Chapter 4 - Isabel's Most Dangerous OfferThe meeting was arranged at an abandoned hotel outside the city.
Matthew didn't want me there.
I refused to stay behind.
So he compromised.
I would go.
But I would remain in an armored vehicle with a security team.
The rain was still falling when we arrived.
The hotel had been abandoned for years.
Broken windows.
Overgrown gardens.
Black mold along the walls.
It looked like a place designed for secrets.
My mother was somewhere inside.
For the first time in nineteen years, I might see her.
My hands trembled.
Matthew noticed.
“Don't let hope make you careless.”
“What if she's hurt?”
“She isn't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if Isabel wanted her dead, she wouldn't have called.”
I looked at him.
“You sound certain.”
“I've known Isabel for ten years.”
“You hate her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He stared toward the hotel.
“Because she killed my father.”
My breath caught.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“Proof?”
“Soon.”
The doors opened.
Isabel walked out.
She wore a white coat.
As if this were a business meeting.
Beside her stood two men with guns.
No sign of my mother.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
Isabel smiled.
“Still impatient.”
“Where is my mother?”
“You'll see her.”
“Now.”
“No.”
She looked at Matthew.
“I see you brought the protector.”
Matthew stepped forward.
“You've made this unnecessary.”
“I made you an offer.”
“You made a threat.”
She smiled.
“Same difference.”
“What do you want?”
“Her signature.”
She looked at me.
“The transfer agreement.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Then your mother dies.”
I froze.
Matthew stepped between us.
“Don't.”
Isabel laughed.
“You're predictable.”
She took out her phone.
A live video appeared.
My mother was sitting in a chair.
Alive.
Terrified.
I covered my mouth.
“Mom.”
Her eyes lifted.
“Ella.”
I hadn't heard that nickname in nineteen years.
I almost cried.
Isabel smiled.
“Sign.”
Matthew's hand closed around mine.
“No.”
I whispered:
“She'll kill her.”
“She won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know what Isabel needs.”
He turned toward Isabel.
“You can't access the trust without Elena.”
“Exactly.”
“Then why would she sign willingly?”
Isabel laughed.
“She won't.”
She looked at me.
“So I'll make her.”
A gunshot sounded.
The video ended.
I screamed.
Matthew turned to his men.
“Move.”
Everything happened at once.
Shots.
Glass.
Men running.
I was dragged behind a concrete pillar.
Matthew fired back.
“Stay down!”
“I want my mother!”
“You'll get her!”
The shooting lasted less than a minute.
Then silence.
Isabel was gone.
My mother was gone.
Matthew stood beside me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He checked my face.
“You're bleeding.”
“It's not mine.”
He looked at the blood on my dress.
His jaw tightened.
“Then we find her.”
We searched the hotel.
Empty.
Except for one room.
A table.
A chair.
A piece of paper.
I picked it up.
If you want your mother alive, come to Vargas Holdings tomorrow at midnight.
Matthew took the paper.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then we're not going.”
“Yes, we are.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
“I need my mother.”
“And I need you alive.”
I stared.
“I didn't ask you to protect me.”
“Your father did.”
“This isn't about my father.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It's about you.”
I went quiet.
He looked away.
For a second, I saw something vulnerable in him.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
“Matthew.”
“What?”
“Why do you care?”
He didn't answer.
“Tell me.”
He finally said:
“Because ten years ago, your father saved my life.”
“And now?”
“I owe him.”
I shook my head.
“You don't owe me.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“No.”
His voice was low.
“I want to protect you.”
My heart skipped.
Before I could respond, his phone rang.
He answered.
Then froze.
A message had arrived.
A photograph.
Me.
Standing in the hotel.
The sender was Isabel.
Beneath it:
You have forty-eight hours before I stop using her mother as leverage.
Another message.
And Matthew?
Then:
Ask Elena why her father's will contains a clause that could destroy your entire company.
Matthew's expression changed.
I saw it.
“What?”
He hesitated.
“Your father left more than Vargas Holdings.”
“Then what?”
“He left a partnership.”
“With you?”
“No.”
“With Isabel?”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“With someone neither of us has considered.”
“Who?”
“Richard Ambrose.”
I stared.
My father had partnered with Ambrose.
Then why had he warned me against him?
Matthew opened the old documents.
There it was.
A private trust agreement.
Signed by Daniel Vargas.
Richard Ambrose.
And—
Sofia Vargas.
My mother.
My entire understanding of my family shattered again.
My mother hadn't simply been hiding.
May you like
She had been part of the deal.
And whatever my father left behind, Ambrose wanted badly enough to destroy everyone standing between him and it.
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