Chapter 17 - The Mistress Breaks
Fire crews entered the underground level after the explosion.
Mariana waited outside for forty minutes.
No survivors emerged.
Then a firefighter appeared with Andrew leaning against his shoulder.
His suit was torn.
Burns covered one arm.
But he was alive.
Mariana moved toward him before she could stop herself.
Andrew smiled weakly.
“There was a maintenance shaft.”
She almost struck him.
Instead, she stepped back.
“You knew about it?”
“I hoped it was still there.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would not have left.”
“That was my decision.”
Andrew lowered his eyes.
“You are right.”
Medical workers placed him in an ambulance.
Before the doors closed, he gave Mariana the Whitmore master chip.
“The servers are gone.”
“The duplicate identity is disabled.”
Tomas could no longer use Mariana’s authorization.
But he still held Isabel.
Brenda called from protective custody.
“I know where he took her.”
Mariana met her at a police station.
Brenda placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a coastal estate surrounded by cliffs.
“My mother lived there before she died.”
“Tomas visited her every year.”
“Why?”
“He paid her to remain silent.”
Brenda’s mother had discovered her true identity after finding the altered birth records.
Tomas convinced her that Isabel had abandoned her.
He used her anger to influence Brenda.
“When my mother died, Tomas contacted me,” Brenda said.
“He told me Mariana had stolen the life that should have belonged to us.”
“That is why you targeted Andrew.”
“Yes.”
“You wanted my marriage and my company.”
“I wanted proof that I mattered.”
Brenda wiped her eyes.
“I know how pathetic that sounds.”
“It sounds dangerous.”
“It was.”
Mariana studied the photograph.
“Why help me now?”
“Because Tomas wants my child.”
“And because Rafael admitted the truth.”
“What truth?”
“He never loved me.”
Brenda laughed through her tears.
“He loved the idea of producing an heir.”
Mariana did not offer comfort.
“You will testify.”
“Yes.”
“You will admit planting the necklace.”
“Yes.”
“You will admit helping Elias steal my biometric authorization.”
Brenda’s face became pale.
“That could send me to prison.”
“Yes.”
Brenda looked down at her stomach.
“What happens to my baby?”
“That depends on you.”
Mariana leaned forward.
“You can continue trading people for protection.”
“Or you can become the first person in this family to tell the truth before being forced.”
Brenda agreed to testify.
Police prepared an operation at the coastal estate.
Rafael requested to join them.
His request was denied.
He offered the building plans and Tomas’s security codes instead.
Mariana visited him before leaving.
“Why are you helping?”
Rafael looked exhausted.
“My father said my child was useful.”
“He said the same thing about me my entire life.”
“Helping us does not erase what you did.”
“I know.”
“Tomas may die during the arrest.”
Rafael’s eyes filled with conflict.
“I know.”
Mariana turned toward the door.
“Mariana.”
She stopped.
“If you save Isabel, ask her why she never searched the north wing.”
“What is in the north wing?”
“The reason Tomas never killed her.”
Police reached the coastal estate after dark.
The lower floors were empty.
They found Isabel in a locked bedroom.
She was alive.
Tomas was nowhere inside.
Mariana remembered Rafael’s warning.
She entered the north wing alone.
Behind a steel door was a medical room.
Photographs covered the walls.
Every photograph showed Mariana from childhood to adulthood.
At the center stood a preserved hospital crib.
A metal plate displayed her name.
Beside it was a second crib.
The plate on that crib did not carry Brenda’s mother’s name.
It carried Andrew’s.
Mariana heard footsteps behind her.
Tomas entered the room.
May you like
“You finally found the beginning.”
Then he locked the door.
