Chapter 23 - Confronting the Patriarch
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By 6:00 AM, the rain had stopped, leaving a heavy grey fog hanging over the valley. I didn't sleep a single second. I sat by the cold stone fireplace, watching the blue light of the laptop screen until the sun began to peek through the clouds.
I packed Nicolás's school bag, kissed his forehead while he was still half-awake, and handed him over to my trusted chief of security, Mateo.
"Take him to school, Mateo," I instructed, my voice flat and emotionless. "Use the armored route. Double the guards at his school gates."
Mateo frowned, noticing the dark circles under my eyes. "Elena? What happened last night? Was there a breach?"
"Just do it, Mateo," I said firmly. "I have to go see my father."
Thirty minutes later, my SUV pulled up to my father’s gated estate in the high-end district of Madrid. The sprawling villa looked majestic, a symbol of honor, wealth, and power. But to me, it now looked like a mausoleum built on secrets.
I pushed past the butler without saying a word, walking straight into my father’s sunlit study.
Rafael Montes was sitting behind his heavy oak desk, sipping black coffee and reading the morning financial papers. He looked up, his warm, fatherly smile instantly appearing.
"Elena! What a pleasant surprise, my sweet girl," he said, standing up to embrace me. "How is Nicolás?"
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I didn't hug him back. I pulled the gold pocket watch and the heavy linen letter out of my purse and slammed them onto his mahogany desk.
My father’s warm smile completely vanished.
