Chapter 3: The Woman Who Knew The Truth
Roman read Isabella’s message again.
Then again.
Each time, the same words became heavier.
*They know I contacted you. Run before they find Sophie.*
For eighteen months, Roman had believed his greatest battle was surviving.
Now he realized survival had only been the beginning.
Someone had erased him.
Someone had stolen his company.
Someone had convinced his own daughter that her father was never coming back.
And someone inside his family had been helping.
Roman placed the phone on the desk.
Marcus watched him carefully.
“Sir?””
Roman looked up.
“Find Isabella.””
Marcus hesitated.
“That may not be possible.””
“Why?””
“Because Isabella disappeared three days after your plane accident.””
Roman’s expression hardened.
“She disappeared?””
Marcus nodded.
“Her family said she left the country.””
Roman looked down at the message.
“She didn’t leave.””
He tapped the screen.
“She was hiding.””
Across the estate, Helena stood inside the private dining room with Adrian.
The room was empty except for them.
The doors were locked.
“You said he was dead,” Adrian whispered.
Helena stared out the window.
“I believed he was.””
“No.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You told me the accident was confirmed.””
“It was.””
“Then explain why he walked into the ballroom last night.””
Helena’s jaw tightened.
For the first time in years, Adrian saw fear on her face.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
“You need to calm down.””
“Calm down?””
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You promised me everything.””
Helena turned.
“And you will still have everything.””
“How?””
She looked at him.
“Because Roman has one weakness.””
Adrian frowned.
“What?””
Helena’s eyes moved toward the hallway.
“Sophie.””
Roman spent the next hour reviewing every document Marcus had hidden.
The deeper he looked, the worse it became.
His company shares had been transferred.
His accounts had been accessed.
His legal authority had been questioned.
But one thing bothered him.
The timing.
Everything happened too quickly.
Too perfectly.
Someone had prepared for his disappearance before the accident occurred.
He picked up one document.
A transfer authorization.
Signed six days before the crash.
Roman stared at the signature.
His own name.
His own handwriting.
But something felt wrong.
“I never signed this.””
Marcus looked over his shoulder.
“Are you sure?””
Roman looked offended.
“I know my own signature.””
He turned the paper over.
A small mark was written in the corner.
A symbol.
A circle with a line through it.
Roman froze.
Marcus noticed.
“What is it?””
Roman slowly sat down.
“My father used this mark.””
Marcus frowned.
“Your father?””
Roman nodded.
“He used it for private instructions. Only family members knew.””
“Your father died ten years ago.””
“Yes.””
Roman looked at the document.
“Which means someone wanted me to think this came from him.””
That afternoon, Roman found Sophie sitting alone in the garden.
She was drawing with colored pencils.
When she saw him, she quickly hid the paper.
Roman smiled gently.
“What are you making?””
She looked nervous.
“Nothing.””
“Can I see?””
Slowly, she handed it to him.
It was a picture of a family.
A little girl.
A mother.
A father.
Except the father was standing far away.
Roman pointed.
“Why am I over here?””
Sophie looked down.
“Because Grandma said you left.””
Roman’s heart tightened.
“Did you believe her?””
Sophie was quiet.
Then she whispered:
“I tried not to.””
Roman sat beside her.
“Why?””
“Because Daddy always comes back.””
He looked at her.
“Who told you that?””
Sophie smiled sadly.
“You did.””
A memory flashed through him.
A rainy night.
Sophie was only two years old.
She had been crying because he had to travel for business.
He had held her and promised:
“Daddy always comes back.””
Roman pulled her into his arms.
“I’m sorry I was late.””
Sophie hugged him.
“You’re not late.””
She whispered:
“You’re here.””
For a moment, Roman forgot everything else.
Then Sophie’s expression changed.
She looked toward the house.
“Daddy?””
“Yes?””
“Can I ask something?””
“Anything.””
“Why did Mrs. Helena tell me not to say your name?””
Roman went still.
“What?””
Sophie played with the edge of her sleeve.
“She said if I talked about you, bad things would happen.””
Roman felt a chill.
“Did she say what bad things?””
Sophie nodded.
“She said you would disappear again.””
That evening, Roman confronted Helena.
He found her in the library.
“You threatened my daughter.””
Helena slowly closed her book.
“I protected her.””
“No.””
Roman stepped closer.
“You controlled her.””
Helena sighed.
“You always were too emotional.””
Roman stared at her.
“My daughter was three years old.””
“And she needed structure.””
“She needed love.””
Helena’s expression changed.
“You think you know everything because you came home.””
Roman placed the financial documents on the table.
“I know enough.””
Helena looked at them.
Then smiled.
“You still don’t understand.””
“Explain it.””
She stood.
“Your disappearance changed everything.””
“No.””
Roman shook his head.
“Someone planned it.””
Helena said nothing.
That silence confirmed everything.
Roman moved closer.
“Who helped you?””
Helena looked directly at him.
Then said something that made him stop.
“You should ask your fiancée.””
Roman froze.
“My fiancée?””
Helena smiled coldly.
“Isabella was never the innocent woman you thought she was.””
“That’s impossible.””
“Is it?””
Helena walked toward the door.
“Ask her why she was at the airfield the night you disappeared.””
Roman’s face changed.
Because nobody knew Isabella had been there.
Nobody except him.
And now Helena.
Before Roman could respond, his phone vibrated.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
Attached was a photograph.
Roman opened it.
His blood ran cold.
It was Isabella.
Standing beside the wreckage of his plane.
May you like
And beneath the picture was one sentence:
*The woman you trusted watched you die.*
