Chapter 6 — The Mother Who Chose the Wrong Woman
Chapter 6 — The Mother Who Chose the Wrong Woman
Margaret Escalante had always believed she could recognize a worthy woman.
She was wrong.
She had chosen Brenda.
She had rejected me.
And now she was beginning to understand that she had chosen the wrong side of a war she didn't understand.
At 7:40 the next morning, Margaret arrived at Vale headquarters.
She didn't ask permission.
She walked past reception wearing a cream-colored suit, carrying a handbag that probably cost more than most people's annual salaries.
For years, employees had stepped aside when she entered.
This time, nobody moved.
A security guard blocked her path.
“Mrs. Escalante.”
“Move.”
“I can't.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“Yes.”
“Then move.”
The guard shook his head.
“I'm sorry.”
Margaret stared at him.
“I am Andrew Escalante's mother.”
“And this is Vale headquarters.”
Her expression hardened.
“Call Mariana.”
“She knows you're here.”
Margaret paused.
“Then call her again.”
I watched her through the security monitor.
Jonathan stood beside me.
“Want me to have her removed?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to hear what she has to say.”
He nodded.
I pressed the intercom.
“Send her up.”
A few minutes later, Margaret entered my office.
She looked older than she had the night before.
For once, there was no arrogance.
No jewelry.
No performance.
She closed the door.
“We need to talk.”
“We are talking.”
She sat.
I remained standing.
She looked at me.
“I made a mistake.”
I almost smiled.
“You made several.”
“I mean with Brenda.”
I said nothing.
Margaret folded her hands.
“She was useful.”
“That's what you called her?”
“She understood Andrew.”
“No.”
Margaret looked away.
“She understood what he wanted.”
“And you thought that made her suitable.”
“Yes.”
I walked to the window.
“What did you think I was?”
“A threat.”
I turned.
“To Andrew?”
“To everything.”
She paused.
“You were too intelligent.”
I stared at her.
“That was the problem?”
“You had your own money.”
“My own career.”
“Your own family.”
“And you thought that made me dangerous.”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“You didn't want a daughter-in-law.”
“What did I want?”
“Someone you could control.”
Margaret didn't deny it.
“Brenda was easier.”
I laughed softly.
“Until she stole thirty-eight million dollars.”
Margaret's face changed.
“She didn't steal it.”
“She admitted she moved it.”
“She was instructed.”
“By you.”
Margaret looked down.
“Yes.”
There it was.
The confession.
Simple.
Quiet.
Devastating.
“You used her.”
“Yes.”
“You used Andrew.”
“Yes.”
“You tried to use me.”
Margaret's voice broke.
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“And now?”
“I need your help.”
I almost laughed again.
“Why would I help you?”
“Because if you don't, Andrew will go to prison.”
I felt nothing.
“That isn't my problem.”
“He is your husband.”
“Not anymore.”
“You haven't divorced him.”
“Not yet.”
Margaret leaned forward.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She lowered her voice.
“Andrew wasn't supposed to be involved this deeply.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Julian promised me he would protect my family.”
I stared at her.
“From what?”
“From bankruptcy.”
“Your family wasn't bankrupt.”
“It was twelve years ago.”
I went still.
Margaret continued.
“After Julian disappeared, Escalante Holdings nearly collapsed.”
“Because of him?”
“Yes.”
“He destroyed your company.”
“He almost did.”
“And then?”
“He offered to save it.”
I understood.
“In exchange for Andrew.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“He wanted Andrew inside your family.”
“Why?”
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't ask?”
“I was desperate.”
“For money.”
“For survival.”
I shook my head.
“So you sold your son.”
Margaret looked at me.
“I thought I was saving him.”
“No.”
My voice hardened.
“You were saving yourself.”
She flinched.
Margaret pulled a folder from her handbag.
She placed it on the desk.
“There's something you need to see.”
I didn't touch it.
“What is it?”
“An agreement.”
“Between you and Julian?”
“Yes.”
I opened it.
The document was old.
Twelve years old.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Margaret.
The other signature belonged to Julian Cross.
I read the first page.
Then the second.
My stomach tightened.
“What's this?”
Margaret whispered:
“The original arrangement.”
I kept reading.
Julian had agreed to inject capital into Escalante Holdings.
In return, Margaret agreed to give him access to the company's private investment structure.
But there was another condition.
Andrew Escalante would be positioned to marry Mariana Vale.
I stared at the sentence.
“You agreed to this.”
“Yes.”
“Before Andrew even met me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I didn't know you.”
“Exactly.”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“I only knew your father's name.”
I closed the folder.
“You destroyed my life before you knew me.”
“I thought I was protecting my son.”
“You were protecting a company.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
I walked toward her.
“Why Brenda?”
