PART 28
Sofia looked away.
She had warned me about Monica several times.
Not directly enough perhaps.
But enough.
She said Monica controlled conversations.
Asked too many questions about assets.
Mocked staff privately.
Changed behavior when I entered rooms.
I always answered.
“She’s adjusting.”
Or.
“You two need time.”
Or.
“Please give her a chance.”
Sofia had given chances.
I had given excuses.
Different things.
PART 29
Sofia said.
“I didn’t want you to think I was jealous.”
“I never thought that.”
She looked at me.
“You did.”
That hurt because it was true.
Maybe not consciously.
But somewhere inside me, I had decided my adult daughter was struggling to accept my new relationship.
That interpretation made Monica’s behavior easier to dismiss.
I sat.
“You’re right.”
Sofia cried.
Then whispered.
“Thank you.”
Not forgiveness.
Acknowledgment.
Enough.
PART 30
Toxicology returned the next day.
Sofia had a benzodiazepine in her system.
A sedative.
She did not have a prescription.
The level was consistent with recent ingestion.
Not enough to kill.
Enough to impair.
Enough to make someone dizzy.
Enough to make a fall more dangerous.
My stomach tightened.
The police investigation escalated.
PART 31
Search warrants followed.
Monica’s phone.
Laptop.
Hotel room.
Car.
Her apartment.
The forged documents were not only on Sofia’s USB.
Copies existed on Monica’s laptop.
Metadata.
Draft versions.
Scanned signatures.
Photographs of my old documents.
Everything.
My signature had been lifted from contracts stored in my home office.
She had photographed them.
Then pasted them into drafts.
