Sophie Was Blamed for Ruining Christmas — Then the Living Room Camera Showed the Real Culprit Had Four Paws
Chapter 5 — Elena Bell
Michael contacted Elena.
He expected anger.
Instead, she became quiet when he mentioned Richard Lawson.
“My dad talked about him.”
Richard took the phone.
“What did he say?”
Elena laughed softly.
“Depends on the year.”
Sometimes Thomas remembered Richard fondly.
Other times he sounded hurt.
But he never called him a thief.
“Did he know about the recording?” Richard asked.
“Of course.”
Thomas first heard Winter Morning on the radio in 1980.
Elena said he recognized it immediately.
He was angry.
He considered contacting Richard.
Then decided not to.
“Why?”
Elena hesitated.
“Dad had his reasons.”
“What reasons?”
She explained.
Thomas had been struggling at the time.
His father died.
His marriage was falling apart.
He had stopped performing.
He felt Richard had taken the path they once imagined for both of them.
Calling him would have meant admitting how much that hurt.
So Thomas stayed silent.
Years later, that silence became pride.
Just like Richard’s.
Then Richard asked about the ornament.
Elena went quiet.
“A glass music note?”
“Yes.”
“Dad had two made.”
Richard stared at the broken pieces.
“Two?”
Elena still had the other one.
Thomas kept it on his Christmas tree every year.
Richard looked at Sophie.
The cat had broken not just an ornament.
It had cracked open one half of a message two old friends had carried separately for decades.
