The restaurant felt smaller now.
Sofia watched Victoria closely, gauging every micro-expression.
"You think you know Dennis," she said softly. "But you don't know what he's capable of when he's cornered."
Victoria didn't flinch. "Then enlighten me."
Sofia sighed, as if the memory physically pained her.
"Our engagement wasn't romantic," she admitted. "It was arranged. His grandfather and mine built empires together. They wanted to merge more than just companies."
Victoria's fingers stilled around her glass.
"I wasn't naive," Sofia continued. "I knew it wasn't a fairy tale. But I thought… maybe something real could grow."
She paused. Tilted her head.
"But Dennis resented it from the start. He hated that he didn't choose me."
Victoria's expression remained unreadable. "And yet he proposed."
"He didn't propose," Sofia corrected gently. "His grandfather announced it. Dennis just… complied."
That part, at least, was true.
Sofia lowered her voice. "Things changed when he started pulling away. Becoming secretive. Cold. Angry."
"What happened?" Victoria asked.
Sofia's eyes shimmered, a masterclass in controlled emotion.
"He accused me," she whispered. "Of things I didn't do. Said I embarrassed him. Said I betrayed the family."
A lie wrapped in fragments of truth.
"In the middle of a dinner with both families, he called off the engagement. Publicly."
Victoria's posture stiffened slightly.
"It was chaos," Sofia continued. "His grandfather collapsed that same night."
She let the silence stretch...
"He died two days later."
The weight of it settled heavily between them.
Victoria's voice was quieter now. "And you're saying Dennis..."
"I'm saying," Sofia cut in carefully, "that when Dennis feels trapped, he explodes. He doesn't think about consequences."
She leaned forward slightly.
"He didn't love me. But he destroyed everything anyway."
What she did not say:
That Dennis had found proof. That she had been seeing someone else. That she had tried to manipulate stock shares through the marriage. That when exposed, she denied it until there was no room left to lie and she ran away.
When Dennis ended it, he didn't look heartbroken, he only looked betrayed.
Meanwhile…
The police station smelled of paper, disinfectant, and exhaustion.
Dennis signed the final document with a tight jaw.
"We had small ssues, but it not enough for her to just disappear without a trace" he told the officer flatly. He stood up "I should expect feedback before dawn" with that he left the station.
He stepped outside, the evening air cold against his skin. His phone rang.
Victoria.
He answered immediately. "Where are you?" Worried laced his voice.
"I'm safe," she said.
The relief that hit him was almost painful.
"I filed a missing person report," he said roughly. "You disappeared."
There was a pause on the line.
"I need to see you," she replied. "Now."
Something in her tone made his stomach tighten.
"Where?"
"The old marina café. Thirty minutes."
The line went dead.
Dennis stared at his phone, unease creeping in. He exhaled slowly.
Could it be she had confronted Sofia? He wondered.
Whatever narrative was being built, he would face it head-on.
He had already lost too much to silence.
The old marina café was quiet, the sea air drifting in through the half-open windows.
Victoria was seated when Dennis walked in.
The second he saw her, relief crossed his face.
Then anger followed.
He didn't sit.
"Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving?"
Victoria blinked slightly. "What?"
"I went to your house."
That caught her off guard.
"You what?"
"I went to your house," he repeated, voice tight. "I wanted to make sure you're okay after what transpired that night, but your phone wasn't going through. I thought something happened to you."
Her spine straightened.
"I met your mother," he continued. "She's a very kind woman. She had no idea where you were. Do you understand what that looked like?"
Victoria opened her mouth, but he wasn't done.
"You were gone for hours. No calls. No texts. Not even a simple message telling where you went."
His voice dropped, not louder, just more controlled.
"You don't disappear like that."
The words landed heavier than shouting would have.
"You scared me."
Silence stretched between them.
Victoria swallowed. "I didn't think..."
"That's the problem," he cut in. "You didn't."
Now he finally sat down across from her, leaning forward.
"I had to file a missing person report."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Yes," he said. "Because I didn't know if you were kidnapped, unconscious, or avoiding me."
She inhaled slowly. "I needed space."
"Space doesn't mean vanishing without a word."
The frustration in him wasn't dramatic. It was real.
Then something in Victoria shifted.
"You went to my house," she repeated quietly.
"Yes."
"And you spoke to my mother."
"Yes."
"And you were worried."
His jaw tightened. "Yes."
The anger thinned slightly, but not fully.
She studied him for a moment, then said calmly..
"I spoke to Sofia."
There it was.
Dennis leaned back slowly.
"Of course you did."
"She told me about the engagement."
His expression didn't change.
"She told me you humiliated her. That your grandfather collapsed because of the scene you caused."
A flicker of pain crossed his face, fast, but visible.
"My grandfather," Dennis said evenly, "had a weak heart for years."
"She said he died because of the News."
"He died because he was ill," Dennis replied. "Not only because I refused to marry a woman who betrayed me."
Victoria held his gaze. "She said you accused her falsely."
Dennis let out a quiet breath, somewhere between a laugh and disbelief.
"She was sleeping with someone else."
Victoria didn't move.
"And positioning herself inside my company," he continued. "The marriage alliance wasn't romantic. It was strategic. For her family."
"And you ended it publicly."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she denied it. In front of everyone." His voice hardened. "So I showed everyone proof."
That hung between them.
"And your grandfather?" Victoria asked softly.
Dennis looked away briefly toward the dark water outside.
"He was angry," he admitted. "Not because I ended it. Because I embarrassed the alliance."
He paused.
Then, more quietly
"He and Sofia's grandfather were close. Very close. He believed the marriage would strengthen both families."
Victoria watched him carefully.
"I was the disappointment," Dennis continued. "The impulsive grandson who refused to play along."
"And when he collapsed?"
Dennis exhaled slowly.
"I hated myself for that night," he said. "For a long time."
He looked back at her now.
"But don't let anyone rewrite it. He was sick before that dinner. Very sick."
A beat passed.
Then, more raw than before.
"He was also trying to push for reconciliation. Even after everything. He thought we could 'move past it.'"
His jaw tightened.
"I wasn't happy he died," he added quietly. "But I was relieved the pressure stopped."
The honesty in that confession was heavy.
Ugly. Human.
Victoria didn't expect that.
Silence settled between them not hostile, just thick.
"You should have told me you were going to see her," Dennis said finally, voice calmer now. "If you had doubts, you could have asked me."
She met his eyes.
"I am asking now."
And that shifted the room again.