Chapter 5 - Three Days Before They Took My Daughter
I didn't sleep.
Neither did Hector.
We turned the estate into a fortress.
My daughters stayed with Marisol.
No one entered without authorization.
No one left.
The envelope had contained more than a threat.
The photograph was recent.
Taken inside the house.
Someone had access to our most private spaces.
We searched every employee.
Every camera.
Every vehicle.
Then Hector found it.
A blind spot.
Four minutes.
Four minutes every night when one corridor wasn't recorded.
The cameras had been shut down remotely.
The same time.
The same place.
And the shutdown began exactly six months earlier.
When Chloe moved in.
I stared at the system.
“How?”
Hector answered.
“She had access to the central network.”
I called her into my office.
She entered smiling.
“You wanted me?”
“Yes.”
She sat.
“What happened?”
“Security issue.”
She looked concerned.
“Are the girls safe?”
“Yes.”
“Thank God.”
I watched her.
“How much do you care about them?”
Her expression changed.
“What kind of question is that?”
“A simple one.”
“They're your children.”
“That wasn't my question.”
She looked annoyed.
“I care about them.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
I leaned back.
She smiled.
“You're acting strange.”
“So are you.”
Her smile faded.
“Alexander.”
“I found the camera gap.”
Silence.
I expected fear.
Instead, she laughed.
“You think I'm responsible?”
“I didn't say that.”
“You don't have to.”
She stood.
“You're paranoid.”
“Maybe.”
She walked toward the door.
I said, “Chloe.”
She stopped.
“You should be careful what you say around this house.”
She turned.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
She left.
Five minutes later, her phone rang.
Hector tracked it.
Damian.
We followed him.
The meeting took place at a restaurant downtown.
I watched through a window.
Chloe was angry.
“You said he was under control.”
Damian replied.
“He suspects you.”
She slammed her hand on the table.
“What about the girls?”
“We need leverage.”
“Not yet.”
“Then when?”
She looked around.
“Tomorrow.”
I turned toward Hector.
“Tomorrow?”
He nodded.
“We need to know what.”
We followed her back to the estate.
At 1:17 a.m., she entered the girls' hallway.
I watched from the monitor room.
She opened Sofia's door.
Marisol was inside.
Chloe froze.
Marisol stood.
“What are you doing?”
Chloe smiled.
“Checking on her.”
“She is sleeping.”
“I can see that.”
She approached the bed.
Marisol blocked her.
“You need to leave.”
Chloe stared.
“You don't give me orders.”
“I do when my children are involved.”
Chloe whispered,
“They aren't your children.”
“No.”
Marisol's voice became colder.
“But they are mine to protect.”
Chloe turned.
“From what?”
“From you.”
The air seemed to disappear.
Chloe slapped Marisol.
I moved instantly.
But before I could enter, Valeria woke.
“Stop!”
She threw herself between them.
I heard my daughter's voice.
“Don't hurt her!”
Chloe turned.
“Go back to sleep.”
“No!”
Valeria screamed.
“Daddy won't let you!”
Chloe froze.
Then she looked at the camera.
She couldn't see it.
But somehow, it felt as though she was looking directly at me.
She smiled.
“Maybe your father will understand when he sees what happens next.”
She left.
I ran upstairs.
Marisol was crying.
Valeria was holding Sofia.
I knelt.
“Are you okay?”
Valeria nodded.
“Daddy, she hit Marisol.”
“I know.”
“Will you send her away?”
“Yes.”
“But she knows you saw.”
I looked at my daughter.
“Did you know?”
She nodded.
“How long?”
“A long time.”
My heart shattered.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Whenever you were leaving.”
I remembered.
“Daddy, can I talk to you?”
“Later.”
“Daddy, Chloe is mean.”
“Don't accuse her.”
“Daddy…”
Every warning.
Every missed moment.
I hugged her.
“I am sorry.”
She whispered.
“I forgive you.”
That destroyed me.
The next morning, Chloe was gone.
Not voluntarily.
Hector had arranged for investigators to question her about the stolen funds.
She tried to leave the country.
We stopped her at the airport.
Damian escaped.
But Chloe finally broke.
She confessed.
She had been planted near me eighteen months earlier.
Her real goal was access to my business.
The girls were leverage.
The wedding would force me to transfer control.
“Who sent you?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“My father.”
“Your father is dead.”
She smiled.
“No.”
My blood went cold.
“Who?”
Chloe whispered a name.
“Victor Vance.”
My own father's name.
I stared.
“My father died eight years ago.”
“He faked it.”
The room became silent.
Hector looked at me.
Chloe continued.
“He wanted you to become the face of the family.”
“He controlled everything.”
“The empire.”
“The accounts.”
“The enemies.”
“But when you tried to leave his system, he needed another way.”
I felt dizzy.
“You’re saying my father has been alive this entire time?”
Chloe nodded.
“And Damian works for him.”
Then she said the sentence that changed the danger completely.
“Your daughters are not his leverage.”
I looked at her.
“Then what are they?”
May you like
Her voice trembled.
“They are his inheritance.”