“She was supposed to keep Andrew distracted.”
“Distracted from what?”
“From you.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Because Andrew was becoming attached.”
I frowned.
“Attached?”
“Yes.”
“He loved me.”
Margaret nodded.
“That wasn't part of the plan.”
My chest tightened.
“What plan?”
“Andrew was supposed to gain access to your family's trust.”
“He never did.”
“Because you didn't tell him.”
I looked away.
“Then Julian changed the strategy.”
“To what?”
“Make you vulnerable.”
My blood ran cold.
“By destroying my reputation?”
Margaret nodded.
“By making you look unstable.”
“Like my husband did.”
“Yes.”
“By isolating me.”
“Yes.”
“By making me dependent.”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“And Brenda?”
“She was supposed to replace you.”
I felt a strange calm settle over me.
All those years.
All those insults.
All those dinners.
Every time Margaret had praised Brenda's elegance.
Every time she had compared us.
Every time she had encouraged Andrew to spend more time with her.
It had never been random.
It had been strategy.
Then Margaret said something unexpected.
“But I changed my mind.”
I frowned.
“When?”
“The night Andrew hit you.”
I stared at her.
She looked ashamed.
“I saw his face.”
“What about it?”
“He looked like Julian.”
I said nothing.
“For years, I told myself I was helping Andrew.”
She wiped her eyes.
“But when he struck you…”
Her voice broke.
“I realized I'd created a monster.”
I didn't forgive her.
But I listened.
“What do you want?”
“I want to stop Julian.”
“Why?”
“Because he is coming for Andrew.”
I stared at her.
“He already owns Andrew.”
“No.”
Margaret shook her head.
“He wants him dead.”
The room went silent.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Margaret looked at me.
“I have one clue.”
“What?”
“The night Julian disappeared.”
I waited.
“He didn't disappear.”
“You've said that.”
“He was arrested.”
My eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“What?”
Margaret nodded.
“Victor caught him.”
“Then why did he tell me Julian was gone?”
“Because Julian escaped.”
“How?”
“Someone helped him.”
“Who?”
Margaret looked at me.
“I think your mother did.”
I stared at her.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she help him?”
“I don't know.”
“Did they know each other?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I truly don't know.”
I leaned forward.
“What do you know?”
Margaret whispered:
“They had a child.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Julian and your mother had a child.”
My mind went blank.
“My mother was married to my father.”
“I know.”
“Then you're saying…”
“I don't know if the child was yours.”
I stared at her.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“Where is this child?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“That's the problem.”
“What?”
“The child was never found.”
I felt dizzy.
“How old?”
“Twelve years ago?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“The child was born before that.”
“How long before?”
“About the same year you were born.”
I couldn't speak.
Margaret reached into her handbag.
She removed another photograph.
A baby.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
Around her wrist was a tiny silver bracelet.
I stared at it.
I knew that bracelet.
I had seen it in my mother's jewelry box.
My hands began to tremble.
“Where did you get this?”
Margaret whispered:
“Julian gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because he told me the child was still alive.”
I stared at the photograph.
Then I noticed the handwriting on the back.
Three words.
Find your sister.
My heart stopped.
I looked up.
“My sister?”
Margaret began crying.
“I think so.”
Before I could ask another question, the door opened.
Jonathan entered.
His face was pale.
“Mariana.”
“What?”
“We found the person behind the trust transfer.”
My heart tightened.
“Who?”
He looked at Margaret.
Then at me.
“The authorization came from an old terminal.”
“Whose?”
“Your mother's.”
I froze.
“That terminal hasn't existed for fourteen years.”
“I know.”
“Then how?”
Jonathan swallowed.
“Because someone activated it last night.”
I stared at him.
“Where?”
He placed a map on my desk.
The location was outside the city.
An abandoned estate.
My mother's childhood home.
Margaret stood.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“You can't go there.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where Julian used to take her.”
“Take who?”
Margaret's face went white.
“Your mother.”
I looked at the map.
Then at the photograph of the baby.
Then at the message written on the back.
Find your sister.
Everything inside me told me to stay away.
But another part of me knew I had spent four years saving everyone except myself.
Not anymore.
I picked up my coat.
“I'm going.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“You're not going alone.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Mariana…”
I turned.
“If my mother had another child…”
Margaret nodded.
“And if that child is alive…”
She whispered:
“Then Julian has been protecting her all these years.”
I opened the door.
“Or hiding her.”
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly the mystery wasn't only about money.
It wasn't about Andrew.
It wasn't even about Julian.
It was about a child who had disappeared before I was old enough to remember her.
A child who might share my blood.
A child someone had spent decades hiding.
And somewhere in the darkness beyond the city, someone had just activated my dead mother's computer.
May you like
Which meant one thing.
Someone wanted me to find her.
