Chapter 4 - My Fiancée’s Mask Slips
For three days, I pretended nothing had changed.
I smiled at Chloe.
I ate dinner with her.
I let her believe the wedding was merely delayed.
But everything was recorded.
Every phone call.
Every visitor.
Every movement.
Hector discovered that Chloe was meeting Damian twice each week.
A parking garage.
A private club.
A warehouse near the harbor.
She never went alone.
I studied their schedules.
Then I found something unexpected.
They weren't only talking about money.
They were talking about my daughters.
“Valeria is too old to manipulate easily,” Chloe said in one recording.
“Then use the younger one,” Damian replied.
My fists tightened.
“What do you want with them?”
Hector stared at me.
“We don't know.”
I rewound the recording.
Chloe said something else.
“When Alexander signs over the eastern properties, we'll have everything.”
Damian laughed.
“And if he refuses?”
She replied,
“Then Sofia disappears.”
The room went silent.
I felt something inside me snap.
But I needed more evidence.
We discovered a second shell company.
This one had been using a property owned by Chloe's mother.
Inside the company records was a photograph of Damian and my father.
Taken twenty years ago.
They had been partners long before I was born.
The real betrayal wasn't just Chloe.
It was the fact that my entire inheritance had been built on a system of people manipulating one another.
My father had trusted Damian.
Dante had trusted Victor.
I had trusted Chloe.
Every generation had repeated the same mistake.
Except this time, my children were the price.
I called Marisol.
“Did Elena ever tell you what she was afraid of?”
Marisol looked at me.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“That someone would come into this house pretending to love you.”
I stared.
“She knew?”
“She suspected.”
“What else?”
“She told me never to leave the girls alone with anyone who made them uncomfortable.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were grieving.”
I swallowed.
“And after?”
“You stopped listening when people mentioned Elena.”
The truth hurt.
“I was angry.”
“I know.”
“At everyone.”
“I know.”
Marisol looked down.
“But your daughters weren't angry with you.”
“I wasn't there.”
“You were trying to protect them.”
“I failed.”
She stepped closer.
“You're here now.”
I looked at her.
“Did Chloe ever threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Many times.”
“Why?”
“Because I would not punish the girls for her.”
I remembered something.
“Why did you stay after I accused you of stealing?”
She smiled sadly.
“Because I promised your wife.”
That sentence nearly broke me.
That evening, Sofia knocked on my study door.
“Daddy?”
I turned.
“Come in.”
She climbed onto the chair.
“Can I ask something?”
“Anything.”
“Are you going to marry Chloe?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked at my six-year-old daughter.
“Because sometimes adults make bad choices.”
“Did you make one?”
“Yes.”
She thought for a second.
“Can you fix it?”
I smiled despite the pain.
“I hope so.”
She held up the stuffed rabbit.
“Marisol fixed this.”
The rabbit had been torn.
Marisol had stitched it back together.
“She fixes everything.”
I looked at my daughter.
“Yes.”
Sofia hugged me.
“I like her.”
“I do too.”
After she left, I opened the wedding file.
Inside was the guest list.
Chloe's family.
Business partners.
Several men I did not trust.
And one surprise.
Damian Ross.
He had been invited.
By Chloe.
I stared at the name.
The wedding had been their planned trap.
Public pressure.
Family.
Contracts.
A transfer of power.
They needed me emotionally distracted.
And the girls isolated.
I canceled everything.
Then I set my own trap.
I told Chloe the wedding would continue.
Her smile was immediate.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I'm so happy.”
“I want your family there.”
She hugged me.
I let her.
“Of course.”
She whispered, “You won't regret this.”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
Later that night, Chloe called Damian.
Hector recorded it.
“It's working.”
“How sure are you?”
“He trusts me again.”
Damian laughed.
“He always was predictable.”
Chloe smiled.
“What about the girls?”
“I'll handle them.”
My blood went cold.
“When?”
“At the rehearsal dinner.”
I immediately changed the security plan.
The rehearsal dinner became bait.
I wanted them to make one move.
One.
Then I would have them.
The night arrived.
My daughters were under constant protection.
Marisol stayed with them.
Hector had armed guards at every exit.
Chloe entered the ballroom smiling.
She took my arm.
“You look tense.”
“Wedding nerves.”
She laughed.
“I thought you didn't get nervous.”
“Not usually.”
She kissed my cheek.
I looked into her eyes.
For the first time, I saw exactly what she was.
Not a woman who loved me.
A woman who believed she had already won.
Dinner began.
Halfway through, Chloe stood.
“I'd like to say something.”
I nodded.
She raised her glass.
“To family.”
Everyone applauded.
She looked at me.
“And to the man I love.”
I smiled.
“To family.”
Then the lights went out.
My security team moved immediately.
A scream came from the hallway.
I ran.
The alarm system had been disabled.
The girls' room door was open.
Marisol was inside.
She was holding Sofia.
Valeria stood beside her.
Chloe appeared behind me.
“What happened?”
I stared at her.
She looked genuinely shocked.
Too genuinely.
Then Hector's voice came through my earpiece.
“Boss.”
“Yes?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The west gate is open.”
I turned.
A black SUV sped away.
Inside it was Damian.
But nobody had been taken.
Nothing had been stolen.
Except one thing.
A small envelope from my safe.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my daughters.
May you like
On the back:
You have three days.
