Chapter 6 - Damage Control
1073 Words
THE FIRST thing Sophie noticed when Matthew walked out of the holding area was how angry he looked.
His jaw was locked so tightly that the muscles along his face visibly flexed, and his shoulders remained rigid beneath his dark shirt as he crossed the station toward her.
The police officer behind the reception desk handed over the final paperwork.
"Mr. Moore has been released pending further investigation. He'll need to remain available for questioning."
Matthew took the documents without looking at them. His attention remained fixed entirely on Sophie.
That should have irritated her less than it did.
After everything that had happened in the last six hours, after spending half the night talking to lawyers, gathering evidence, contacting people she barely knew, and explaining repeatedly that Matthew's employee had acted independently, Sophie had expected many things.
Gratitude would have been nice.
Instead, she got Matthew Moore looking like he wanted to start another fight.
The moment they stepped outside the station, he stopped walking.
"How much?"
Sophie stared at him. "What?"
"How much did this cost?"
She closed her eyes briefly. Of course that was his first question. Not Are you okay? Not Thank you. Not even How did you manage it?
How much.
The number mattered more than the fact that he was standing outside instead of sitting in a cell.
"You were arrested for conspiracy and cyber fraud facilitation," Sophie said. "You spent the night in custody. Maybe your first concern shouldn't be money."
"That's not an answer."
"No, Matthew. It's called avoiding a stupid conversation."
His expression hardened. "You paid somebody."
"Yes."
"How much?"
Sophie turned toward her car.
He followed. "Sophie."
She spun around. "What exactly do you want from me right now? Do you want me to apologize for getting you out? Because I can if that's what will make this easier."
His jaw tightened. "You shouldn't have had to do it."
The response caught her off guard.
For a moment, genuine frustration replaced her anger. "Then who was supposed to do it?" she asked quietly. “Do you want to call your sister?”
Matthew looked away. He would never wanted to involved Jennie in this situation. And, Sophie knew that.
That alone answered the question.
Nobody.
He had expected nobody.
The realization settled heavily in her chest.
She had known Matthew long enough to recognize his stubborn independence. She knew he hated owing favors. She knew he preferred solving problems himself.
But standing there outside the station, Sophie suddenly understood something deeper.
Matthew genuinely believed needing help was a failure. Not an inconvenience. Not an embarrassment.
A failure.
The thought disturbed her more than she expected. "Get in the car."
"Sophie—"
"Get in the car before I leave you here."
His eyebrows lifted. "You're threatening me?"
"I'm considering it."
For a second, he almost smiled. Then he sighed and opened the passenger door.
The drive passed in silence. It wasn’t a comfortable silence. Not even the kind they occasionally shared during late-night drives across the city.
This silence felt sharp. Every word left unsaid sat between them like broken glass.
Sophie kept both hands firmly on the steering wheel. Matthew stared out the window.
Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore.
"You know what the most annoying part of this is?"
He didn't look at her. "I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"You never ask for help."
That finally earned a glance. "What?"
"You heard me."
Sophie shook her head. "Normal people get arrested and call someone."
"Normal people don't get arrested."
"You are completely missing the point."
Matthew laughed quietly. The sound carried no humor. "I had it handled."
"You had it handled?" She nearly swerved from disbelief. "You spent the night in a holding cell."
"They didn't have enough evidence."
"They had enough to arrest you,” I said glancing at him.
"They won't have enough to charge me."
"That isn't the victory you think it is."
Matthew rubbed a hand over his face. Neither spoke for several moments.
Then he said quietly, "You shouldn't have had to fix this."
Something about the wording irritated her. Again.
"There it is,” she muttered.
"What?"
"The part where you think accepting help somehow makes you weak."
His gaze shifted toward her. "I never said that."
"You didn't have to,” she said, keeping her attention on the road. "If everything in your life catches fire tomorrow, you would still stand there holding a bucket by yourself rather than letting somebody help."
Matthew was silent. That silence told her she was right.
"You know what's funny?" she continued. "You criticize me for trying to control everything, but you're exactly the same."
His eyebrows narrowed. "How?"
"Because you don't trust anybody else to carry part of the weight."
The words landed. She saw it.
For a moment, something vulnerable flashed across his expression. Then it disappeared.
Matthew looked back out the window.
And, neither spoke again for the rest of the drive.
THE RUMORS started before noon.
Sophie discovered them while answering emails. At first, it was a single post. Then another. Then twenty more.
By lunchtime, her phone wouldn't stop vibrating. She stared at the screen in disbelief. Anonymous racing forums. Social media accounts. Industry discussion groups.
The accusations varied slightly depending on the platform. But the message remained the same.
Sophie's money funded illegal motorcycle races.
Matthew Moore used her finances to keep Moore Customs alive.
Sophie was sleeping with investors to protect herself from prosecution.
The last accusation made her physically recoil. "What the hell?"
She clicked through several accounts.
Most of the profiles spreading the rumors were anonymous, but a pattern quickly emerged. The same talking points appeared repeatedly across different platforms, often posted by accounts that seemed unrelated at first glance. The language was careful enough to avoid direct accusations while still planting suspicion.
One name appeared often enough to catch her attention.
Camille De Leon.
Not because Camille was posting anything openly defamatory. She was far too intelligent for that.
Instead, she left comments disguised as innocent observations and questions that sounded harmless on the surface.
I wonder how Sophie Smith can afford to spend so much time helping Moore Customs these days.
Strange how certain investigations never seem to affect certain people.
It's amazing what investors are willing to overlook when they're personally involved.
Anyone reading them individually might dismiss them. Together, they created a narrative.
- Writer
