Chapter 4 - The Intruder in the FortressAlejandro’s gaze snapped past Mariana.
There, standing in the doorway with wide, frightened eyes and clutching her paint-smeared stuffed animal, was Valentina. She had slipped away from the kitchen, unable to understand why her mother had run away.
Rebeca appeared instantly behind the child, her face a mask of triumphant malice. "See, Alejandro? I told you. This woman brings nothing but chaos and destruction into your home. Shall I call security to clear them out?"
Mariana lunged forward instinctively, positioning herself like a lioness protecting her cub. "No! Please, Mr. Rivas, punish me, fire me, do whatever you want, but leave her out of this!"
Silence descended upon the gallery—a heavy, suffocating stillness where even the hum of the climate control seemed to die.
Alejandro did not look at Rebeca. He did not look at Mariana. He stared entirely at the tiny three-year-old girl standing alone in the center of a room filled with billionaire-tier wealth.
Valentina didn't cry. Instead, with the innocent audacity only a toddler possesses, she took two small steps forward, ignored the terrifying man in the expensive suit, and pointed a tiny finger directly at the multi-million-dollar ruined painting.
"Pretty blue," Valentina mumbled, tilting her head. "Like the sky."
Rebeca gasped audibly, stepping forward to snatch the child away. "Insolent little brat! Alejandro, are you going to stand there and let a vagrant's child mock your collection?"
"Stop," Alejandro said.
It wasn't a shout. It was a single word spoken at normal conversational volume, yet Rebeca froze mid-stride as if she had run into an invisible glass wall.
Alejandro slowly walked past Mariana. He knelt down—right on the expensive, mud-stained Persian rug—bringing himself eye-level with Valentina.
Mariana held her breath, her heart hammering against her ribs so hard she felt dizzy. Men like Alejandro Rivas crushed people like bugs for far less than this. Rumors in the financial sector whispered that he had once ruined a rival corporation over a missed handshake. What would he do to a toddler who defaced his art?
Alejandro extended a long, perfectly manicured finger. He didn't touch Valentina; instead, he gently tapped the blue watercolor paint smeared on the plush bunny's ear.
"You like blue?" Alejandro asked, his voice losing its razor-sharp edge, replaced by a strange, low curiosity.
Valentina blinked, then nodded solemnly. "My crayon broke. Mommy couldn't buy a new one."
Alejandro stared at the child for a long, agonizing moment. Then, slowly, he stood up, turned his back to them, and looked back at the canvas.
"Rebeca," Alejandro said quietly, without turning around.
"Yes, Alejandro?" Rebeca answered eagerly, stepping forward.
"Cancel my afternoon meetings."
May you like
"What? But the municipal development acquisitions—"
"Cancel them," Alejandro repeated, his voice dropping into a register that made even his sister pale. Then, he turned his head, casting a cold, sidelong glance at Mariana. "And as for the housekeeper and her child... bring them to my private study in ten minutes. We have adjustments to make."
