Slowly, Sophie turned her eyes back to me. The arrogance was entirely gone, replaced by tears of desperate realization. She took a step toward me, reaching her hands out.
“Dad… please,” she sobbed, her voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I was stupid. Jasper… Jasper pressured me to act like that. He said his partners wanted to see a show, that they liked ‘edgy’ humor. Please, Dad, don’t do this to me. I’m your daughter. Your only daughter!”
I looked at her, remembering the little girl who used to sit on my shoulders and promise she would always take care of her old man. That little girl was dead. The woman standing in front of me was a stranger who had traded her soul for a shiny watch and a fancy last name.
“You made your bed, Sophie. Now you get to sleep in it,” I said coldly. “Now, both of you, get out of my house.”
Jasper, desperate and losing his mind, suddenly stepped forward, grabbing the front of my shirt. “Listen to me, old man! You are going to sign a revocation of this amendment right now, or I swear to God—”
Before Jasper could finish his threat, my phone on the counter rang.
Because the apartment was dead silent, the caller ID flashed clearly on the screen. It wasn’t a local number. It was an encrypted line from the Delaware State Police Headquarters.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked from the phone to Jasper, whose face suddenly went from enraged to absolutely paralyzed with fear.
I picked up the phone and pressed speaker.
“Mr. Frank Miller?” a stern, authoritative voice spoke from the line.
“Yes, this is Frank.”
“Mr. Miller, this is Detective Henderson from the Delaware State Forensic Unit. We were called to the venue of your daughter’s wedding tonight regarding a noise complaint, but upon conducting a routine sweep of the bridal suite and the groom’s vehicle, we uncovered something highly illegal. We have just detained Jasper Vance’s primary associate, and Mr. Miller… you need to come down to the station immediately. This goes far deeper than a wedding prank. Your life might be in imminent danger.”
Jasper froze, his grip on my shirt loosening as he slowly began to back toward the door, his eyes darting around the room like a trapped animal.
What did the police find in the groom’s car? And what was Jasper’s true, dark plan for Frank? Find out in PART 3…
