Chapter 1: The Letter From a Dead Man
Alejandro stared at the sealed envelope inside the safe.
For three years, he had imagined finding Elena in airports, hospitals, distant cities, and anonymous graves.
He had never imagined finding her imprisoned inside his own family home.
And he had certainly never imagined that his dead father had known something about it.
Vivian struggled against the two security guards holding her.
“That letter is private.”
Alejandro did not look at her.
“Everything in this room stopped being private the moment I found my wife locked inside it.”
He reached for the envelope.
Elena caught his wrist.
Her fingers were cold.
“Wait.”
Alejandro turned toward her.
Elena’s eyes remained fixed on the handwriting.
“He used to come here.”
The words were barely audible.
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“Not often. Usually late at night. Vivian never knew when he would appear.”
Alejandro’s chest tightened.
“My father died six months after you disappeared.”
“I know.”
“You knew?”
“He told me.”
Elena’s voice broke.
“He came into this room three days before his death. He said he had finally found enough evidence to get me out.”
Alejandro looked toward the sealed windows.
“But he never did.”
“He was afraid.”
“My father was afraid of Vivian?”
Elena’s expression changed.
Not agreement.
Something worse.
“He wasn’t afraid of Vivian.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“He was afraid of the people behind her.”
Vivian stopped struggling.
That small reaction told Alejandro more than any confession could have.
He tore open the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter and a brass key attached to a black thread.
Alejandro unfolded the paper.
His father’s handwriting was shaky.
Alejandro,
If you are reading this, then I failed Elena.
Her disappearance was not a kidnapping for money. It was an operation designed to control the Castillo Foundation from within.
Vivian is involved, but she is not the architect.
Do not trust the board.
Do not trust the family counsel.
Most of all, do not trust the man who helped you search for Elena.
The evidence is beneath Saint Gabriel’s Chapel.
The key will open the archive.
Forgive me for waiting too long.
Your father,
Rafael Castillo
Alejandro read the final lines twice.
Then a third time.
The man who had helped him search for Elena.
Only one person had overseen every investigator, every international lead, every private security operation.
Victor Sanz.
Alejandro’s godfather.
Chairman of the Castillo Foundation.
The man who had held Alejandro’s mother’s hand when she died.
The man Alejandro trusted more than anyone alive.
A vibration came from Alejandro’s phone.
A new message appeared.
VICTOR SANZ: I heard there has been an incident at the mansion. Do not speak to the police until I arrive.
Alejandro slowly lifted his eyes.
Vivian smiled despite the guards restraining her.
“Too late,” she whispered. “He already knows.”
Before Alejandro could respond, every light in the west wing went out.
May you like
The mansion fell into darkness.
Then a gunshot echoed from downstairs.
