Chapter 14
The estate was in chaos.
Paula Montero’s heels clacked furiously against the marble floor as she paced back and forth in the grand hall. Her sharp voice echoed through the mansion, slicing through the air like a blade. “Find her!” she barked again at the group of trembling security men lined up before her. “You’ve had weeks. Weeks. With all the money I pay you, you still can’t locate one woman?”
The men lowered their heads, sweat beading along their brows. They had searched hospitals, airports, banks, and even her old neighborhood. But Alicia Montero had vanished without a
trace.
Paula’s patience snapped. She grabbed the edge of a side table and hurled a vase to the floor. It shattered like her composure. “Useless! All of you! Fire them. All of them. I’ll hire new ones who know how to track someone.”
One of the younger guards, desperate to save his job, hesitated before raising his hand. “Ma’am… there is something you should know.”
Her cold gaze pinned him where he stood. “Speak.”
“It’s… Miss Patricia,” he stammered. “She paid us. All of us. Told us not to report anything if we saw Miss Alicia. Said it was none of your concern.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Paula’s spine stiffened. “What did you say?”
“She bribed us, Ma’am. She said if we said anything about Miss Alicia’s whereabouts, we’d be fired. She said… she said you didn’t need to worry because she was handling things.”
Another staff member, emboldened by the confession, stepped forward. “That’s not all, Ma’am. There’s something else… something about the car accident. Miss Alicia’s miscarriage…” “What about it?” Paula’s voice was low, dangerous.
“She didn’t tell you. But… Patricia had switched the bottles that day. The wine. She knew Miss Alicia would be driving her. She said it was just to scare her–but…” he trailed off, eyes wide with guilt. “We didn’t know she’d lose the baby.”
Paula’s knees nearly gave out. She reached for the armrest of a chair to steady herself.
“No…” she whispered. “Why? Why would she do that?”
“She… she was scared,” the first guard continued. “That everything would be handed to Miss Alicia now. That the board would favor the biological daughter. She thought if something happened–if she looked reckless–you’d turn against her again.”
At that moment, a familiar voice sliced through the air.
“What are you all talking about?”
Denver stood in the doorway, expression taut with tension. He had returned to the estate after a sleepless night, restless and guilt–ridden. He had hoped for silence–anything to drown out the memories of Alicia’s smile, the way she used to hum while cooking, the ghost of her scent still lingering in the hallway.
2/12 56.0%
2:57 pm DDDD.
But now he stepped into something much darker.
“What is going on?” he demanded.
Paula turned slowly, pale and shaking. “Denver. Did you know… did you know about this?”
He blinked, confused. “Know what?”
“That Patricia bribed the staff. That she kept Alicia from us. That she might have had something
to do with the car crash. That she-”
“She what?” Denver’s voice was deadly calm.
“She deliberately made her miscarry,” one of the guards said bluntly.
The room spun.
Denver felt something cold twist in his chest. His mind reeled back to Alicia–how she’d cried alone that night, how he hadn’t comforted her. How he had believed Patricia over her. How he had told Alicia, the woman carrying his child, that she was nothing.
He had failed her. Again and again.
“How could I be so blind…” he murmured.
Paula, still reeling, turned to the staff. “Where is Alicia now? Tell me where she is!”
“She was last seen with her best friend… someone named Rain,” one of the men offered. “We believe she’s no longer in the country.”
Paula closed her eyes. “Find her. Now.”
Denver didn’t wait to hear more.
He turned and walked out, pushing through the doors, his jaw clenched. He didn’t say a word. But in his mind, only one thought blazed:
I let her go. I let the only woman who ever truly loved me walk away. And I’ll bring her back, no matter what it takes.
Back in the hall, Paula slowly sank into the nearest chair, her fingers trembling.
“My daughter,” she whispered.
The word sounded foreign now. She had ignored Alicia. Abandoned her. She had let Patricia take everything–love, attention, affection. And now… she had almost lost her forever.
“Bring Patricia to me,” she said to the guards, her voice ice. “She needs to pay for what she did to my real daughter!”
