Chapter 6 - THE GRANDFATHER'S SAFE
I ran through the service corridors, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I didn't care about the rules anymore. I didn't care about staying invisible.
I burst through the swinging doors of the kitchen. The smell of roasting garlic and fresh bread filled the air. Several maids were rushing around carrying massive silver trays for the engagement party.
Valentina was sitting at the wooden prep table in the corner, happily drawing on a piece of parchment paper with a piece of charcoal while Rosa the cook chopped vegetables nearby.
“Valentina,” I breathed, rushing to her side.
She looked up, her dark eyes wide. “Mamá? You have the scared line again.”
“We have to go,” I said, grabbing her small hand and pulling her off the stool.
“To our room?”
“No. Upstairs.”
Rosa paused her chopping, her eyes widening in shock. “Marisol, you cannot take the child upstairs! The caterers are everywhere, and Señorita Paulina is inspecting the floral arrangements in the grand hall!”
“I know,” I said, lifting Valentina into my arms despite her being much too big to carry for long. “But we don't have a choice.”
I bypassed the main staircase to avoid the grand hall. Instead, I used the narrow, winding servant stairs that led directly to the private family wing on the third floor.
My lungs burned by the time we reached the top landing.
The third floor was eerily quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos of party preparations below. Thick Persian rugs muffled our footsteps. Oil paintings of Alcázar ancestors stared down at us from the paneled walls.
I found the heavy mahogany double doors at the end of the corridor.
Diego’s private office.
I pushed the doors open and quickly locked them behind us.
The office was massive, lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a sprawling view of the city below. Diego was standing behind a massive oak desk, speaking rapidly into a cell phone.
He wore a crisp white dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, the suit jacket discarded on a leather chair.
When he saw us enter, he immediately ended the call and set the phone down.
He didn't look at me.
He looked entirely at Valentina.
Valentina gripped my hand tightly, hiding slightly behind my leg.
“Mamá,” she whispered. “That’s the man from the hallway. The one who stared at me.”
Diego walked slowly around the desk. He didn't rush. He moved with a careful, measured gentleness, as if approaching a skittish animal.
He stopped a few feet away and slowly knelt down to her eye level.
“Hello, Valentina,” Diego said. His deep voice trembled slightly with suppressed emotion.
Valentina peaked out from behind my leg. “Hello.”
Diego offered a small, tentative smile. “I like your rabbit.”
Valentina looked down at Tomás, clutching him tighter. “His ear is broken.”
“I can see that,” Diego said softly. “He looks like he’s been on a lot of adventures.”
“He fell off a bus twice.”
“He must be very brave.”
Valentina nodded seriously. “He is. But he’s tired now.”
Diego’s eyes filled with tears. He didn't try to hide them. He looked at the daughter he had never known he had, studying every detail of her face. The stubborn set of her jaw. The dark wave of her hair.
He slowly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out the silver locket. My locket.
He held it out by the delicate chain.
“Do you know what this is?” Diego asked her.
Valentina stepped forward, her curiosity winning over her shyness. “It’s Mamá’s necklace. She keeps it hidden in our suitcase.”
“I gave this to your mother a very long time ago,” Diego said gently. “Before you were born. When we were very happy.”
Valentina tilted her head. “Why did she hide it?”
“Because she was trying to protect us,” Diego said, his gaze flicking up to meet mine. The absolute forgiveness and understanding in his eyes broke the last wall of my defenses. “She is the bravest person I have ever known.”
Valentina seemed to accept this. She reached out and touched the silver locket.
Suddenly, a loud, violent pounding echoed against the locked mahogany doors of the office.
“Diego!” Paulina’s shrill voice screamed from the hallway. “Open this door! Security told me you brought that maid up here!”
Valentina flinched, stepping back.
Diego’s gentle expression vanished instantly. He stood up, his jaw clenching, transforming back into the ruthless billionaire who protected his own.
“Stay here,” Diego commanded me, his voice pure steel.
He walked to the double doors and unlocked them, throwing them open.
Paulina stumbled forward, her face twisted in absolute fury. She was already wearing her engagement party dress—a stunning, floor-length gown of emerald silk. She looked like a queen ready to execute a peasant.
“Have you lost your mind?” Paulina shrieked, pointing a manicured finger at me. “I told this woman to be off the property by sunset! The press is downstairs! My father is waiting in the drawing room to sign the merger documents!”
Diego didn't yell. He simply stood blocking her path, radiating a cold, lethal calm.
“Your father isn't signing anything tonight, Paulina,” Diego said.
Paulina froze. “What?”
Diego reached onto his desk and picked up the thick, leather-bound ledger he had pulled from his grandfather’s safe.
He tossed it onto the floor at Paulina’s feet.
It landed with a heavy, damning thud.
“My grandfather’s private accounting,” Diego stated coldly. “Full records of the millions your father embezzled from my company over the last decade. And detailed notes on the thugs he hired to threaten Marisol’s life nine years ago to force me into marrying you.”
The color completely drained from Paulina’s flawless face. She stared at the ledger as if it were a poisonous snake.
“It’s a forgery,” she stammered, backing away. “Your grandfather hated me—”
“My legal team has already reviewed it,” Diego interrupted smoothly. “The police are currently surrounding your father’s estate. Warrants are being issued as we speak.”
Paulina gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in sheer panic.
“The engagement is off, Paulina,” Diego said, his voice dropping to a final, deadly whisper. “Get out of my house. Before I have security throw you out in front of the press.”
Paulina looked at the ledger. Then she looked at Diego. Then, her desperate, furious eyes locked onto me and Valentina standing behind the desk.
A cornered animal is the most dangerous kind.
“You think you’ve won?” Paulina hissed, her voice trembling with venomous rage.
May you like
She reached into her emerald silk gown.
And pulled out a small, silver handgun.
