Chapter 6 - SOPHIE’S QUESTION
Graham brought Sophie back after the ballroom cleared.
She carried a paper cup of hot chocolate.
There were exactly three marshmallows.
She looked around the conference room.
“Is Daddy in trouble?”
No adult answered immediately.
That pause frightened her more than a lie would have.
I knelt beside her.
“Daddy made some choices that hurt people.”
“Did I do something?”
“No.”
“Did the necklace look bad?”
My chest tightened.
“It was beautiful.”
“Then why didn’t he want it?”
Brandon stood near the windows.
His face crumpled for the first time that night.
He approached slowly.
“Sophie.”
She hid behind me.
The movement stopped him.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at the floor.
“Are you Caleb’s daddy?”
“Yes.”
“Are you still mine?”
Brandon opened his mouth.
Sophie continued before he could answer.
“The lady said he was your legitimate son.”
No six-year-old should have needed to understand that word.
Brandon looked toward Tessa.
She looked away.
“You are my daughter.”
“Then why was I downstairs?”
He had no corporate answer for that.
No merger language.
No legal strategy.
No public-relations phrase.
“Because I was afraid,” he said.
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Of telling the truth.”
Sophie considered the answer.
Then she held the necklace tighter.
“I don’t want you to have this.”
Brandon’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s okay.”
She turned toward Dominic.
“Can Uncle Dom have it?”
Dominic crouched.
“Only if you are certain.”
“You came when Mommy called.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t leave me downstairs.”
“No.”
Sophie placed the paper necklace over his head.
It looked ridiculous against his black suit.
Dominic wore it as though it were a medal.
Brandon turned toward the window.
I felt no satisfaction.
Watching my daughter withdraw love to protect herself was not victory.
It was consequence.
Graham asked if she wanted to leave.
Sophie nodded.
This time, I went with her.
Dominic remained behind with Nathaniel and the attorneys.
Brandon called my name.
I stopped near the door.
“We need to talk.”
“We will.”
“When?”
“After Sophie sleeps.”
He looked toward our daughter.
“Can I come?”
“No.”
The word came easily.
Not as punishment.
As protection.
May you like
He had spent years deciding when we were allowed into his life.
That night, I decided he was not entering our safe space simply because he finally wanted access.
