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"HE THOUGHT HE WAS SAVING TWO ORPHANS—UNTIL THE MEN WITH GUNS REVEALED WHO THE GIRLS ACTUALLY BELONGED TO!" / Chapter 5 / 7

Chapter 4 - THE DEPTHS OF THE HACIENDA

Headline: "TRAPPED IN THE RUINS: THE COUSIN’S TRUE FACE AND THE CHILLING DEMAND THAT FORCED A FATHER’S HAND!"The world was upside down.

Smoke filled the cabin of the overturned truck. Alejandro’s ears buzzed with a high-pitched ring. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

"Sofía? Lucía?" he croaked.

Beside him, the two girls were crying, shaken but shielded by the heavy wool blankets and Alejandro’s own body. "We're here, Papa... it hurts..." Sofía whimpered.

"Mateo!" Alejandro called out.

The old man was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious, blood dripping from his forehead. The engine was dead, and the smell of leaking fuel was growing stronger.

The driver's side door was kicked open from the outside.

A hand reached in, grabbing Alejandro by the collar and dragging him brutally out onto the cold, hard dirt. Alejandro fell, coughing, his body aching from the impact.

Hugo Garza stood over him, a cruel smirk on his face. He was dressed in a pristine, expensive Italian coat that contrasted sharply with the mud and blood of the mountain. Behind him stood six armed mercenaries, their weapons pointed directly at Alejandro.

"Well, cousin," Hugo sneered, adjusting his cuffs. "You always did have a dramatic streak. Returning to the hacienda to weep over your dead wife, only to end up in a ditch. It’s almost poetic."

"You... you monster," Alejandro spat, wiping blood from his mouth. "You killed Isabella. Your father poisoned her."

Hugo laughed, a cold, hollow sound. "My father? No, Alejandro. Ernesto didn't have the stomach for it. Isabella was getting too close to the financial records. She realized we were using Garza Industries to launder money for some very... dangerous people. She was going to go to the federal police. I couldn't let her ruin everything we built. So, yes. I had her food seasoned with thallium. It was surprisingly easy."

Alejandro lunged forward with a roar of pure rage, but two mercenaries instantly pinned him to the ground, slamming his face into the dirt.

"Ah, ah, ah," Hugo tutted, walking over to the overturned truck. He reached inside and dragged out a screaming Sofía, then Lucía. He held them by their arms, like trophies. "Look at them. They really do look like her, don't they? A pity they have to be collateral damage."

"Don't touch them!" Alejandro screamed, struggling against the guards. "Take my life! Take the company! Take everything! Just let them live!"

Hugo leaned down, his eyes cold and dead. "Oh, I’m going to take everything, Alejandro. But I need you alive for just a little bit longer. You see, the trust fund requires your physical signature to transfer the guardianship of these girls and the power of attorney of the entire Garza estate to me. Once you sign, you and your lovely bastards will have a tragic 'accident' in these mountains. A house fire, perhaps. Or a tragic fall from a cliff."

Hugo waved his hand to his men. "Take them to the hacienda basement. Let’s finish this where it all began."

Ten minutes later, Alejandro was dragged into the dark, cold basement of his own family estate. The space had been converted into a temporary interrogation room. A single, bare lightbulb hung from the ceiling, casting long, eerie shadows.

Sofía and Lucía were tied to wooden chairs in the corner, their eyes wide with terror, their little bodies trembling.

Hugo threw a thick stack of legal documents onto a metal table in front of Alejandro. He forced Alejandro into a chair and handed him a pen.

"Sign, Alejandro," Hugo said smoothly. "Sign, and I promise I’ll make their deaths painless. Refuse... and I’ll let my men play with them first."

Alejandro stared at the pen. His hand shook. He looked at his daughters. Sofía shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No, Papa... don't.”

Alejandro knew that the moment he signed, they were all dead. Hugo would never leave witnesses. But if he didn't sign, they would suffer right now. He needed to buy time. He needed a miracle.

"I'll sign," Alejandro said, his voice barely audible.

"Excellent," Hugo smiled, leaning in.

Alejandro picked up the pen. He leaned over the papers. But as he did, his eyes caught the reflection in the dark, dusty window of the basement.

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The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure terminal on my desk flashed a violent crimson. I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours, my eyes burning from staring at columns of ghost figures, duplicate invoices, and shell corporations linked to Dominic Rossi. But the red alert wasn’t from Rossi’s faction. It was an internal security flag originating from the estate’s main vault deep beneath the west wing.

The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure ter...

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scattering the light from the chandeliers. The muffled laughter died instantly, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence that crept outward from the grand staircase.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scatter...

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking out the clinical, terrifying silence of the kitchen. Evelyn Crane stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, her hands folded over her apron with the rigid precision of someone who had spent decades micromanaging every square inch of my estate. Behind her, Norah hovered near the doorway, clutching her clipboard like a shield.

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking...

Behind Hugo, one of the mercenaries was slowly reaching into his tactical vest. But he wasn't pulling a weapon to guard Alejandro.

He was pulling out a silenced pistol—and aiming it directly at the back of Hugo’s head.

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