Now I waited.
---
Ten minutes passed. Gloria grew impatient. “Go check on her. She should be out by now.”
Daniel knelt beside the bed. His face appeared in my line of sight as he lifted the comforter slightly. For a split second, our eyes met. His widened in shock.
“Sophia? What the—?”
I didn’t give him time to react. I lunged forward, slamming my palm into his nose with every ounce of strength I possessed. He yelped and fell backward. I scrambled out from under the bed, veil tangled around my shoulders like a warrior’s cape, dress torn at the hem.
Gloria screamed. “What is this?!”
I stood tall, breathing hard, staring at the two people who had just tried to destroy my life.
“You really thought I was that stupid?” My voice was steady, colder than I had ever heard it. “You drugged the champagne, planned to forge my signatures, sell off everything my father built? All while I slept?”
Daniel clutched his bleeding nose. “Baby, this isn’t— you don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly,” I cut him off. “I heard every word. The merger. The estate sale. How I was ‘easy.’ How I was just a pretty orphan to be controlled.”
Gloria tried to recover, stepping forward with her hands raised. “Darling, this is a misunderstanding. Daniel loves you. We were just discussing business—”
“Save it.” I pressed a button on my phone. The large TV on the wall flickered to life, showing the live feed from the hidden cameras—clear audio and video of their entire conversation.
Daniel’s face drained of color. Gloria looked like she might faint.
