What he saw shattered something inside him.
Sophie scrubbing the floor on her knees while Monica pointed at a stain.
Sophie sitting alone at the dining table while Monica removed her plate before she finished eating.
Sophie locked inside her bedroom.
Sophie crying silently into her pillow.
Scene after scene played on the screen.
Always when Jonathan was away.
Always when no visitors were around.
Always far from the smiling photographs and polished public appearances.
A wave of nausea hit him.
He remembered every gala where Monica stood beside him, radiant under camera flashes, speaking warmly about family values and their “perfect life.”
He remembered every time he had dismissed Sophie’s sadness as a phase.
Every business trip.
Every contract negotiation.
Every private jet flight that seemed more important at the time.
All the wealth in the world had not protected his daughter.
It had left her alone.
When Jonathan stepped out of his office, something in his eyes had changed.
Monica tried to speak.
“Jonathan, I can explain—”
“No,” he said.
His voice carried a firmness she had never heard before.