Chapter 7 - THE FIRST NIGHT SHE SLEPT
Elena recommended that Isabella and I leave the villa temporarily.
Not because Beatriz owned it.
She didn’t.
The villa belonged to a family holding company created before our marriage.
But Isabella needed distance.
So did I.
I booked three suites at a quiet hotel near the coast.
One for Isabella and me.
One for Rosa.
One for security.
Beatriz exploded when she realized we were leaving.
“You can’t take her away from me.”
I stopped in the foyer.
“She’s my daughter.”
“I’m her stepmother.”
“And right now she’s afraid of you.”
“That’s because you’re poisoning her against me.”
Isabella heard that.
I saw her shrink beside Rosa.
I stepped closer to Beatriz.
“Do not do this in front of her.”
Beatriz lowered her voice.
“You disappear for months and come home pretending to be Father of the Year.”
The accusation hurt because part of it was true.
I had been gone.
Not because I didn’t love Isabella.
But because I had convinced myself that providing everything was the same as being present.
The difference was now standing beside me with healing hands and frightened eyes.
“I made mistakes.”
Beatriz smiled coldly.
“Finally.”
I continued.
“My biggest mistake was trusting you.”
Her smile vanished.
We left.
That night, Isabella chose the bed closest to the door.
I noticed.
“Do you want the other one?”
She shook her head.
“Why this one?”
“So I can hear if somebody comes in.”
I sat beside her.
“No one is coming in without me knowing.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She stared at the ceiling.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Are we going back?”
“To the villa?”
She nodded.
“Not until you want to.”
She turned toward me.
“You mean I get to choose?”
The question broke something inside me.
Not because it was dramatic.
Because it shouldn’t have been surprising.
“Yes.”
Her eyes slowly closed.
For the first time since my return, she fell asleep without asking me whether Beatriz knew where we were.
I stayed awake beside her.
At 2:13 in the morning, my phone vibrated.
Elena had sent one message.
We found the transfer.
Attached was a bank document.
Eight million euros had been scheduled to move from one of my investment entities to a company I had never heard of.
May you like
The receiving company had one director.
Lucas Serrano.
