CHAPTER 11 — SOFIA VALE
The following morning, the snowstorm trapped everyone inside the cabin.
The vehicles outside were gone.
But no one believed the danger had passed.
Margaret led Raina toward the frozen lake.
Orson wanted to follow.
Margaret stopped him.
“No.”
Orson frowned.
“She is my daughter.”
“She is also Sofia's daughter.”
The words silenced him.
Raina turned.
“Dad, stay here.”
Orson looked at her.
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
She touched her stomach.
“But I need to do this.”
Clara stepped beside her.
“I'm coming.”
Raina nodded.
They crossed the frozen lake carefully.
Halfway across, Raina stopped.
A wave of dizziness hit her.
Clara caught her.
“What happened?”
“I remember.”
“What?”
“The lullaby.”
She closed her eyes.
The melody returned.
This time, a woman's voice joined it.
Raina began humming.
Clara stared.
“You know the words.”
“I don't know how.”
“You've heard it before.”
Raina opened her eyes.
“I think I heard it before I could speak.”
They reached a small cabin hidden among the trees.
A woman stood on the porch.
She was in her early fifties.
Long dark hair streaked with gray.
Her face was tired.
Her eyes were familiar.
Raina stopped.
The woman looked at her.
Neither moved.
Then the woman whispered,
“Raina.”
Raina's knees weakened.
“You know me.”
The woman's eyes filled with tears.
“I've known you every day of my life.”
Raina's voice broke.
“Are you Sofia?”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
Raina stared.
“You're my mother.”
Sofia covered her mouth.
“I wanted to come for you.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because they would have killed you.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
Raina stepped closer.
“Tell me everything.”
Sofia looked at Clara.
“And her?”
Clara stepped forward.
“I'm Clara.”
Sofia stared.
Her expression became complicated.
“You're Elena's daughter.”
Clara frowned.
“You knew her?”
“Yes.”
“Then who was my mother?”
Sofia hesitated.
“Not Elena.”
Clara's face hardened.
“Who?”
Sofia looked at Raina.
“Your mother.”
Raina froze.
“You mean I'm her daughter.”
“Yes.”
“And Clara?”
“Was created from you.”
Raina's heart pounded.
Sofia opened the cabin door.
“Come inside.”
Sofia showed them a room filled with photographs.
Raina stared at the walls.
There were pictures of her.
As a baby.
As a toddler.
At five.
At ten.
At sixteen.
At twenty.
Raina's breath caught.
“You watched me.”
Sofia nodded.
“From a distance.”
“Why?”
“Because every time I got close, Victor found me.”
Raina touched a photograph of herself at age seven.
“Who took these?”
“Damon.”
Raina froze.
“Damon?”
“He worked for Victor.”
“Then why would he give you photographs?”
“Because he was never completely loyal.”
Raina stared.
“You're saying Damon helped you?”
“Sometimes.”
“But he married me.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Sofia looked away.
“Because Victor threatened him.”
“With what?”
“His daughter.”
Raina frowned.
“Damon has a daughter?”
Sofia nodded.
“She was taken from him when she was six.”
Raina's face changed.
“Where is she?”
Sofia whispered,
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Victor has her.”
Raina's anger turned into understanding.
“That's why Damon obeyed.”
“Yes.”
“Then Lacey?”
“Another prisoner.”
Raina stared.
“Victor has Lacey too?”
“No.”
Sofia sighed.
“Lacey believed she was helping Damon.”
“So she didn't know.”
“Not everything.”
Raina sat.
“My whole marriage was built on lies.”
Sofia looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did Damon ever care about me?”
Sofia hesitated.
“Yes.”
Raina's eyes widened.
“How do you know?”
“Because he tried to stop Victor.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Raina remembered Damon becoming distant.
The arguments.
The strange phone calls.
The sudden business trips.
The way he had started sleeping in another room.
She had believed he was having an affair.
Maybe he had been hiding something else.
Sofia reached for a drawer.
She removed a photograph.
It showed Damon standing beside a little girl.
The girl was perhaps eight years old.
Raina looked at her.
“His daughter.”
“Yes.”
“What is her name?”
“Emma.”
Raina stared at the picture.
“She looks terrified.”
“She has been hidden for years.”
“Where?”
Sofia's expression changed.
“We don't know.”
A gunshot echoed outside.
Clara grabbed Raina.
Sofia rushed to the window.
“Get down!”
Another shot.
Glass shattered.
Raina screamed.
Sofia pulled her behind a wall.
Clara reached for her weapon.
Then a familiar voice came from outside.
“Raina!”
Damon.
Raina stared.
“Damon?”
He shouted again.
“Don't let Victor take you!”
Sofia looked at Raina.
“Do not trust him.”
Raina hesitated.
Then Damon shouted,
“I found Emma!”
Raina's heart stopped.
Sofia froze.
Clara whispered,
“He's telling the truth.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Victor wouldn't let him use her name unless she was alive.”
Damon shouted again.
“Raina, I can get you out!”
Raina looked toward the door.
Sofia grabbed her wrist.
“If you leave with him, Victor will find you.”
Raina stared at her.
“And if I stay?”
Sofia's eyes filled with fear.
“He will burn this place down.”
Silence.
Then the cabin door exploded inward.
Men rushed inside.
Chaos erupted.
Clara fired.
Sofia pulled Raina toward the back exit.
They ran into the snow.
Behind them, Damon appeared.
He grabbed Raina's hand.
“Come with me!”
Raina looked at him.
“Where?”
“To Emma.”
“Where is she?”
“Victor's facility.”
“Then take me there.”
Damon stared.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Raina looked back at Sofia.
“My mother is safe.”
Then she looked at Damon.
“Now we rescue your daughter.”
Damon's face crumbled.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand more than you think.”
Raina stepped closer.
“You betrayed me.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You let another woman wear my clothes.”
Damon lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
“You locked me out of my own life.”
“I know.”
Raina's voice became cold.
“But you didn't know who you were dealing with.”
Damon looked at her.
“Neither did you.”
May you like
Raina stared.
“Take me to Victor.”
