CHAPTER 4 — A Sniper's Bullet Shattered the Window... But the Billionaire's Fiancée Revealed a Secret That Changed Everything
The message remained glowing on Valentina's phone.
MISSION FAILED. LEAVE NOW.
No one spoke.
No one breathed.
Rodrigo slowly stepped toward her.
"Who sent that message?"
Valentina instinctively locked the screen.
"I... I don't know."
"Liar."
It was the first time Rodrigo had ever spoken to her with such hatred.
The warmth that once filled his eyes had vanished completely.
Only suspicion remained.
Commissioner Marcos extended his hand.
"Give me the phone."
Valentina didn't move.
"Now."
Her fingers tightened around the device.
For the first time that night, genuine panic flashed across her face.
She wasn't afraid of being arrested.
She was afraid of whoever had sent that message.
Marcos noticed.
"So you're not protecting yourself."
He narrowed his eyes.
"You're protecting someone else."
Before Valentina could answer—
CRASH!
An enormous warehouse window exploded inward.
Glass rained across the concrete floor.
The deafening crack of a rifle echoed through the night.
"DOWN!"
Marcos tackled Gabriel behind a stack of wooden crates.
Rodrigo instinctively threw himself over his son, shielding the boy with his own body.
Police officers drew their weapons.
Another shot rang out.
This one struck a steel beam only inches from Valentina's head.
She screamed.
It wasn't an act.
Whoever was outside...
Was trying to kill her.
"Sniper!" one officer shouted.
"North rooftop!"
Half the police team rushed outside.
The warehouse erupted into chaos.
Sirens echoed.
Flashlights swept across nearby buildings.
But within seconds, another officer radioed back.
"The roof is empty!"
The sniper had vanished.
Again.
Just like the fake waiter.
Someone had planned every escape route in advance.
Valentina collapsed onto the dusty floor.
Her expensive dress was covered in broken glass.
Mascara streamed down her face.
She stared toward the shattered window with absolute terror.
Rodrigo watched silently.
This wasn't the fearless, calculating woman he had planned to marry.
This was someone who realized she had become disposable.
Marcos crouched beside her.
"You have two choices."
She looked up.
"You stay silent..."
"...and whoever hired you finishes the job."
He pointed toward the broken window.
"Or you tell us the truth."
Valentina's lips trembled.
For nearly a minute...
She said nothing.
Then she whispered four words.
"I never wanted murder."
The room froze.
Rodrigo slowly closed his eyes.
Every hope he had clung to disappeared.
"You admitted it."
Tears rolled down Valentina's cheeks.
"I said I never wanted murder."
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
Her voice broke.
"...I agreed to something completely different."
Twenty months earlier...
Valentina had been drowning in debt.
Her father had died after leaving behind enormous financial obligations.
Loan sharks followed her everywhere.
She had sold her apartment.
Her jewelry.
Even her late mother's wedding ring.
Nothing was enough.
Then one evening...
A man invited her to dinner.
She never learned his real name.
He introduced himself only as Mr. Victor.
He knew everything about her.
Every debt.
Every unpaid bill.
Every desperate attempt to survive.
He made her an offer.
"Marry Rodrigo Mendes."
Valentina stared at him.
"What?"
"You'll receive ten million dollars."
She laughed nervously.
"That's impossible."
Mr. Victor calmly slid a folder across the table.
Inside...
Were photographs of Rodrigo.
His companies.
His mansion.
Gabriel.
Even Helena's grave.
"We've studied the family for years."
Valentina suddenly felt cold.
"What exactly do you want?"
Victor smiled.
"Nothing complicated."
"Convince Rodrigo to rewrite his will."
"After the wedding..."
"...everything else will happen naturally."
She had asked no more questions.
She should have.
Back in the warehouse...
Rodrigo's face had turned pale.
"So our entire relationship..."
"...was a lie?"
Valentina lowered her head.
"It started as one."
She looked at Gabriel.
"But somewhere along the way..."
"...I couldn't continue."
Rodrigo laughed bitterly.
"You expect me to believe that after tonight?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"I don't expect forgiveness."
"I only expect you to protect your son."
Commissioner Marcos interrupted.
"What did Victor want with Gabriel?"
Valentina hesitated.
"I wasn't told."
"But six months ago..."
"The plan changed."
"What changed?"
She swallowed hard.
"They stopped talking about inheritance."
"They started talking about..."
She looked directly at Rodrigo.
"...a document Helena left behind."
Rodrigo frowned.
"What document?"
"I don't know."
"Victor believed Helena hid something before she died."
"A document powerful enough to destroy several people."
Detective Sofia suddenly remembered the photograph found in the tunnel.
"If you're reading this..."
"...she was never supposed to die."
She looked toward Rodrigo.
"What if Helena discovered something?"
"What if she was silenced before she could expose it?"
Rodrigo's hands clenched into fists.
His entire marriage...
His wife's death...
His engagement...
Could all be connected.
Just then, a forensic technician hurried into the warehouse.
"Commissioner!"
Marcos turned.
"What is it?"
"The laboratory called."
"The pasta sample has been analyzed."
Everyone stared at him.
Rodrigo's heart pounded violently.
"Was it poison?"
The technician looked confused.
"No..."
Silence.
"It wasn't poison."
Even Valentina looked shocked.
"What?"
The technician continued.
"The powder contains a powerful sedative."
"It wouldn't have killed Gabriel."
"But after fifteen or twenty minutes..."
"He would have lost consciousness."
Rodrigo frowned.
"Why drug him?"
Before anyone could answer...
Gabriel quietly whispered,
"Because they wanted to take me."
Every adult looked at the little boy.
He slowly reached into his jacket pocket.
"I remembered something."
From inside, Gabriel removed a tiny folded piece of paper.
"I found this in my backpack three days ago."
Rodrigo unfolded it.
His face instantly lost all color.
Written in black ink were just eight chilling words:
"YOU'LL SOON BE WITH YOUR MOTHER. DON'T TELL DAD."
Below the message...
Was a small symbol.
A black phoenix rising from flames.
The exact same symbol Detective Sofia had noticed earlier...
Stamped faintly on the back of Helena's mysterious photograph.
Someone wasn't trying to kill Gabriel at the restaurant.
Someone was trying to kidnap him.
And whoever controlled the Black Phoenix organization...
Had been watching Rodrigo's family long before Helena ever died.
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END OF CHAPTER 4
Coming in Chapter 5: Gabriel finally reveals the terrifying "game" a stranger had been playing with him for months. As police trace the Black Phoenix symbol to a decades-old secret organization, Rodrigo uncovers evidence that someone inside his own company has been feeding every detail of his family's life to the kidnappers.
