Chapter 4 - THE BURIED DAUGHTER
The silence inside the SUV was absolute.
“You’re lying,” Sophia breathed, the paper fluttering from her trembling fingers.
“I’m not,” Adrian said. His voice was devastatingly gentle. “You aren’t the baker’s daughter, Sophia. You’re Marcus’s niece. Your real father is the man who murdered my parents.”
Sophia pressed her hands against her ears, a ringing sound echoing in her skull. It couldn’t be true. But the memory flashed behind her eyes—a massive house on fire. A terrified teenage boy pulling her from a burning room.
“The man who raised you, the man you called your father… he was assigned to execute the hit, but when he saw you in that house, crying in the smoke, he couldn’t let you burn. He took us both out. He hid you in plain sight.”
Elena stared at Sophia with wide, terrified eyes. “If Marcus knows who you are… he didn’t send his men to the wedding to stop the marriage.”
“No,” Adrian said grimly. “He sent them to execute the rightful heir. To secure his throne forever.”
“Why marry me, then?” Sophia’s voice cracked. “If I’m the daughter of the man who slaughtered your family… why would you protect me? Why bind yourself to me?”
Adrian leaned forward, his dark eyes fierce and unyielding in the shadows.
“Because when your adopted father was dying in that hospital bed five years ago, he made me swear to protect you. And because the only way the syndicates wouldn’t touch you is if you belonged to the most feared man in the city.”
He reached out and gently touched the gold wedding band still resting on her finger.
“I didn’t marry you for an alliance, Sophia. I married you to build a fortress around you.”
Sophia’s chest heaved. The man she thought was a cold, calculating monster had spent the last five years acting as her invisible shield.
The SUV suddenly swerved violently.
Tires screeched. Metal crunched. Sophia was thrown against the door as another heavy vehicle slammed into their side.
The driver fought for control, but a second impact spun them out completely. The SUV crashed into a concrete pillar beneath an overpass.
Smoke hissed from the hood.
Adrian was instantly moving. He kicked his jammed door open. “Everyone out! Now!”
He pulled Elena out first, then reached back for Sophia.
As she stumbled onto the wet pavement, the headlights of three black sedans boxed them in. Doors slammed open. Armed men poured out.
From the center car stepped a man with perfectly styled silver hair, wearing a bespoke camel coat. He held a silver-headed cane.
Marcus Rossi.
He smiled warmly at Sophia.
“Hello, Claire,” Marcus said, his voice smooth like aged bourbon. “Look at how beautifully you’ve grown.”
He didn’t look at Adrian. He looked at the man standing directly behind him.
“Well done, Paul,” Marcus said.
May you like
Sophia’s blood froze. She turned around.
Standing in the shadows, holding a gun pointed directly at Adrian’s spine, was Uncle Paul—the kindly old man who had walked her down the aisle just an hour ago.
