"Zach said Austen had so much money it wouldn't hurt him to share it. At first, he just wanted me to get to know him and introduce them. Zach planned to tell him about some non-existent business deal and hoped Austen would invest. Then Zach realized Austen was a bigger fish if he married me. He said I had to convince him to fall in love with me. I had to get a job that would appeal to Austen's status and interests and start doing things he liked and... I wanted a job! I wanted to work again so I got a job volunteering at the museum.
I figured I could do that for a little while before getting a real job. Zach stopped hitting me and I started feeling better. I thought about ways to leave him but I knew I couldn't."
"Why didn't you?" asked Maddox.
Sophie’s gaze flicked to him then back down to the blankets again, shame filling her face. "I was trapped. Zach said I would go to prison if the insurance fraud came to light. And he threatened to tell the cops I gave his sister the alcohol and drugs so I would be prosecuted for manslaughter since my car was the one she was driving. I was so afraid I just did what he told me to do." She tightened her grip on Austen's hand. "We set up both opportunities for me to meet Austen. For a while, I thought, maybe I could convince him to loan me the money to escape, but every time I opened my mouth to ask him, I thought about what Zach said. And... and I liked Austen. I didn't want him to think horrible things about me. That I was a thief or a killer. Austen was, is, so kind to me. He always has been. He's had nothing to do with this, you must believe me! He didn’t know anything about the money!"
"We know," I said. "I also know you signed a pre-nup that precluded you from getting a penny from Austen. If Zach's plan was to take his money, why did you do that?"
Sophie stared at her blanket, her shame coloring her face. "I fell in love with him. I think Zach realized that because he started threatening to tell Austen everything. He said he would kill him too, and me. Insisting on a pre-nup was the only thing I could think of to protect him. No matter what Zach threatened to do, he'd never get a penny out of Austen through me. And the longer I stayed with Austen, the kinder he became, and I started to see how terrible things were, how manipulative Zach was. Then, one day, I found something."
"Go on," said Austen.
"An annulment certificate," she said. "Zach annulled our marriage right after we said our vows and never told me. When I found out, I was so shocked. I thought I was married to that bastard. Instead, he duped me. I could have left without staging my death!"
"Why would he do that?" I asked.
"I don't know. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe there was another woman. I have no idea. But I saw an opportunity to right a wrong although I think I got it all wrong." She yawned shakily.
"Since Sophie’s marriage to Zach was annulled, she was free to marry me," explained Austen. "She used her own birth certificate, not her sister-in-law’s. We are legally married. I think."
Sophie clasped his hand harder. "I should never have done that to you though. I should have told you everything up front."
"You wanted to," he said. "I knew you wanted to put more distance between you and Zach. You kept saying that. I should have put you on a plane and hidden you somewhere he could never find you. Especially with the baby."
Sophie's hand slipped to her stomach. "I knew I couldn't hide the baby forever. I told Zach I'd had enough. I told him I was staying with Austen and would tell the police everything so he could never come near me again. I had the cash as evidence of what he had done. That's when he smashed my head into the banister and pushed me down the stairs. I remember the most searing pain, then nothing. He left me there to die in Austen's home."
"Our home," said Austen. "I've already told Sophie the rest. How Zach wanted to know who would inherit the money if I died. And he came