CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 4
The Butler's Confession
The message remained frozen on the laptop screen.
Trust no one wearing the Castillo name.
No one in the underground chamber spoke.
Even the steady hum of the ventilation system seemed unnaturally loud.
Alejandro slowly closed the laptop.
His face revealed nothing.
But those who had worked with him for years recognized the dangerous silence.
Whenever Alejandro Castillo became this calm...
Someone's world was about to collapse.
He turned toward his head of security.
"Lock down the estate."
"Yes, sir."
"No one enters."
"No one leaves."
"Not even members of my family."
The order stunned everyone.
Several employees exchanged nervous glances.
For the first time, Alejandro wasn't just questioning Vivian.
He was questioning his own bloodline.
As the investigators cataloged every piece of evidence found in the hidden chamber, an elderly voice echoed from the entrance.
"Mr. Castillo..."
Alejandro looked up.
Standing at the foot of the stone staircase was Eduardo Alvarez, the Castillo family's butler.
His silver hair was neatly combed despite the chaos.
His black suit was dusty from helping evacuate the servants after the explosion.
Eduardo had served the Castillo family for forty-three years.
He had worked for Alejandro's father.
Then Alejandro.
To the staff, he wasn't merely a butler.
He was the soul of the mansion.
But tonight...
He looked twenty years older.
His hands were shaking.
"I need to speak with you."
Alejandro studied him carefully.
"Alone."
Ten minutes later, they stood inside Alejandro's private study.
The room was quiet except for the crackling fireplace.
Rain still lashed against the windows.
Eduardo remained standing.
Alejandro poured two glasses of whiskey.
He handed one to the old man.
Eduardo didn't take it.
"I don't deserve your kindness."
Alejandro slowly placed the glass back on the table.
"What are you hiding?"
Eduardo closed his eyes.
"For three years..."
"I have prayed for this night."
Alejandro's expression hardened.
"You knew."
The old butler nodded.
A heavy silence settled between them.
"You knew Elena was alive."
Another nod.
Alejandro's jaw tightened.
"And you said nothing."
Tears gathered in Eduardo's eyes.
"I wanted to."
"But every time I tried..."
"They threatened to kill her."
Alejandro's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Start from the beginning."
Eduardo took a deep breath.
"The night Mrs. Castillo disappeared..."
"I was waiting for her to return from visiting her mother."
"It was raining."
"Just like tonight."
"I heard a car enter through the east gate."
Alejandro frowned.
"The east gate?"
"It wasn't on the security log."
Eduardo nodded.
"Because someone disabled the cameras."
"I thought it was a technical failure."
He looked down.
"It wasn't."
"What happened?"
"I saw Mrs. Castillo step out of her car."
"She looked worried."
"She kept looking toward the woods."
Then Eduardo swallowed hard.
"Before I could reach her..."
"A black van came through the service entrance."
"Four masked men got out."
"They injected her with something."
Alejandro's fingers curled into fists.
"I tried to stop them."
Eduardo slowly unbuttoned the collar of his shirt.
A long scar stretched across his shoulder.
"One of them stabbed me."
Alejandro stared silently.
"They left me alive for a reason."
"What reason?"
Eduardo's voice cracked.
"So I could deliver a message."
He reached inside his jacket.
For years he had carried something hidden.
Carefully...
He placed a worn envelope on the desk.
Alejandro recognized Elena's handwriting instantly.
His heart stopped.
"My God..."
The envelope had never been opened.
The paper had yellowed with age.
His own name was written across the front.
To My Husband.
His hands trembled as he unfolded the letter.
The ink had faded.
But Elena's words were still clear.
My Dearest Alejandro,
If you are reading this, then somehow my letter has finally reached you.
I don't know where I am. I don't know who took me.
But I know one thing...
Someone you trust helped them.
Please don't come looking for me recklessly.
They're always watching.
If they think you are getting close...
They will kill me.
