Chapter 6 — The Woman Who Wanted My Daughter Gone
Chapter 6 — The Woman Who Wanted My Daughter Gone
The first thing Diego heard was Valentina scream.
Not loudly.
Not for long.
Just one terrified cry from the nursery.
Then the mansion went completely dark.
“Valentina!”
Diego moved before he thought.
Marisol grabbed his arm.
“Wait!”
Another window shattered downstairs.
Then came the sound of running footsteps.
Security alarms screamed through the mansion.
Red emergency lights flickered on.
Diego ran toward the nursery.
Marisol followed.
The door was open.
The bed was empty.
For one horrible second, Diego couldn't breathe.
“Valentina?”
No answer.
He searched the bathroom.
The closet.
Under the bed.
Nothing.
Marisol's face turned white.
“She was here.”
“I know.”
“She was right here.”
Diego's voice became cold.
“Lock down the mansion.”
His head of security spoke through the radio.
“All exits sealed.”
“Find my daughter.”
“Yes, sir.”
Marisol looked at him.
“Diego…”
He turned.
“She's here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because whoever took her hasn't left.”
Then he noticed something.
A small golden button lay on the floor.
Number eighteen.
The second button.
Beside it was a piece of pink fabric.
From Valentina's pajamas.
Diego's jaw tightened.
Someone had grabbed her.
And they had been close enough to touch her.
Security flooded the mansion.
Doors were locked.
Cameras activated.
Every servant was questioned.
Every vehicle was searched.
But Valentina was nowhere.
Then a guard found something.
“Sir!”
Diego ran downstairs.
A camera monitor showed the west hallway.
At 11:43 p.m., a woman entered the house.
She wore a black coat.
Her face was covered.
She walked directly toward the nursery.
Diego stared.
“Who is she?”
The guard shook his head.
“We don't know.”
“Enhance the footage.”
They did.
The woman turned toward the camera.
For less than a second, her face became visible.
Marisol gasped.
“I know her.”
Diego turned.
“Who?”
Marisol's hands began shaking.
“Paulina.”
Paulina was standing in the mansion's underground garage.
She wasn't alone.
A man held Valentina.
The little girl was crying.
“Mommy!”
Paulina looked at her.
“Be quiet.”
Valentina hugged her rabbit.
“I want Mommy.”
“You'll see her later.”
“Daddy?”
Paulina's expression hardened.
“You don't need him.”
The man holding Valentina shifted uncomfortably.
“Paulina, this wasn't the agreement.”
She glared at him.
“The agreement changed.”
“You said we were taking her for one hour.”
“And now?”
“We need to leave.”
Paulina pulled out her phone.
“He can't know where she is.”
The man stared at her.
“She's a child.”
Paulina's voice became cold.
“She is an inheritance.”
Diego's security team searched the entire property.
Nothing.
Then one guard noticed something strange.
The garage door had been opened manually.
“Someone disabled the electronic lock.”
Diego immediately understood.
“Inside job.”
He looked at the security staff.
“Who had access?”
The head of security listed the names.
“Four people.”
Diego stared at them.
“One of you helped them.”
Nobody spoke.
Then someone raised a hand.
“Sir.”
It was an older security guard.
“I saw Ms. Robles earlier.”
“Where?”
“Near the west wing.”
“Why didn't you report it?”
“She told me you had authorized her visit.”
Diego's eyes narrowed.
“Did she?”
“No, sir.”
“Then why did you believe her?”
The guard lowered his head.
“She showed me a security authorization.”
Diego looked at his head of security.
“Who issued it?”
The answer came slowly.
“Your executive office.”
Diego's face changed.
His office had been compromised.
Again.
Paulina's driver reached the highway.
Valentina sat in the back seat.
She had stopped crying.
That frightened Paulina more.
“Why are you quiet?”
Valentina looked at her.
“Daddy will find me.”
Paulina laughed.
“No.”
“He always finds me.”
“He doesn't even know you.”
Valentina frowned.
“He's my daddy.”
Paulina's expression darkened.
“He isn't going to save you.”
