Chapter 4 *ALEXANDER*

CHAPTER FOUR

*ALEXANDER*

Eleanor Sterling didn't collapse. She fainted during a charity board meeting, and by the time we arrived at the hospital, she was already awake and furious about the fuss.

"This is ridiculous," she snapped when I entered her private room. "I don't need to be here."

Then she saw Sophia behind me, and her face went white.

"You," Eleanor whispered.

Sophia's expression didn't change. "Mrs. Sterling."

"How do you know each other?" I asked, looking between them.

"We don't," Sophia said smoothly. But Eleanor was staring at her like she'd seen a ghost.

"That's not possible," my grandmother said. "You're supposed to be" She stopped abruptly.

"Dead?" Sophia finished. "I was. Got better."

The heart monitor started beeping faster. A nurse rushed in, giving us a sharp look.

"Everyone out. Mrs. Sterling needs rest."

In the hallway, I grabbed Sophia's arm. "What the hell was that?"

"Your grandmother recognizes me from the other timeline."

"That's impossible."

"So is everything else that's happening." Sophia pulled free. "She remembers. Which means she knows what she did to me. What she made you do."

"I make my own choices."

"Not when it came to her. You never stood up to Eleanor. Not once." The bitterness in her voice was sharp. "When she told you I was beneath your family, you believed her. When she said I was trying to trap you with the pregnancy, you doubted me. When she"

"Stop." I felt sick. "I need to talk to her."

"She won't tell you the truth."

"Then I'll make her."

I went back into the room. The nurse tried to protest, but one look at my face made her leave.

Eleanor's eyes were closed, but I knew she was awake.

"What did you do to Sophia?" I asked quietly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You recognized her. You said 'you're supposed to be dead.' So tell me what happened in the timeline we don't remember."

Her eyes opened, hard and cold. "If you're having dreams, Alexander, see a therapist."

"They're not dreams. They're memories." I sat down beside her bed. "I remember pieces. Sophia in a hospital. You saying terrible things at dinner. Her face when she realized I chose you over her." My hands clenched. "What did I do to her?"

"You married her. You did your duty." Eleanor's voice was matter-of-fact. "She was weak. Unsuitable. I simply helped you see that."

"Helped me see it, or made sure of it?"

"Does it matter? She's alive now. You haven't married her. The timeline corrected itself."

"Or she corrected it." I leaned forward. "Why do you remember? Why do I remember? Why is this happening?"

Eleanor's hand trembled slightly. "Some mistakes echo across time. Some debts must be paid."

"What did you do?"

She looked away. "Get out, Alexander."

"Not until you tell me."

"I said get out!"

The heart monitor spiked again. The nurse rushed back in with a doctor this time, and they physically removed me from the room.

Sophia was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "Did she confess to being a monster?"

"She admitted she manipulated me. Made me think you were beneath our family."

"And you believed her."

"Apparently, I did." I ran my hand through my hair. "I need to know everything. Everything that happened in that timeline."

"Why? So you can apologize for things you haven't done?"

"So I can understand who I was. Who I might become if I'm not careful."

Sophia studied me for a long moment. "You really want to know?"

"Yes."

"Fine. But not here." She started walking toward the exit. "Come on."

We ended up at an all-night diner in Brooklyn. The kind of place Eleanor would have been horrified to see me in. Sophia ordered coffee and pie. I ordered nothing.

"Talk," I said.

She took a bite of pie first, making me wait. Then she started.

"We met at that charity gala. You were charming. Attentive. Everything a girl raised on fairy tales could want. You pursued me for three months before asking me out. Proposed after six months. We were married before I turned twenty-three."

"Fast."

"You said you knew what you wanted." Her laugh was hollow. "Turns out what you wanted was my mother's political connections and a wife who knew her place."

"And Victoria?"

"Was always there. Your business partner, your confidante, your everything I wasn't allowed to be. You said it was platonic. Maybe it was. But you gave her the emotional intimacy you never gave me."

I felt something twist in my chest. "The pregnancy?"

Sophia's hand tightened on her fork. "I got pregnant six months into the marriage. You were... pleased isn't the right word. Satisfied, maybe. Like I'd fulfilled a contract requirement. But when I miscarried at twelve weeks, you were in a board meeting. Your assistant called to tell you. You didn't leave."

"Jesus Christ."

"Eleanor told me it was probably for the best. Said I was too young, too fragile, too everything wrong. You came home that night and asked if I was okay. I said yes because I didn't know how to say no to you. You believed me and went back to work." She met my eyes. "You wanted to believe me. It was easier."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for something you didn't do. It makes you feel better but changes nothing."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

A text came through on my phone. Victoria: "Where are you? Eleanor is asking for you."

I silenced it.

"You should go," Sophia said. "Your family needs you."

"They can wait. I'm not done hearing this."

"Yes, you are. I'm not your therapist, Alexander. I'm not here to absolve you or help you become a better person. I told you what happened. Now leave me alone."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Because sitting here, listening to her describe the worst version of myself, I felt more present than I had in months. Because the broken woman in my dreams was nothing like the fierce one in front of me, and I needed to understand how she'd survived.

"Because I think I'm supposed to save you," I said.

Sophia laughed, sharp and bitter. "I already saved myself. From you."

"Then let me prove you won't need to again."

"How? By following me around? By having dreams? By feeling guilty?" She leaned forward. "You can't prove a negative, Alexander. You can't prove you won't become the man who destroyed me. And I'm not interested in waiting around to find out."

"What if I cut ties with Eleanor? With Victoria? With everyone you said influenced me?"

"What if you do and you still become him anyway? What if it's not them what if it's just who you are?"

The words hit like a physical blow. "You really think I'm fundamentally broken?"

"I think you're a billionaire who's never been told no. Who's never had to choose between what you want and what's easy. Who's never" She stopped, eyes widening.

"What?"

"Your father. Where is he?"

"Business trip. Singapore. Why?"

"In my timeline, he was at the hospital when Eleanor collapsed. Rushed back from a meeting." Sophia's face went pale. "Alexander, what meeting was he in?"

"Contract negotiations with the Zhao Group. High-stakes hotel development deal."

"The Zhao Group is a front. They launder money for triads. Your father is walking into a trap."

"How do you know that?"

"Because in my timeline, he walked into that trap. They extorted Sterling Hotels for three years before he finally confessed. It destroyed him. Nearly destroyed the company." She grabbed my phone. "Call him. Now."

I dialed. It went to voicemail.

"Call your assistant. Get your father's security team on the line. Get him out of that meeting."

"Sophia, this is insane"

"Do you trust me or not?"

I looked at her. At the certainty in her eyes. At the fear underneath it.

I called James. "I need you to pull my father out of the Zhao Group meeting. I don't care what excuse you use. Do it now."

"Sir, that deal is worth fifty million"

"I don't care. Get him out."

I hung up. Sophia was already standing, throwing money on the table.

"Where are you going?"

"If your father is in actual danger, we need to move fast. The people he's meeting with don't like being refused." She headed for the door. "Come on."

"How do you know all this?"

She looked back at me, and for the first time, I saw real fear in her expression.

"Because in my timeline, they didn't just extort your father, Alexander. When he tried to back out of the deal, they sent a message. They killed someone close to the family to prove they were serious."

My blood ran cold. "Who?"

"His son's fiancée. They made it look like an accident." Sophia's voice was barely a whisper. "They killed me."