Chapter 147 The Truth
Chapter 147 The Truth
Sophie never imagined she'd see Preston again like this.
The handoff meeting was scheduled in the conference hall of the Heuston Group headquarters. She arrived twenty minutes early and was going over the agenda with Master Harris's assistant when the conference room door swung open from the outside, and a man in a dark charcoal suit strode in.
The room went quiet.
Five years. Preston looked different from how she remembered. Leaner, with a sharper jaw line, the boyish energy she'd once known replaced by something heavier and harder to read. But those blue eyes were exactly the same, when they swept the room, they still carried that suffocating weight.
Sophie's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around her portfolio.
She'd worn her thick-framed glasses today and gone heavier on the makeup than usual, deliberately softening how recognizable she was. Even so, when Preston's gaze passed over her face, it paused, just for a fraction of a second.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Then his eyes moved on. He clearly hadn't recognized her, just a habit of cataloguing unfamiliar faces in a room. He headed straight toward the Heuston family's side of the table and fell into easy conversation with Greg.
Sophie dropped her gaze and kept talking to the assistant like nothing had happened.
For the rest of the meeting she was flawless, professional, composed, everything laid out with precision. Preston sat at the head of the opposite side, catching a few points from the briefings here and there, mostly scrolling through his phone. He didn't look her way again.
When the meeting wrapped, Sophie gathered her things and moved quickly toward the door. She just wanted out. The farther from Preston, the better.
She was almost at the elevator when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Designer Sophie."
Low, steady. Politely distant.
Her shoulders locked up.
She drew a slow breath, turned around, and put on her most professional smile. "Mr. Davis, did you need something?"
Preston stood a few feet away, a document in his hand, his gaze resting on her face like he was trying to place something. After a moment he spoke. "There are a few details in this design proposal I'd like to go over. Would you mind sharing your contact information?"
Her pulse kicked up.
She ran the calculation quickly. Refusing would draw more attention. Agreeing was the natural thing to do. She pulled a business card from her bag and held it out. "Feel free to reach out anytime."
Preston took the card and glanced down at the name and number, then gave a single nod. "Thank you."
The elevator doors opened. Sophie stepped inside, and the moment they slid shut, she finally let out a long, slow breath.
Behind her, Preston stayed where he was. He looked down at the card again.
'Sophie Brown', printed in gold foil.
He stared at the name, and a slow crease formed between his brows.
---
Back at the hotel, Matthew was on the floor with Silas, snapping together building blocks. The moment Silas heard the door, he launched himself at Sophie's legs. "Mommy! I built a huge castle today!"
Sophie crouched and pulled him into her arms, pressing her face into the soft curve of his shoulder. She didn't say anything for a long moment.
Matthew came over and rested a hand gently on her back. "You saw him?"
"I saw him." She lifted her head and managed a smile. "He didn't recognize me."
Matthew let out a quiet breath, though the worry in his eyes didn't go anywhere. "Good."
Sophie took Silas's hand and started walking inside, then paused and glanced back. "Matthew, that boy. Ciaran. I want to find out where he came from."
Matthew's expression shifted. He was quiet for a few seconds, then nodded. "I'll take care of it."
---
A few days later, Matthew set a folder on the table in front of her.
Sophie opened it. By the time she finished reading, her whole body had gone cold.
Ciaran's birth record listed 'Elena' as the mother and 'Preston' as the father. But when she looked closer, she found that on the same day Ciaran was born at that hospital, a male infant had died, 'complications from premature birth,' the record said. And in the mother's information field for that infant, the name 'Elena' appeared again.
A switch.
Elena had given birth to a girl. She'd swapped that girl for a baby boy and deceived the Davis family for five years.
Sophie closed the folder. Her fingertips were trembling.
"What happened to the girl?" she asked.
Matthew pressed his lips together. "Still tracking that down. But Sophie, this runs deep. Are you sure you want to pull this thread?"
She was quiet for a long time.
"That boy, Ciaran." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "He has my eyes."
Matthew went very still.
Sophie looked up at him, her eyes faintly red. "He looks like me, Matthew. But his mother is Elena. Do you really think that's a coincidence?"
Matthew didn't answer.
Because he already had a guess forming in the back of his mind, one he wasn't ready to say out loud.
---
Over at the Davis family home, Elena couldn't sit still.
Word had reached her. Sophie was back in the country, and she'd already crossed paths with Preston. Preston hadn't shown any reaction yet, but this was a live wire, and it could blow at any moment.
"I'm done waiting," she told her mother. "She needs to be silenced. Permanently."
Talia went pale. "You, what are you going to do?"
Elena didn't answer. She just slowly closed her hand into a fist.
---
The next day, Sophie received a message.
Unknown number. One line:
[Sophie, I know you're back. Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock, the old warehouse at the south docks. Don't tell anyone, unless you want something to happen to your son., Elena]
Sophie stared at it for a long time, then called Matthew.
"She reached out?" His voice was tight.
"Yeah."
"Don't go. It's too dangerous."
Sophie paused. "I have to. She has information about that child. And—" she stopped for a moment, "—she's threatening Silas."
Matthew drew a sharp breath. "Then I'm coming with you. I'll stay close by."
"Okay."
---
That night, after she got Silas down to sleep, Sophie sat at the edge of his bed and just watched him for a long time.
She reached out and gently touched his cheek. "Mommy's going to keep you safe," she said softly.
Then she stood up and walked out of the room.
---
The next morning at ten, Sophie arrived at the south docks right on time.
The warehouse door was half open, the light inside thin and gray. Elena stood at the window, backlit, her expression unreadable.
"You actually showed up." There was a cold edge to her voice. "Braver than I thought."
Sophie stayed in the doorway. She didn't step inside. "What do you want?"
"What do you think?" Elena turned and began walking toward her, slow and deliberate. "You faked your own death to disappear five years ago, I figured you were something special. And here you are, crawling back. What happened, couldn't make it work out there?"
Sophie didn't take the bait. "You brought me here because of Ciaran."
Elena stopped. The color drained from her face. "What do you know?"