Chapter 12 - The Church of Lies
Smoke filled the church.
Mariana pulled Isabel away from the falling debris.
Andrew helped Alejandro behind a stone column.
Gunmen appeared along the balcony.
Elias raised one hand.
“No one fires unless they move.”
Tomas descended the staircase slowly.
Rafael followed him.
Mariana looked at her uncle.
“You killed Richard Whitmore.”
Tomas smiled.
“Richard became inconvenient.”
Andrew’s hands tightened.
“My father trusted you.”
“Your father trusted money.”
Tomas stopped before the altar.
“He wanted half the Escalante empire.”
“I wanted all of it.”
Isabel stepped in front of Mariana.
“You failed.”
“Did I?”
Tomas looked around the ruined church.
“Mariana’s company is frozen.”
“Alejandro’s authority is challenged.”
“Rafael controls the voting block.”
“Andrew publicly assaulted the woman whose reputation protected him.”
“The Escalante name will collapse before the markets close.”
Mariana studied him.
“You still need my authorization.”
“That is why you are here.”
Elias carried a biometric scanner toward her.
“Sign the transfer.”
“No.”
Tomas glanced at Andrew.
“Then your husband dies first.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“She may consider that a reward.”
Tomas looked toward Mariana.
“Would you?”
Mariana did not answer.
Andrew met her gaze.
He did not ask her to save him.
He did not apologize again.
He simply nodded.
It was permission to let him face the consequences of his own choices.
Tomas grew impatient.
He aimed his gun at Isabel.
“Perhaps your mother matters more.”
Mariana stepped forward.
“I will sign.”
Isabel grabbed her arm.
“No.”
Mariana looked at her mother.
“For once, let me decide how I protect my family.”
Elias placed her hand against the scanner.
The device requested a spoken authorization.
Mariana looked toward Rafael.
“You know he will kill you after this.”
Rafael’s expression shifted.
Tomas answered for him.
“My son understands loyalty.”
“Your son has spent his life competing with a dead cousin’s expectations.”
Mariana kept her eyes on Rafael.
“He does not want the company.”
“He wants his father to believe he deserves it.”
“Be quiet,” Rafael said.
Mariana continued.
“You forged my voice because you never believed your own would be enough.”
Rafael pulled his gun.
Tomas turned toward him.
“Control yourself.”
That command changed something in Rafael’s face.
Mariana saw it.
For all his confidence, Rafael was still a child begging for approval.
She placed her palm on the scanner.
“My name is Mariana Isabel Escalante.”
The system confirmed her identity.
“I authorize the immediate transfer of all controlling assets.”
Tomas smiled.
“To whom?” the system asked.
Mariana looked directly at him.
“To the Isabel Escalante Preservation Trust.”
Tomas’s smile vanished.
The system accepted the command.
Isabel stared at her daughter.
Mariana had discovered the hidden trust while examining the emerald files.
It could only be activated under threat.
Once activated, no family member could control the assets for ninety days.
Tomas grabbed the scanner.
“What did you do?”
“I removed the empire from all of us.”
Rafael laughed.
At first, the sound was quiet.
Then it grew louder.
Tomas turned toward him.
“This is your fault.”
“No, Father.”
Rafael lifted his gun.
“This is the first decision she made that you could not predict.”
He shot Elias in the shoulder.
Chaos erupted.
Andrew tackled Tomas.
Isabel pulled Mariana behind the altar.
Rafael fired toward the balcony guards.
Escalante security entered through a side passage beneath the church.
Within seconds, the gunmen were surrounded.
Tomas pressed a blade against Andrew’s throat.
“Drop your weapons.”
Everyone froze.
Andrew’s eyes met Mariana’s.
Tomas dragged him toward a rear door.
“You took my company.”
His blade pressed deeper.
“I will take your husband.”
Mariana’s voice became cold.
“He is no longer my husband.”
Andrew flinched.
Tomas smiled.
“Then you will not mind watching him die.”
A gunshot echoed through the church.
Tomas released Andrew.
Blood spread across his coat.
The shooter stood behind him.
Margaret Whitmore held the gun with both hands.
Then she turned the weapon toward Mariana.
May you like
“I am sorry.”
“But Tomas is not the person I came to kill.”
