
Gabriel came to a stop at the staircase and turned to face her father. His expression and dark gaze were both cunning as he addressed her father. He was forthright, saying, "You've avoided me and the matter for the past month, which is significantly longer time than I offer any of my other borrowers. If this is the only way I can catch your attention so we can talk about repaying your loan, which is getting larger every day due to interest charges, then so be it. You are well aware of how this procedure operates, so let's try to prevent the unavoidable. Sophia's gut clenched in agony as she listened to the man's statements, fearing that her father might be having financial difficulties.
He didn't appear to owe money to a trustworthy organization, but rather to a person who was growing impatient with her father's failure to repay the loan. Her father attempted to justify himself by saying, "I've dealt with your father since you were in diapers," with a hint of desperation in his voice. "When money is tight, I may ask for a grace period or skip a payment or two, and he never complains."
"As you are well aware, my father is no longer in charge of the company. I am, and I have been quite forgiving of your numerous payment lapses. Business only,"
Gabriel looked across to Michael, who was still standing by her father's side then to her father, and unlatched the red rope locking the stairway.
"Would you like to discuss this matter with Michael present or not?"
Her father took a breath, his face having become noticeably paler in the previous several minutes. "He is aware of the circumstances, and I would prefer for him to be there."
The other man's lips twisted into a patronizing grin. "If that's a problem, we won't be breaking any bones today."
"It's not," her father said, but Sophia could tell he was faking bravery since she could hear the anxiety in his ordinarily assured voice. She watched the group make their way to the second level while her heart raced in her throat. Her father moved cautiously and slowly with each step as if he were about to go to the gallows or some other horrible fate. Sophia panicked when she lost sight of them as they rounded a curve because all she could think about was her father's frail heart and the prospect that this tense scenario would result in another attack that could have been fatal. She moved further up the stairs without hesitation, reaching the balcony level just as the three men entered a nearby room and the door shut behind them. She moved stealthily to where they had vanished and did what she could without drawing attention to herself, trying to minimize the rustle of her skirts.
She put her ear to the door to hear what was being spoken on the other side and to learn her father's terrible fate.