Chapter 12 - Behind Prison Walls
The maximum-security holding facility forty miles outside the city was a bleak, monolithic fortress of concrete and razor wire. The visiting room was cold and sterile, smelling of industrial cleaner and institutional despair.
Sophia Bennett sat at the bolted metal table on the other side of the thick, reinforced glass partition. She wore an orange jumpsuit that somehow failed to diminish her striking presence; her hair was neatly tied back, and her posture remained unbowed, her lips curled into a cool, composed smirk.
The heavy steel door on the opposite side opened, and a prison guard ushered Daniel Bennett into the small booth.
Daniel sat down heavily, picking up the heavy plastic telephone receiver. Sophia mirrored his movement, lifting her own receiver with agonizing slowness, her eyes locking onto his through the glass with unblinking amusement.
"I have to hand it to you, Daniel," Sophia's voice came through the small speaker grille, clear and crisp despite the static. "You move faster than expected. I thought for sure Victor would keep you tied up on the highway long enough for the emergency board vote to finalize."
"Victor is finished, Sophia," Daniel said, his voice hard, flat, and devoid of any emotion. "His company is being dismantled piece by piece by federal prosecutors, and every shell corporation he used to fund your family's sham has been seized. You lost."
Sophia laughed softly—a bright, airy sound that felt entirely out of place in a federal holding block.
"Lost?" She leaned closer to the glass, her dark eyes flashing with a dangerous intelligence. "Daniel, sweetie, you still don't understand the board game we're playing. You think Victor Thorne was the king? Victor was a pawn—a wealthy, arrogant pawn who was entirely expendable the moment he served his purpose."
Daniel's grip on the plastic receiver tightened until his knuckles turned white. "Who is funding you, Sophia? Who gave you the master keys to infiltrate my home?"
Sophia didn't answer immediately. Instead, she reached out with her free hand, slowly tracing a fingertip across the cold surface of the glass partition right where Daniel's face was reflected.
"You're a brilliant businessman, Daniel. You built an empire from the ground up through sheer force of will," she whispered, her voice dropping to a low, chilling register. "But you always made one fatal mistake. You thought the only enemies you had to worry about were the ones fighting you in the open market."
She pulled back, offering a radiant, terrifying smile.
"Enjoy your peace at the mansion while it lasts, Daniel. Hug little Noah tight tonight. Because the person who is actually coming for your family doesn't care about corporate shares or shipping lanes. They want everything your father built... and they've been waiting twenty years to take it back."
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Before Daniel could demand another word, Sophia hung up the receiver with a sharp click, stood up gracefully from her chair, and turned her back, walking away without a single backward glance as the guard stepped forward to escort her out.
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