(Sapphire's POV)
Sophie?
I couldn't believe my eyes!
"Keep watching, Sapphire." Damian muttered.
And so I did. We watched as she entered the studio and did what she had to do, then after a few minutes, she came out struggling with the painting above her head.
Then the security footage saw her leave the house through the servants back door, but that was where it ended.
How did she get the painting out?
For a long moment even after watching the entire scene, I still felt like my eyes were deceiving me.
"…No." I whispered. "How could this be?"
The living room had gone completely silent.
Then, the housekeeper walked in from the kitchen just then. Carrying a tray with breakfast for me just as Damian had commanded her.
She stopped when she saw all of us, the security team included, looking at her.
Well except Damian. He didn't remove his face from the screen.
Her hands started trembling badly.
"What…what is going on?" She asked with a nervous laugh.
Damian slowly lifted his gaze from the screen and finally looked at her.
She visibly shuddered at whatever she had seen in his face.
For a moment, I almost felt bad for her. Almost.
I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Damian's angry face.
And I had seen him angry before, but this was different. This was cold.
"Sophie." He said calmly, almost as though he was testing her name in his mouth.
The tray in her hand shook harder.
"Yes…Sir?"
"Come closer."
She swallowed but obeyed, and walked slowly towards to us.
I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears.
This couldn't be right.
Sophie had been working here since before I even moved in. She was sweet, funny, kind and gave me motherly vibes.
She had even laughed with Luke just yesterday.
She had packed snacks for him.
So why would she burn my studio?
Damian turned the screen towards her.
"Explain this."
Her eyes dropped to the footage and immediately she saw herself on the screen, all the color drained from her face.
The tray slipped from her hands and all the plates of food shattered on the marble floor.
"This can't be." I was in total disbelief.
Sophie staggered back. "I…I can explain…"
"You will." Damian chuckled dryly.
He was too calm and that was terrifying on its own.
"I asked a very simple question earlier." He continued. "Who did this?"
The housekeeper began shaking violently.
"I didn't mean for it to spread." She blurted out suddenly. "I swear…I swear I didn't. I only poured a little…"
My chest tightened more.
"You started the fire?" My voice cracked.
"Yes, but I had no choice!" She cried.
"There's always a choice, Sophie." I reminded her.
Damian stood and took a step towards her and immediately the bodyguards straightened.
"You always have a choice." He repeated my words to her.
"I was offered money and I couldn't resist."
"Hmm. How much?" Damian was curious.
She hesitated. "A lot."
Damian chuckled. "I see. So who gave you the money?"
"I don't know!" She almost yelled.
What?
The room went still.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Damian asked.
"Please. They called from a private number." She begged. "I never saw them, I swear. They just told me to burn the room and take the painting!"
My head snapped up.
What?
"Take the painting?"
The housekeeper nodded frantically, desperately trying to make us believe her.
"Yes! That was the instruction from the beginning. Burn the studio and take the painting of you!" She pointed at Damian.
Nobody knew that painting was there… At least that was what I thought.
My heart pounded. She had stolen it.
Damian's voice dropped lower. "Where is the painting?"
The woman swallowed. "I…I gave it to the driver they sent to pick it up."
What fucking driver??
"What driver?"
"I don't know his name! I don't even know what he looks like. He was just waiting two streets away and I used all the blind spots to reach him, that was why none of the bodyguards saw me." She explained frantically.
"Your phone." Damian held out his hand.
She handed it over at once, her hands shaking so badly she almost dropped it.
He passed it to Fernandez. "Trace every call."
"On it, boss."
Damian looked back at Sophie. "You know the seriousness of what you've done, I believe?"
She collapsed to the floor.
"Please, sir. I needed the money for…"
"Not enough reason to ruin my wife's studio." He cut her short.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Please don't send me to prison…"
"That is exactly where you will be going!" He snapped. "You committed arson, and theft. Be rest assured that I will make sure you spend a good deal of your life in there." Damian was smirking.
Two guards stepped forward immediately and lifted her to her feet as she started crying harder.
"Please, sir! Madam, please talk to him!" She begged, looking at me desperately.
Me? I was too weak to even move.
My throat was so dry I couldn't speak.
I was still trying to understand what had just happened.
How someone who had been smiling with us in this house could betray us like this.
Damian turned to me then, and his expression softened slightly when he saw my face.
"Come, wife."
I didn't argue.
He took my hand and led me towards the door.
"We will be leaving the house for a few days."
I blinked. "What?"
"You need air and a different location for now so you can breathe well." He said simply.
But as we left the house, my mind kept going back to one thought.
Someone had wanted that painting badly enough to burn my studio for it.
But my question remains; how did anyone know that the painting was there in the first place?
And who was it?
"Look at me." Damian commanded from beside me.
I turned to look at him.
"You are fine. You're okay."
I smiled at him and nodded.
I was fine. I was okay.
If only I knew how wrong I was or how bad things were about to be, I wouldn't have believed his words that night.