CHAPTER 6 — A Dead Man's Secret
CHAPTER 6 — A Dead Man's Secret
Mariana stared at the phone long after the call had ended.
The office was silent.
Victor was the first to speak.
"Who was it?"
Mariana slowly placed the phone on the desk.
"Emily Collins."
Alejandro frowned.
"Andrew's sister?"
Mariana nodded.
"She believes her father didn't die naturally."
Victor's expression hardened.
"That's a very serious accusation."
"It is."
"And she says she has proof."
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Finally, Alejandro walked toward the window.
"I met Richard Collins only twice."
Andrew's father.
"He was a difficult man," Alejandro continued.
"But he wasn't careless."
Mariana looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"He never trusted anyone completely."
Alejandro paused.
"Not even his own family."
Victor immediately picked up his phone.
"I'll have our investigators locate Emily."
"No."
Mariana stopped him.
Victor looked surprised.
"She contacted me because she's afraid."
"If we send investigators after her..."
"She'll disappear."
"So what do you suggest?"
Mariana picked up her purse.
"I'll meet her myself."
Meanwhile...
Inside the Collins mansion...
The detectives had left.
Brenda sat crying on the sofa.
Margaret paced furiously across the room.
Andrew remained silent.
His entire world had changed in less than twenty-four hours.
Then he finally spoke.
"Tell me the truth."
Neither woman answered.
Andrew looked directly at Brenda.
"Did you steal the necklace?"
Brenda wiped away her tears.
"...Yes."
Margaret gasped.
"You idiot!"
Brenda shouted back.
"You told me to!"
"I did not!"
"You said Mariana had to disappear!"
Margaret slapped Brenda across the face.
"You little liar!"
The sound echoed through the room.
Andrew flinched.
For one brief second...
He saw Mariana.
Standing exactly where Brenda now stood.
The same humiliation.
The same violence.
The same silence afterward.
His stomach twisted.
He finally understood what Mariana had felt.
And he hated himself for it.
"I don't care who planned it."
Andrew's voice was cold.
"You both lied to me."
Margaret grabbed his arm.
"Andrew..."
"I was protecting this family."
He slowly pulled away.
"No."
"You were destroying it."
Brenda suddenly stood.
"You think this is all my fault?"
She laughed bitterly.
"You have no idea what your family has done."
Andrew stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
She shook her head.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Then she walked upstairs without another word.
Across the city...
Mariana drove alone.
No security convoy.
No assistants.
No bodyguards.
Only a black sedan.
She arrived at a quiet café overlooking the river.
Emily was already there.
She looked nothing like Andrew.
While Andrew carried confidence—even arrogance—
Emily looked exhausted.
Nervous.
As if she hadn't slept for days.
She stood the moment Mariana entered.
"I didn't think you'd come."
Mariana smiled politely.
"You said it was important."
Emily nodded.
"It is."
They sat in a private corner.
Neither woman touched the coffee placed before them.
Emily looked at the bruise on Mariana's cheek.
"I'm sorry."
Mariana remained calm.
"You don't owe me an apology."
"My family does."
Silence settled between them.
Finally...
Emily reached into her handbag.
She removed a small flash drive.
"My father gave me this."
Mariana frowned.
"When?"
"The night before he died."
Emily's hands trembled.
"He told me..."
"If anything happened to him..."
"I should never give this to Andrew."
"Only to someone I could trust."
She looked directly at Mariana.
"He mentioned your name."
Mariana was stunned.
"He knew me?"
Emily smiled sadly.
"He knew exactly who you were."
Mariana's heart skipped.
Andrew had never known her real identity.
Yet Richard Collins had?
Emily nodded, as if reading her thoughts.
"My father investigated everyone."
"He discovered you were Mariana Escalante."
"But he never told Andrew."
"Why?"
Emily looked away.
"He said..."
"If Andrew ever learned the truth before proving his character..."
"He would never deserve you."
Mariana closed her eyes.
Richard had known all along.
Emily slid the flash drive across the table.
"I watched part of it."
"And?"
"There are financial records."
"Private recordings."
"Board meeting transcripts."
She swallowed.
"And one video."
"What video?"
"My father recorded someone threatening him."
Mariana immediately picked up the drive.
"Who?"
Emily shook her head.
"I couldn't finish watching."
"I was too scared."
Before Mariana could ask another question—
Emily suddenly looked toward the café entrance.
Her face went completely pale.
"They found me."
Mariana turned.
Two men wearing dark jackets had entered.
Neither ordered coffee.
Neither looked at the menu.
Their eyes scanned the room.
Searching.
One of them spoke quietly into an earpiece.
Emily whispered,
"We have to leave."
Mariana stood immediately.
The two men started walking toward them.
Victor's warning echoed in her mind.
Someone was watching.
Someone had wanted Emily silenced.
Mariana grabbed Emily's hand.
"This way."
They hurried through the kitchen toward the rear exit.
A chef looked up in surprise.
"What—"
The back door slammed open.
Cold air rushed inside.
They ran into the alley.
Behind them—
Voices shouted.
"There they are!"
Emily looked terrified.
"They're coming!"
A black SUV suddenly turned into the alley.
Its rear door swung open.
Victor leaned out.
"Get in!"
Mariana pushed Emily inside.
The SUV accelerated just as the two men reached the alley.
One of them pulled out a phone.
"They're escaping!"
Victor watched them through the rear window.
"Those aren't journalists."
"No."
Mariana looked back.
"They're professionals."
Twenty minutes later...
The SUV entered the underground parking garage beneath Escalante Global Headquarters.
Emily was still shaking.
Victor handed Mariana a laptop.
"We copied the flash drive."
"Open the video."
Mariana inserted it.
A grainy recording appeared on the screen.
The timestamp read:
Three days before Richard Collins died.
The camera faced Richard's private office.
Richard sat behind his desk.
Across from him...
Someone stood with their back to the camera.
The voice was distorted.
But one sentence came through clearly.
Richard slammed his hand on the desk.
"I will never let you steal Mariana's inheritance!"
Mariana froze.
Her inheritance?
The unknown figure laughed.
"You won't live long enough to stop me."
The video suddenly ended.
The room fell silent.
Emily whispered,
"I told you..."
"My father didn't die naturally."
Victor rewound the recording.
Frame by frame.
Then he stopped.
"There."
He zoomed in on the reflection in the office window.
Only part of the person's face was visible.
Not enough to identify them.
But one detail was unmistakable.
A large emerald ring.
Mariana's eyes widened.
She had seen that ring before.
Many times.
It belonged to only one person.
May you like
Margaret Collins.
End of Chapter 6
