Chapter Four – The Night of Betrayal
By midnight, most of the guests had left the mansion.
Only a handful of family members remained.
The servants quietly cleaned the ballroom.
Broken champagne glasses had been replaced.
The orchestra packed away their instruments.
It looked as though the evening had returned to normal.
It hadn't.
Alejandro insisted Elena stay the night.
"It isn't safe for you to leave."
She smiled politely.
"I don't want to cause trouble."
"My dear..."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"You already have."
He didn't say it cruelly.
He said it with concern.
Because somewhere inside the mansion...
Someone wanted Elena gone.
Unable to sleep, Elena wandered through the silent hallways.
Moonlight spilled through enormous windows.
Every portrait seemed to watch her pass.
She eventually returned to the painting she had seen earlier.
Her mother's portrait.
She stared at Isabel's gentle smile.
"You really lived here..."
She whispered.
"I wish I could remember you."
As her fingers brushed the golden frame, she noticed something strange.
The portrait moved.
Only slightly.
Curious, she pushed harder.
A soft click echoed inside the wall.
The painting slowly swung outward.
Behind it...
A hidden room.
Dust floated through narrow beams of moonlight.
Furniture stood covered beneath white sheets.
Shelves overflowed with boxes.
The room looked untouched for decades.
Elena stepped inside.
At the far end stood an easel.
Covered by an old cloth.
She pulled it away.
Beneath it was an unfinished portrait.
A family portrait.
Arturo.
Young Isabel.
And...
A little girl sitting on Arturo's lap.
The child wore a tiny silver cross around her neck.
Instinctively, Elena reached beneath her uniform.
The same silver cross rested against her skin.
She had worn it for as long as she could remember.
Tears filled her eyes.
"This was me..."
Suddenly...
A floorboard creaked behind her.
She turned.
Nobody.
Only darkness.
Then...
A loud slam.
The hidden door locked itself shut.
Elena rushed toward it.
It wouldn't move.
Panic rose inside her chest.
"Hello?"
No answer.
She pounded against the wood.
"Please!"
Silence.
Outside...
Footsteps slowly walked away.
Someone had trapped her inside.
At nearly the same moment...
Alejandro awoke with a terrible feeling.
He walked toward Elena's guest room.
The bed was empty.
His heart sank.
He hurried downstairs.
"Has anyone seen Elena?"
The servants exchanged worried glances.
"No, sir."
A young footman hesitated.
"I... I saw Mrs. Verónica walking toward the portrait gallery."
Alejandro ran.
For the first time in years...
He ran through the mansion like a frightened young man.
When he reached Isabel's portrait...
He immediately noticed it was slightly crooked.
His expression changed.
"No..."
He pushed the frame.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Then he remembered.
Arturo had once shown him the mechanism.
His fingers searched beneath the carved wooden edge.
Click.
The wall opened.
Inside...
Elena sat curled against the floor, exhausted but unharmed.
She looked up in relief.
"I thought no one would find me."
Alejandro helped her to her feet.
"This wasn't an accident."
He looked around the hidden room.
Most of the boxes had been opened.
Documents lay scattered everywhere.
Someone had searched this place recently.
Then Elena noticed a small metal safe hidden beneath the desk.
Unlike everything else...
It had not been forced open.
Alejandro recognized it instantly.
"Arturo's private safe."
"But where's the key?"
Elena looked down at the silver cross hanging from her neck.
The shape.
The size.
The tiny grooves along its edges.
Without saying a word...
She removed the cross.
Turned it sideways.
Inserted it into the lock.
Click.
The safe opened.
Both of them froze.
Inside rested a sealed envelope.
A leather folder.
And an original notarized will.
Alejandro's hands shook as he unfolded the first page.
He read only the opening paragraph before whispering,
"My God..."
Elena stared anxiously.
"What is it?"
He slowly looked up.
"This proves your mother inherited everything."
He swallowed hard.
"And if Isabel is gone..."
His eyes filled with emotion.
"...the entire De la Vega estate legally belongs to you."
At that exact moment...
Somewhere outside the hidden room...
A camera shutter clicked.
Someone had photographed the documents.
And somewhere beyond the mansion gates...
A black sedan quietly pulled into the driveway.
Three men stepped out.
None of them had come to celebrate a birthday.
May you like
They had come...
To make sure Elena never lived long enough to claim her name.
