Chapter 7
Sophia and I met at a café near the hospital.
When she arrived, I was staring out the window, lost in thought.
Eight years apart, and the years had been generous to her.
She wore a sharp black suit that made her look tall and formidable.
Her makeup was light and exact, and her eyes were sharp and focused, without a trace of hesitation.
She sat down across from me and ordered a black coffee.
"Emily."
She broke the silence.
"It's been a long time."
I nodded, forcing a stiff smile.
"It's been a while. You haven't changed a bit."
"You've changed a lot," Sophia said, and her eyes moved over me with no sympathy in them, only assessment. "You look a lot more tired."
I just shrugged, like it didn't matter.
"Well, my husband just died, after all."
My voice came out so flat that I might have been describing a stranger.
Sophia's brow creased, and she didn't ask about it. She leaned in and went straight to work.
"Tell me everything. The more details, the better."
I didn't waste time. I laid all of it out for her without holding anything back.
From David shoving me out of the car, all the way to the news of his death.
From David's parents showing their real faces to the black phone full of secrets.
I pulled out my phone, opened up the cloud drive where I'd backed up everything, and handed it over to her.
"Photos, message logs, proof of embezzlement, and a 6.7 million dollar life insurance policy with Vanessa Carter as the beneficiary, the woman he called his first love.
"It's all here. Every last piece."
Sophia took the phone without a word and started scrolling, and her expression gave nothing away.
The café was dead quiet, just soft music drifting in the background.
But with every swipe of her finger, my heart climbed higher in my throat.
This wasn't only my hand. It was the final verdict on eight years of my life.
I felt like a prisoner waiting for the verdict to drop.
After what felt like an eternity, Sophia finally set the phone down.
She looked up and locked eyes with me, and there was a storm behind hers.
There was shock and fury, and above all the excitement a lawyer felt when she stumbled onto a goldmine.
"Emily, what kind of life have you been living for eight years?" she asked, and her voice dropped.
She let out a sigh, and for a second my old friend showed through the armor.
My eyes stung, and I pushed the tears back down.
"It's all in the past," I said, trying to sound steady.
"No, it isn't," Sophia said, sliding straight back into lawyer mode with her eyes sharp. "This war is just getting started."
She grabbed a pen and started sketching out a battle plan on a napkin, her movements quick and precise.
"First priority is custody of your kids. You're their only legal guardian. David's parents have zero right to keep them from you. That's step one, and it's non-negotiable. We're handling it right now.
"Next, the money. I'll get the court to freeze every account, stock, and fund in David's name. That way, neither the Rowe family nor Vanessa can touch a cent.
"The house is technically premarital property, and that complicates things. But we have hard evidence of his affair and his asset transfers during the marriage. I'll use it to get you the largest settlement possible, and maybe the house on top of that."
She paused, her gaze drilling into me.
"And last, and most important, we have the real weapons. These embezzlement records and that 6.7 million dollar policy."
Her voice dropped to a near-whisper, deadly serious.
"Emily, this isn't a messy divorce anymore. The embezzlement is big enough to take down his whole family and his company.
"And that policy? A man buys a huge life insurance policy for his mistress right before he plans to leave his wife with nothing, and then he dies in a freak accident. Tell me that isn't strange."
I shivered, that awful thought I'd been trying to bury suddenly roaring back to life.
"You think he was the one who," I started, and my voice barely made it out.
"I'm not saying anything," Sophia cut in, and her tone stayed crisp. "I only trust evidence. But this is a live bomb, and it will make Vanessa and the Rowe Family think twice before they cross you."
She slid the napkin covered in her notes across the table to me.
It was clear and ruthless and airtight.
She said, "Here's how we play it. On the surface we go strictly by the book, and behind the scenes we pull every string we've got.
"Officially, it's a standard post-divorce inheritance battle. Under the table, we use the embezzlement and insurance as leverage to force their hand."
"I don't want them to just give in," I said, meeting her eyes, every word cold and sharp.
"I want them ruined. Completely."
I wanted the man who had schemed against me for eight years to be disgraced in death.
I wanted David's parents who had treated me like a tool to end up old and alone.
I wanted the woman who broke my family apart to fall all the way down.
Sophia looked at the hatred in my eyes and stayed quiet for a few seconds.
Then she smiled, confident and unstoppable.
She said, "As you wish.
"Now, let's go get your kids."