Chapter 12 - Natalie’s Real Motive
Michael had never told Sofia that Laura feared deep water.
“She nearly drowned when she was nineteen,” he said.
They sat in his townhouse kitchen after midnight.
“After that she wouldn’t swim.”
“So Natalie knew?”
“She knew everything.”
“Because you told her?”
Michael stared at his hands.
“Yes.”
Sofia understood the cruelty.
Natalie had not simply tried to kill Emma.
She had chosen a death designed to haunt Michael with Laura.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office arranged a proffer session with Natalie.
Her lawyer wanted concessions.
Brooks wanted names.
Michael was not allowed inside.
Sofia was not either.
But hours later Brooks emerged.
“She admitted the affair.”
Michael went pale anyway.
“With Grant?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Fourteen months.”
Laura had still been alive.
Michael sat down.
Sofia looked away to give him privacy he could not actually have.
Brooks continued.
“Natalie says Grant approached her first. He told her Michael would eventually control the company through Emma’s trust and that she would never have real power.”
Sofia asked, “So she tried to kill a baby for shares?”
“Money. Power. Resentment. And because Grant convinced her Michael planned to end their engagement.”
Michael laughed once.
“I did.”
Sofia turned.
“When?”
“The morning of the restaurant dinner.”
Everyone stared.
Michael rubbed his face.
“I found messages between Natalie and someone. I didn’t know it was Grant. I planned to confront her after dinner.”
“Did she know?”
“I told Daniel.”
Brooks swore softly.
Daniel had passed the information.
Natalie realized her access to Michael’s fortune was disappearing.
Grant realized Emma’s first-birthday deadline was approaching.
And desperation accelerated the plan.
Brooks continued.
“Natalie claims the original plan was to stage an accidental stroller loss.”
“But Owen’s video shows her looking around before she pushes,” Sofia said.
“Yes.”
“And then she blamed me immediately.”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t accidental.”
“No.”
Michael’s eyes sharpened.
“What changed?”
Brooks hesitated.
“Natalie says Grant changed the instructions thirty minutes before the push.”
“To what?”
“Kill Emma and blame Sofia.”
Sofia felt her skin go cold.
“Why me?”
“Because Grant already had surveillance photographs connecting you to Laura.”
Michael stood.
“He knew Sofia had met her.”
“Yes.”
“And he could make it look like Sofia hated the family.”
“Yes.”
Sofia whispered, “I wasn’t a random waitress.”
Brooks shook her head.
“No.”
They had chosen Glasswater because Sofia worked there.
The realization was worse than any threat.
Laura’s brief kindness seven months earlier had marked Sofia as useful.
Grant had turned her into a ready-made suspect.
Michael said, “What evidence does Natalie have?”
“She says she kept messages.”
“Where?”
“She deleted them.”
Sofia laughed without humor.
“Convenient.”
“Cloud backups may exist.”
“May.”
Brooks nodded.
“Natalie wants a cooperation agreement.”
Michael’s jaw hardened.
“She tried to murder my daughter.”
“The prosecutors are not offering immunity.”
“What are they offering?”
“That will depend on whether she can provide admissible evidence against others.”
Sofia looked through the hospital-style conference window at Natalie being led away.
Natalie stopped.
Their eyes met.
For the first time, there was no accusation.
No performance.
Only exhaustion.
Then Natalie mouthed something.
Sofia frowned.
“What?”
Natalie repeated it.
Two words.
WHITE BLANKET.
Sofia’s heart stopped.
May you like
Emma’s white blanket was still in police evidence.
And suddenly Sofia remembered that when she pulled Emma free underwater, she had felt something hard sewn into one corner.
