Chapter 12 - Lauren’s Price
Lauren’s daughter was eight years old.
Her name was Sophie.
Lauren had given birth during college and allowed her older sister to raise the child in Vermont.
Matthew learned the truth two years earlier.
From that moment, Sophie became his favorite weapon.
Every transfer Lauren authorized and every lie she told protected the daughter she visited only four times a year.
“Does Sophie know you are her mother?” I asked.
“No.”
Lauren’s voice broke.
“She thinks I’m her aunt.”
The kidnapping occurred outside Sophie’s school.
A man posing as a police officer told Lauren’s sister there had been an accident.
The child entered his car willingly.
Victor sent Lauren a video.
Sophie sat inside a windowless room holding a red backpack.
A newspaper rested beside her.
Victor wanted the Queens server.
“He will kill her when he has it,” Marcus said.
Lauren nodded.
“I know.”
For the first time, she stopped defending her choices.
She told us everything.
Matthew had chosen her because she resembled a younger version of me.
Ambitious.
Isolated.
Desperate to prove she belonged in rooms controlled by powerful men.
He flattered her intelligence.
Then he slowly convinced her that every crime was a temporary compromise.
By the time she understood, she had already become useful to Victor.
“Why did Matthew beat you?” I asked.
Lauren looked at the bandages beneath my robe.
“Because I laughed at him.”
She had told Matthew he would never become Adrian Sterling.
She said he could steal my ideas, my money, and my life, but he would still be a frightened man pretending to be powerful.
He struck her.
Then he came home and punished me for the humiliation.
The twenty blows had been a performance.
He wanted Lauren to hear them through the private elevator intercom.
He wanted to prove that he controlled both women.
A new message arrived.
The exchange would occur at 2:00 a.m. inside an unfinished NexusCore research tower.
Lauren would bring the server alone.
Federal agents prepared a duplicate drive.
I objected.
Victor had spent decades examining contracts, voices, and behavior.
He would recognize a rehearsed exchange.
“He expects Lauren to betray him,” I said.
“He expects my father to surround the building.”
“What does he not expect?” Detective Ruiz asked.
“He does not expect me to help her.”
Lauren looked at me in disbelief.
I did not forgive her.
Forgiveness was not required to save a child.
At 1:52 a.m., Lauren and I entered the unfinished tower.
I wore a concealed microphone beneath my shirt.
She carried the server case.
The elevator rose to the forty-third floor.
When the doors opened, Sophie stood beneath a construction light.
Her hands were tied.
Matthew held the antique cane against her throat.
Victor stood beside him.
May you like
He smiled at me.
“I knew Adrian would send his favorite investment.”
