CHAPTER 6 — The Trap Closes
Rain poured heavily over the isolated lake house hidden deep inside the forest.
Sophia burst through the front door.
Victor was already waiting beside a fireplace, calmly pouring two glasses of whiskey.
Unlike Sophia, he wasn't panicking.
He looked... irritated.
"You were followed?" he asked.
"I don't think so."
Victor walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside.
Far down the dirt road...
Three pairs of headlights briefly appeared before disappearing into the trees.
His expression darkened.
"They found us."
Sophia grabbed his arm.
"What do we do?"
Victor suddenly smiled.
A cold, calculating smile she had never seen before.
"What we always do."
He opened a hidden compartment beneath the staircase.
Inside were forged passports, stacks of cash, several mobile phones...
...and a handgun.
Sophia stared at him in disbelief.
"You never told me about this."
Victor laughed.
"There are many things I never told you."
Her stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
Victor slowly picked up the passport.
"You honestly believed we'd spend the rest of our lives together?"
Sophia's face turned pale.
"You said you loved me."
"I said whatever you needed to hear."
He slipped the passports into his backpack.
"Just like you did with Richard."
The realization struck her like a hammer.
She had been manipulated exactly the way she had manipulated Richard.
Victor had never loved her.
She had simply been another piece in his plan.
"You used me..."
Victor shrugged.
"You were young."
"Beautiful."
"And willing to do anything for money."
"It made you useful."
Sophia stepped backward, horrified.
Outside...
Tires crunched across wet gravel.
Bright headlights illuminated the windows.
Victor looked outside once more.
"They're here."
Sophia rushed toward the front door.
Before she could reach it...
A calm voice echoed from the darkness outside.
"There's nowhere left to run."
Richard Ashford slowly stepped into the light beneath the porch.
He wasn't alone.
Behind him stood federal investigators, detectives, and Daniel's entire security team.
Red and blue emergency lights flashed through the rain.
Victor quietly raised the handgun.
Richard didn't flinch.
Instead, he looked directly at Sophia.
"I gave you everything you asked for."
"A second chance."
"My trust."
"My name."
"You could have walked away."
"But you chose greed."
Sophia collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down her face.
For the first time since the wedding...
She realized the fortune she had spent months chasing had vanished forever.
And now...
May you like
She was about to lose something even more valuable.
Her freedom.
