CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 3
“Elena,” Alejandro said again.
She flinched when he reached for her.
That small movement hurt worse than a confession.
“I won’t touch you,” he said softly. “Not unless you want me to.”
Her mouth trembled.
Vivian descended the stairs, her heels clicking against marble.
“Careful, Alejandro. She’s unstable. She’s been telling strange stories since we took her in.”
Elena’s hands tightened around the rag.
Alejandro turned slowly.
“Took her in?”
Vivian lifted one shoulder. “She had nowhere to go.”
A servant near the dining room doorway made the mistake of glancing up.
Alejandro saw terror in his face.
“You,” Alejandro said. “Tell me the truth.”
The servant swallowed.
Vivian’s voice sharpened. “Martin, I’d be very careful.”
Alejandro didn’t raise his voice.
“Martin. Look at me.”
The man’s eyes filled with shame.
“Mrs. Castillo has been here almost three years,” he whispered. “Miss Moretti said she was not allowed to leave. She said if anyone helped her, we’d lose our jobs and she’d ruin our families.”
Vivian’s glass trembled.
Elena covered her mouth as tears slipped down her face.
Alejandro felt something inside him go cold and clean.
“Where was she kept?”
Martin looked toward the back hallway.
“The old east wing. Downstairs.”
Alejandro remembered that wing.
No cameras.
No guest access.
No reason for him to enter while Vivian claimed it was under renovation.
Elena finally spoke.
“She told me you stopped looking.”
Alejandro turned to her, devastated.
“She showed me pictures,” Elena whispered. “You with other women. Newspaper clippings. Wedding rumors. She said you signed papers giving her control because you wanted me erased.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
May you like
Every lie had been built from his absence.
Every false lead had kept him away from the woman suffering under his roof.
