Chapter 4 - THE CHILD'S DRAWING
The silence in the room was heavier than concrete.
I took a step backward, my heart hammering against my ribs. Álvaro stood frozen near the bed, his bleeding hands resting on the edge of the mattress, staring at his niece in absolute shock.
"Sofía," Álvaro said, his voice laced with confusion. "What is she talking about?"
Sofía stood up. The fragile, weeping sister I had known for six years completely vanished. She straightened her posture, smoothing out the wrinkles in her elegant navy dress.
"Julian is an idiot," Sofía said flatly. She didn't sound angry. She sounded bored.
"What did you just say?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"Julian thought he was so clever," Sofía continued, walking slowly toward the window and looking out at the dark Madrid skyline. "He thought he could siphon the Montenegro money through David the lawyer, frame Álvaro for the theft, and then quietly take over when Mateo took the fall. He spent two years planning it."
She turned back to face us, a chilling smile playing on her lips.
"But Julian was too slow. So I had to speed things up."
"You?" I gasped, the air leaving my lungs. "You cut your own brother's brakes?"
"Oh, don't be dramatic, Lucía," Sofía rolled her eyes. "I didn't cut the brakes. Julian did. I just… let him."
My mind couldn't process the cruelty in her voice. "He is your brother. He loves you."
"He pities me!" Sofía snapped, her calm facade finally cracking. "Mateo gets the company. Mateo gets the power. Mateo gets the perfect, beautiful bride! And what do I get? An allowance. A title. I am thirty-two years old, Lucía, and I still have to ask my little brother for permission to buy a house!"
She walked over to her designer purse resting on the sofa and opened it. She reached inside and pulled out a folded piece of construction paper.
She tossed it onto Mateo’s blanket.
I hesitated, then picked it up and unfolded it.
It was a drawing done in thick crayon. It showed three stick figures holding hands. A man, a woman, and a little boy. Written in jagged, childlike letters at the top were the words: To Daddy Mateo. I love you.
"What is this?" I whispered. "Leo drew this? Why would he call Mateo 'Daddy'?"
"Because Leo isn't Julian's son," Sofía sneered. "He's Mateo's."
The room spun. I grabbed the edge of the heart monitor to keep from collapsing.
"That’s a lie," Álvaro roared, stepping toward her. "You're out of your mind!"
"Am I?" Sofía challenged, her eyes blazing. "Seven years ago, Mateo had a brief fling with one of the company’s interns. When she got pregnant, my father paid her off. But she died in childbirth. The scandal would have ruined the IPO."
She looked at me, her gaze filled with venom.
"So I took him. I claimed I adopted a baby boy from an orphanage in Romania. I saved Mateo's reputation. I saved this family. And in return? Mateo was going to cut me out of the board entirely on his wedding day!"
I looked down at Mateo’s unconscious face. My beautiful, loving fiancé. He had a son. A son he had kept secret from me for six years. A son he had let his sister raise just to protect a corporate image.
"He was going to tell me," I whispered, tears finally spilling down my cheeks. "He wouldn't keep that from me forever."
"He was never going to tell you," Sofía laughed. "He was a coward, just like our father."
"You sent the photo," I said, the realization hitting me. "The anonymous envelope with the cut brakes. You sent it to me."
"I needed you to panic," Sofía admitted. "I needed you to start asking questions. I needed you to uncover Julian's embezzlement so he would go to prison, and Mateo would be incapacitated. With both of them out of the way, I become the sole guardian of the Montenegro estate."
She checked her gold wristwatch.
"In about five minutes, Julian is going to walk through that door, looking for Álvaro. He has a gun. I’m going to scream, Julian is going to shoot Álvaro, and the police will conclude that Julian killed Mateo’s uncle in a panic over the embezzlement."
She looked at me with dead eyes.
"And you, Lucía, are going to be tragic collateral damage."
Before I could move, the heavy wooden door rattled. Someone on the other side was trying the handle.
Then, a loud, violent knock shook the frame.
"Sofía!" Julian's muffled voice shouted from the hallway. "Open the door!"
Álvaro looked at me, his face pale. He grabbed a heavy metal IV pole, ready to swing.
I looked down at the child's drawing in my hand. Then at Mateo.
No matter what happens, I want you beside me.
I wasn't going to die in this room.
May you like
I reached into my wedding dress pocket, grabbed the valet ticket Álvaro had given me, and shoved it under Mateo’s mattress. Then I looked at the heart monitor.
I reached out and ripped the main power cord straight out of the wall.
