Chapter 26 - The Married Pawn
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The breath left my lungs. I stumbled backward, leaning against the cold stone fireplace of the study.
"Alejandro... was Valentin's son?" I choked out, horror washing over me in relentless waves. "My marriage to him... the abuse... the attempt to steal Nicolás's trust fund..."
"It was all orchestrated by Valentin," my father admitted, his head bowed in shame. "Alejandro didn't even know Valentin was his real father until five years ago. Valentin used Alejandro's greed and cruelty to infiltrate our family from the inside."
"You let me marry him!" I screamed, tears spilling over my cheeks. "You knew who his father was, and you let that monster into my bed! You let him hurt me!"
"I didn't know Valentin was going to force the marriage!" Rafael pleaded, standing up and reaching out to me. "Valentin threatened to kill you and Nicolás if I didn't agree to the union! He wanted his bloodline to inherit everything I built!"
"So you sacrificed me to save your empire," I whispered, disgust knotting in my throat.
"No! I sacrificed my honor to keep you alive!" Rafael argued desperately. "I thought if Alejandro had a piece of the company, Valentin would leave us alone! But then Alejandro tried to steal Nicolás's inheritance early. He got greedy. And when you put Alejandro in prison, you broke Valentin's grand plan."
My phone chimed in my purse.
May you like
I pulled it out with trembling hands. A new text message had arrived from the same Swiss number:
‘Now that your father has told you his little bedtime story, come to Zurich, Elena. Or I will foreclose on your foundation, your home, and your son’s future. You have 24 hours.’
