Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind the Maid's Uniform
The mansion was swarming with heavy-armed Vance Security operatives within four minutes. Victoria was pinned against the leather couch in the grand drawing room, her phone ringing off the hook with desperate calls from her father, warning her that their family business was collapsing in real time.
In the master suite upstairs, Alejandro sat on the edge of the velvet sofa, wrapping a warm cashmere blanket around Elena's frail shoulders. A top private doctor had just finished examining her hands and treating her chemical burns.
"Why didn't you come back to me?" Alejandro asked softly, kneeling in front of her once again. "Five years ago, your car went off the cliff in Monte Carlo. They found burnt wreckage. I buried an empty coffin, Elena. I nearly lost my mind."
Elena squeezed her eyes shut, her shoulders trembling violently. "I couldn't come back, Alejandro... If I came back, they said they would kill you. And... they said they would kill our son."
Alejandro’s breath caught in his throat. His chest heaved as if hit by a physical force. "Son? What son?"
"Leo," Elena sobbed, hiding her face in her hands. "I was two months pregnant when I was forced off that road. I woke up in an underground facility in Geneva. A woman told me that if I ever reached out to you, a sniper would take your life during your press conferences. I stayed hidden. I gave birth in a damp basement... I've spent the last four years working three jobs a day just to buy his heart medication."
"Who?" Alejandro’s voice vibrated with demonic rage. "Who threatened you?!"
Elena slowly turned her head, looking toward the door. "The person who sent me here today... the head of the maid agency. She told me I had to clean the Vance Manor personally today, or Leo's medicine supply would be cut off."
Downstairs, the front doors burst open.
"Alejandro!" a booming, authoritative voice echoed through the hallway.
Alejandro stood up, his jaw set like granite. He smoothed his suit, bent down to kiss Elena’s forehead gently, and whispered, "Stay here, my queen. Today, the bloodbath begins."
He walked down the spiral staircase to find his uncle, Richard Vance—the senior vice chairman of Vance Global—standing beside Victoria. Behind Richard stood four armed men in dark tactical gear.
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"Uncle Richard," Alejandro said coolly, leaning against the banister. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this armed invasion?"
"You've gone mad, Alejandro!" Richard barked, gesturing at Victoria. "You just liquidated the Sterling portfolio! We are in the middle of a ten-billion-dollar merger! And all because of some ragged imposter claiming to be your dead wife?!"
