Chapter 9 - THE DRIVER
Isabella stared at Beatriz.
“No.”
Alejandro looked at his sister.
“What does she mean?”
Isabella backed away.
“No.”
Beatriz smiled.
“Tell him.”
“Shut up.”
“Isabella.”
“Shut up!”
Noah started crying.
Elena immediately took him away from the center of the room.
Alejandro looked at Isabella.
“Who was driving?”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“I thought…”
Her voice collapsed.
“I thought it was an accident.”
Beatriz laughed softly.
“Oh, please.”
Alejandro turned.
“Stop enjoying this.”
Beatriz’s smile disappeared.
Isabella looked at Alejandro.
“Gabriel and I had argued.”
“About what?”
“Leaving.”
“He wanted us to disappear that night.”
“I was scared.”
“So?”
“He left alone.”
She closed her eyes.
“An hour later, they called me.”
Alejandro waited.
Isabella cried silently.
“The car that hit him belonged to our family.”
Alejandro felt sick.
“Who was driving?”
Isabella looked toward Victoria.
Victoria’s father had been taken into custody.
But the answer clearly wasn’t Richard.
Beatriz said it.
“Your father.”
Alejandro stopped breathing.
“No.”
Beatriz nodded.
“Mateo Moreira.”
Alejandro stepped backward.
His father.
The man whose photograph still hung above the library fireplace.
The man Alejandro worshipped.
The man who taught him loyalty.
Duty.
Family.
“He hit Gabriel?”
Beatriz spoke calmly.
“He was drunk.”
Isabella screamed.
“He chased him!”
Everyone froze.
Beatriz’s jaw tightened.
Isabella pointed at her.
“You told Dad Gabriel had stolen money.”
“I told him the truth.”
“You lied.”
“He had taken you from this family.”
“I went willingly!”
Alejandro looked between them.
“What happened?”
Isabella forced herself to continue.
“Dad found Gabriel on the highway.”
“He tried to force him off the road.”
“Gabriel stopped.”
“They argued.”
“Dad got back into his car.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
“He hit him.”
Claire started crying.
“My father…”
Isabella looked at her daughter.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire shook her head.
“You didn’t do it.”
“No.”
“But I protected the people who did.”
Alejandro turned toward Beatriz.
“And the payment?”
Beatriz didn’t answer.
“The money three days before.”
She smiled.
“To Richard.”
“Why?”
“To prepare Isabella’s disappearance.”
Alejandro stared.
“You planned it before Gabriel died.”
“I planned to protect the family.”
“You planned to erase her.”
“I planned to prevent scandal.”
Alejandro laughed.
The sound was empty.
“You destroyed a man.”
“You stole a baby.”
“You threatened my sister.”
“You lied to me for sixteen years.”
Beatriz looked at him.
“And you still became everything I built you to become.”
That landed harder than any slap.
Alejandro stared at her.
She continued.
“You think you are different from me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you?”
She looked toward Victoria.
“You were prepared to marry a woman because she fit the family image.”
Alejandro’s face tightened.
“You ignored every sign that she was afraid of her father.”
Victoria looked down.
“You spent your life chasing power because I taught you power meant safety.”
Beatriz stepped closer.
“You are me.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“No.”
“You just haven’t had to make the same choices yet.”
A police officer moved forward.
“Mrs. Moreira, we need you to come with us.”
Beatriz did not move.
Instead, she looked at Isabella.
“There is one thing your brother still doesn’t know.”
Isabella’s face drained.
Alejandro looked at her.
“What now?”
Beatriz smiled.
“The letter wasn’t written to stop your wedding.”
Alejandro frowned.
“Then why?”
Beatriz looked directly at Victoria.
“It was written because Alejandro was never supposed to marry Victoria.”
Victoria whispered.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Beatriz’s smile returned.
“Because Victoria Sinclair is not Richard Sinclair’s daughter.”