Promise me one thing.
Live.
Even if I never come home.
I will always love you.
Forever.
Elena.
The room became silent.
Alejandro stared at the letter for what felt like an eternity.
Then...
Very carefully...
He folded it again.
He slipped it inside his jacket pocket.
Close to his heart.
Exactly where it should have been three years ago.
He looked at Eduardo.
"Why didn't you give this to me?"
The old butler's shoulders collapsed.
"Because the following morning..."
"They sent me a video."
Alejandro frowned.
"What video?"
Eduardo couldn't answer immediately.
His breathing became uneven.
"They showed Mrs. Castillo tied to a chair."
"One of the kidnappers held a gun to her head."
"They said..."
His voice broke completely.
"'If Alejandro receives the letter... she dies before sunset.'"
Eduardo wiped away tears.
"I believed them."
"So I burned every copy."
"I hid the original."
"And every day..."
"I hated myself."
Alejandro walked toward the window.
The rain blurred the gardens outside.
Three years.
Three years of searching.
Three years of false leads.
Three years of believing Elena had vanished without a trace.
Yet the truth had been locked inside his own house.
Only a few feet away.
He wasn't angry with Eduardo.
He was angry with himself.
Someone had infiltrated every layer of his life.
His home.
His business.
His security.
His trust.
A knock interrupted the silence.
Alejandro's chief of security entered hurriedly.
"Sir..."
"What is it?"
"We've identified the owner of the black van."
Alejandro turned.
"Who?"
The officer placed a folder on the desk.
"It was registered to a company that no longer exists."
"Of course."
"But..."
He hesitated.
"The company was dissolved two weeks after Mrs. Castillo disappeared."
Alejandro opened the file.
His eyes narrowed.
The company director's name had been erased with black ink.
However...
One page remained untouched.
A bank authorization form.
Signed by someone approving the purchase of the vehicle.
The signature was unmistakable.
Gabriel Castillo.
Alejandro's younger cousin.
The man who had managed Castillo Corporation's logistics division for nearly a decade.
The same cousin who had comforted Alejandro after Elena disappeared.
The same cousin who had organized search teams.
The same cousin who had attended every memorial service.
Alejandro stared at the signature.
"No..."
Eduardo looked over his shoulder.
His face turned pale.
"It can't be..."
Alejandro closed the folder.
"Bring Gabriel here."
The security chief hesitated.
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"He left the estate thirty minutes before the lockdown."
Alejandro's expression darkened.
"How?"
"He used the underground service tunnel."
The same tunnel connected to the hidden chamber.
The room fell silent.
Gabriel had known about the secret passage.
Which meant...
He had known about the underground prison.
For years.
Alejandro slowly reached for his phone.
"Alert every airport."
"Every private marina."
"Every border crossing."
"I don't care how much it costs."
His voice became ice cold.
"I want Gabriel Castillo found."
The security chief nodded and rushed out.
Eduardo remained standing.
"I never imagined..."
Alejandro interrupted him.
"This isn't over."
He looked at the old butler with quiet determination.
"You protected Elena the only way you thought you could."
Eduardo lowered his head.
"I failed."
"No."
Alejandro placed a hand on the old man's shoulder.
"You survived."
"And now..."
"We're going to finish what they started."
Just then, another call came through.
Alejandro answered immediately.
The voice on the other end spoke only one sentence.
"Mr. Castillo..."
"We've just found a woman claiming to be Vivian Moretti."
Alejandro frowned.
"What do you mean 'claiming'?"
The detective's answer sent a chill through the room.
"Because the woman currently in your mansion..."
"...may not be the real Vivian Moretti."
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End of Chapter 4
Coming Next: Chapter 5 – The Betrayal Inside Castillo Corporation, where Alejandro discovers that the conspiracy reaches into the highest levels of his own company—and the true identity of the woman everyone knows as Vivian Moretti begins to unravel.
