“They already tried to silence me,” she whispered. “But it was Ryan. Ryan Blake.”
The name hit like a gunshot.
“That’s impossible,” Ethan said. “Ryan is my partner. We built everything together.”
“The charity gala he attended ended at ten,” Sophia replied evenly. “He drove to your house after. Isabella discovered he was laundering cartel money through your hotels. Offshore accounts. She had proof. She planned to go to the authorities the next day.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted. He remembered Isabella saying, “There’s something wrong in the books, Ethan.” He hadn’t listened.
“How do you know this?” he demanded.
Sophia reached beneath her sweater and pulled out a small silver USB drive on a worn chain.
“Isabella gave this to me the morning she died. She said if anything happened, I should give it only to you.”
Ethan recognized the keychain instantly. It was Isabella’s.
“But why you?” he asked.
Sophia lowered her gaze.
“Because she was my mother.”
Time stopped.
Ethan stared at her — really stared. The eyes. The nose. The gesture.
“That’s not possible,” he whispered. “We tried for years. She couldn’t have children.”