Chapter 2 - THE FAMILY THAT WANTED THE CONDOBy sunrise, my apartment no longer felt like home.
It felt like a command center.
Alexander had barely slept.
Neither had I.
Sofia rested in the bedroom while Alexander sat at my kitchen table with his old field jacket hanging over the back of a chair.
He had changed very little.
He still drank coffee black.
Still watched doors.
Still noticed every sound in the hallway.
But there was something different now.
He wasn't here as Colonel Brooks.
He was here as Sofia's father.
And fathers sometimes see things differently than everyone else.
“What do we know?” he asked.
I slid a folder across the table.
“Wedding documents. Prenup. Condo papers. Financial records.”
Alexander opened the folder.
“Who owns the condo?”
“Sofia.”
“Any liens?”
“No.”
“Mortgage?”
“Paid in full.”
He looked up.
“By you?”
“No. By him.”
“Who?”
“His father.”
Alexander's eyebrows lifted.
I explained.
Years after our divorce, Alexander had insisted Sofia needed security that belonged entirely to her.
He bought the condo through a trust in her name.
It wasn't flashy.
It was simply protected.
No spouse could claim it without Sofia's consent.
No in-law could touch it.
At least, that's what we'd believed.
Alexander leaned back.
“Then why were they so desperate to get it?”
“I don't know.”
He looked toward the bedroom.
“That's what we're going to find out.”
At eight in the morning, Sofia came out.
She looked exhausted but calmer.
Alexander stood immediately.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
She hesitated.
“Dad, I don't want you to do anything reckless.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“I've been reckless before.”
“That's what I'm worried about.”
He pulled out a chair.
“Then sit down.”
Sofia sat.
He placed his hands flat on the table.
“I need the truth.”
She nodded.
“Everything.”
So she told us.
Not every painful detail.
We didn't need that.
But she told us what mattered.
Carmen had entered the honeymoon suite with several women.
They demanded the condo.
They had brought documents.
They insisted Javier's family needed the property to “protect the marriage.”
When Sofia refused, they threatened her.
And Javier had remained outside.
“He knew?” Alexander asked.
“Yes.”
“Did he enter?”
“No.”
“Did he stop them?”
“No.”
Alexander's jaw tightened.
“What happened after?”
“I waited until they left.”
“And Javier?”
“He told me to sign the papers.”
Sofia looked down.
“He said if I wanted our marriage to survive, I had to prove I trusted him.”
I felt sick.
Alexander said nothing.
Then Sofia remembered something.
“There was another document.”
“What document?”
“I don't know.”
She closed her eyes.
“It had a blue seal.”
Alexander looked at me.
“What kind?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you sign it?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
My phone rang.
The caller ID showed Javier.
Sofia flinched.
Alexander looked at her.
“You don't have to answer.”
She shook her head.
“Don't.”
I answered instead.
“Hello?”
A man's voice came through.
“Where is Sofia?”
“Safe.”
“I need to speak with my wife.”
“She isn't speaking to you.”
“Elena, you don't understand what happened.”
I almost laughed.
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
“We had a family disagreement.”
“A family disagreement?”
I looked at Alexander.
“She came home injured.”
Javier's voice became defensive.
“I wasn't there.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
Alexander leaned toward the phone.
“Then where were you?”
Silence.
“Who is this?”
“You know exactly who I am.”
Another silence.
Then Javier whispered:
“Alexander.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn't interfere.”
Alexander's expression didn't change.
“You stopped being allowed to tell me what I should do ten years ago.”
Javier hung up.
Alexander looked at me.
“That's interesting.”
“What?”
“He knew my name before I introduced myself.”
My skin prickled.
By noon, Alexander had called an attorney he trusted.
By two, we learned something worse.
The condo wasn't merely valuable.
It was strategically located.
A development company connected to the Robles family had been attempting to acquire several properties surrounding it.
If they controlled Sofia's unit, they could consolidate an entire section of the building.
The value could exceed ten million dollars after redevelopment.
The marriage had never been about love.
Not entirely.
Maybe not at all.
Sofia sat silently as the attorney explained.
“So they needed me to sign.”
“Yes.”
“And Javier knew?”
“Based on what you've told us, it appears likely.”
Sofia's face fell.
Alexander reached across the table.
“This isn't your fault.”
“I should have known.”
“No.”
He said it firmly.
“You were in love.”
She looked at him.
“Were you ever in love with Mom?”
I froze.
Alexander looked at me.
For the first time in ten years, the question we had both avoided sat between us.
“Yes.”
Sofia looked surprised.
“Then why did you leave?”
Alexander sighed.
“Because loving someone doesn't automatically make you good at staying.”
Nobody spoke.
Then he added:
“But leaving you was the greatest mistake of my life.”
Sofia's eyes filled.
I looked away.
There would be time for old wounds later.
Right now, there was a new enemy.
And we needed proof.
That evening, Alexander received a message.
A photograph.
A scanned document.
The blue seal Sofia had described.
He enlarged it.
His expression changed.
“What is it?” I asked.
He turned the screen toward me.
It was a transfer agreement.
But the signature line wasn't Sofia's.
It was a forged version of her name.
My heart stopped.
Alexander stood.
“Now we know.”
I stared at the document.
“Know what?”
He looked at me.
“They didn't just try to pressure our daughter.”
He tapped the screen.
“They prepared to steal from her.”
Then another message arrived.
This one contained a single sentence.
If Sofia doesn't cooperate, make sure she understands what happens to women who embarrass the Robles family.
Alexander read it once.
May you like
Then he put down his phone.
“We're going to make them regret sending that.”
