CHAPTER 7 — THE BROTHER WHO BETRAYED HIM
THE MAID WHO WAS REALLY HIS WIFE
CHAPTER 7 — THE BROTHER WHO BETRAYED HIM
Betrayal never came from strangers.
Strangers had no power to hurt you.
They did not know your weaknesses.
They did not know the memories you protected.
They did not know which words could destroy you.
The deepest wounds always came from people who knew exactly where to strike.
And for Alejandro Castillo, that person was not Vivian Moretti.
It was family.
The recording from the basement played again.
And again.
And again.
Every time, Alejandro hoped he had misunderstood.
Every time, he heard the same thing.
Vivian's voice.
Antonio's voice.
The plan.
The payment.
The lie.
His uncle had not simply helped hide Elena.
He had designed the disappearance.
For years, Alejandro believed Antonio Castillo was the one person who would never betray him.
After his father died, Antonio had been there.
When Alejandro was twenty-four and suddenly forced to lead a billion-dollar empire, Antonio had guided him.
He taught him how to negotiate.
How to recognize enemies.
How to survive.
Alejandro had respected him.
Trusted him.
Loved him like a father.
And that was why the betrayal hurt more than anything Vivian had done.
Because Vivian was an enemy.
Antonio was supposed to be family.
"Are you sure?"
Elena's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Alejandro looked at her.
She was standing beside him in the office, holding the recording device.
"About Antonio?"
He nodded slowly.
"I want to believe there is another explanation."
Elena studied him.
"You still love him."
Alejandro did not answer.
Because she was right.
Even after everything...
Part of him still remembered the man who protected him as a child.
The man who carried him after his first bicycle accident.
The man who promised:
"You will never face this world alone, Alejandro."
Those memories were the cruelest part.
Because they made the betrayal harder to accept.
Marcus entered the office.
"Sir."
Alejandro turned.
"Did you find him?"
Marcus placed a folder on the desk.
"Antonio Castillo is not at his main residence."
"Where is he?"
"We don't know."
Alejandro's expression darkened.
"But we found something else."
He opened the folder.
Inside were financial records.
Secret accounts.
Offshore transfers.
Payments made over several years.
All connected to Antonio.
Elena looked at the documents.
"How long?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"At least five years."
Alejandro froze.
Five years.
That meant Antonio's plan began before Elena disappeared.
Before the basement.
Before Vivian.
"He wasn't trying to remove Elena."
Alejandro whispered.
"He was preparing to take everything."
The realization was terrifying.
Elena was never the final target.
She was an obstacle.
A person standing between Antonio and control of the Castillo empire.
Meanwhile, in a private apartment across the city...
Antonio Castillo watched the news.
The headline was everywhere.
MISSING CASTILLO WIFE FOUND ALIVE AFTER THREE YEARS
He stared at Elena's picture.
Alive.
That was not supposed to happen.
He poured himself a drink.
His hands were shaking.
Not from guilt.
From anger.
Vivian entered the room.
She looked exhausted.
The perfect image was gone.
No designer confidence.
No elegant smile.
Only frustration.
"You said she would never be found."
Antonio did not look at her.
"And you said you could control her."
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"I did control her."
"For three years."
"But you failed."
The words angered her.
"You are blaming me?"
Antonio turned.
"Because of your mistake, Alejandro knows everything."
Vivian laughed coldly.
"No."
"Because of your mistake, Elena is still alive."
Silence.
The two people who destroyed Elena's life were finally turning against each other.
Because villains rarely stay loyal when they begin losing.
Back at the mansion, Alejandro made a decision.
"We bring Antonio home."
Marcus nodded.
"Legally?"
Alejandro looked at him.
"No."
A pause.
"First, we find out everything."
He knew Antonio.
He knew how careful his uncle was.
A direct confrontation would fail.
Antonio would deny.
Manipulate.
Lie.
So Alejandro needed proof.
Enough proof that even family could not protect him.
That night, Elena found Alejandro in his father's old study.
The room had not changed.
Books.
Old photographs.
Memories.
She found him holding a picture of him and Antonio.
"You miss him."
Alejandro looked at the photo.
"I miss who I thought he was."
Elena sat beside him.
"That is the hardest part."
"What?"
"Sometimes we don't mourn people."
She looked at him.
"We mourn the person we believed they were."
Alejandro looked at her.
Three years ago, he would have tried to hide his pain.
Now he didn't.
"I don't know how to forgive this."
Elena was quiet.
"Maybe you don't have to."
He looked surprised.
"Forgiveness is not the same as letting someone escape."
A pause.
"Some people need forgiveness."
"Some people need consequences."
For the first time, Alejandro realized something.
Elena was no longer the woman Vivian tried to break.
She was stronger.
Sharper.
And she understood something he had forgotten.
Justice and revenge were not the same thing.
The next morning, a package arrived at the Castillo mansion.
No sender.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Antonio Castillo standing with Vivian.
Taken one week before Elena disappeared.
On the back was a handwritten note.
You are looking at the wrong betrayal.
Alejandro frowned.
Then he turned the photograph over.
There was another person in the background.
A person partially hidden.
Someone they had not considered.
Someone who had been present from the beginning.
Elena looked at the picture.
Her face changed.
"Do you know him?"
Alejandro stared.
Because he did.
Everyone in the Castillo family knew him.
The person in the photograph was the last person Alejandro expected.
His younger brother.
Daniel Castillo.
The man who had spent years telling Alejandro:
"I would never betray you."
Alejandro slowly lowered the photograph.
Because the truth had just become more complicated.
Antonio may have planned the betrayal.
Vivian may have executed it.
But someone else had been watching.
Someone closer.
Someone who shared his blood.
And the most painful discovery was still waiting.
Because Daniel Castillo was not missing.
He was living comfortably.
May you like
Using money from the same account that paid for Elena's disappearance.
END OF CHAPTER 7
