Episode 12

After the party, Jed accompanied Sofia to her suite. It was time to propose to her. Sofia began to kiss him, but Jed wasn't in the mood. He could only think about Isabella's gaze. What was she hiding? Why did she go by the name Ana Brown?

"Sofia, sweetheart," Jed said. "I have to leave you tonight. Tomorrow, I have a long day ahead, and I'm exhausted. I'll see you next week."

The next morning, as soon as he woke up, Jed called his friend Leo, an investigator and head of security.

"I need you to find out everything about Isabella Grant or Ana Brown," Jed said.

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"That's what I want to know," Jed replied.

He had been working for three days, struggling to concentrate. His thoughts always returned to the night of the party and Isabella's gaze. He was reading a contract when his phone rang.

"Sofia had an accident!" Jed exclaimed in surprise. "I'll go immediately."

Upon arriving at the hospital, Jed met Rafael, who told him that Sofia had apparently been hit by a car.

"The driver was reportedly drunk," Rafael commented.

"How is Sofia?" Jed asked.

"She's in surgery," Rafael replied. "I'm sorry for what happened."

"They still don't know who did it!" Rafael added.

Hours later, the doctors informed them that Sofia would be alright with therapy. It had been a week since Jed had seen Isabella, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. The awaited report was now on his desk. He looked at the folder, torn between opening it and leaving the past alone. He chose to put the folder away, but ten minutes later, he took it out again and started reading.

Ana Brown had been living in Chesterfield, Virginia for almost six years. She was single and worked as a history and physical education teacher at a school. She had a considerable amount of money in the bank for a teacher and was a mother to a five-year-old boy named Stefano Brown, whose father was unknown.

So she was a single mother, probably involved with someone who didn't want to commit. There was a photo of the mother and child taken from a distance, and Isabella looked beautiful. Motherhood had suited her, and the child, with dark hair, looked adorable from afar. Jed put the photos aside and pondered. He took another look at the picture of the child and couldn't believe what he saw. Isabella Ana Grant Brown. Without a doubt, she was the most wicked woman in the world.

He picked up the phone and called his secretary.

"Maria, cancel all my meetings for this week! I'll be traveling. Ask the driver to come to my house to pick up my suitcase, and call to have the jet prepared. I want to leave this afternoon. I'm going to Virginia."

He called his home, and the butler answered.

"Mauricio, pack my suitcase for a week. I'm leaving today, and the driver will pick it up from wherever you call. I don't know when I'll be back."

If his suspicions were true, Isabella Grant would wish she had never been born. Jed packed his things into his briefcase, grabbed his coat, and left his office. His secretary, Maria, watched, surprised by the rage on Jed Salvatore's face.