Valentina hugged her rabbit.
“He promised.”
Paulina looked away.
The words irritated her.
Promises.
She had heard Diego make them too.
To Marisol.
To himself.
To everyone.
And now the child believed him.
Paulina couldn't allow that.
At the mansion, Diego found a clue.
A camera had recorded the garage.
The footage showed Paulina entering.
But there was another person with her.
A man.
Diego froze.
He recognized him.
The man who had appeared in Marisol's photograph.
The same man connected to the hospital.
The same man who had been watching the mansion.
“Find him.”
His security team searched the databases.
Within minutes, they had a name.
Rafael Ortega.
Former Villaseñor security contractor.
Dismissed seven years earlier.
Diego stared at the screen.
“Why was he fired?”
His head of security hesitated.
“For stealing confidential files.”
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
Diego's stomach tightened.
“Call the police.”
Paulina received the call while driving.
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have to move.”
Rafael looked at her.
“Where?”
“The old vineyard.”
“No.”
Paulina turned.
“Why?”
“It's too obvious.”
“Then where?”
Rafael hesitated.
“The warehouse.”
Paulina nodded.
“Fine.”
Valentina watched them.
“Where are we going?”
Paulina looked at her.
“Somewhere safe.”
Valentina shook her head.
“I want Mommy.”
Paulina's jaw tightened.
“You'll see her.”
“When?”
“When your father understands.”
Valentina frowned.
“Daddy is coming.”
Paulina slammed her hand against the seat.
“Stop saying that!”
Valentina flinched.
Rafael looked at Paulina.
“You're scaring her.”
Paulina glared.
“I don't care.”
Rafael stared at her.
“You should.”
Diego's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Where is my daughter?”
Paulina laughed.
“You're quick.”
“Put her on the phone.”
“No.”
“Paulina.”
“Do you know what your problem is?”
“I don't care.”
“You think money solves everything.”
“I'll give you anything.”
“No.”
She paused.
“I want something money can't buy.”
“What?”
“Your signature.”
Diego froze.
“What document?”
“You'll know.”
“Send it.”
“You have thirty minutes.”
“What happens after thirty minutes?”
Paulina's voice became cold.
“You'll never see Valentina again.”
The call ended.
Diego stared at the phone.
Marisol was standing beside him.
“What did she want?”
“My signature.”
“For what?”
“I don't know.”
Marisol's face changed.
“I do.”
“What?”
She whispered:
“The trust.”
The document arrived by email.
Diego opened it.
It transferred control of several Villaseñor companies.
To Paulina.
His lawyer stared at the screen.
“She wants everything.”
“No.”
Diego shook his head.
“Not everything.”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed at the final page.
“This is a trap.”
The document transferred control of the companies.
But the trust remained protected.
Paulina wanted him to sign because she believed the trust was connected to the companies.
She didn't know what Diego had discovered.
She didn't know Valentina was already named as beneficiary.
Diego smiled faintly.
“She doesn't know.”
“Know what?”
“The trust.”
His lawyer understood.
“Then use it.”
Diego signed.
But he didn't sign the document Paulina sent.
He signed a modified version.
His lawyer immediately activated an emergency clause.
The moment Paulina submitted her version, the entire transaction would trigger a legal audit.
Every transfer.
Every payment.
Every hidden account.
Everything.
Paulina would expose herself.
But Diego still had one problem.
Valentina.
He couldn't risk waiting.
The warehouse was dark.
Paulina pushed open the door.
Rafael carried Valentina inside.
The little girl looked around.
“Where are we?”
“No questions.”
“I'm scared.”
Rafael lowered his eyes.
For the first time, he looked uncomfortable.
Paulina noticed.
“You're getting soft.”
“She is three.”
“She is worth billions.”
Rafael stared at her.
“You really believe that?”
Paulina smiled.
“I know it.”
She walked toward Valentina.
“Your father will give me everything.”
Valentina shook her head.
“He won't.”
Paulina laughed.
“Why?”
“Because he loves Mommy.”
Paulina froze.
Then she whispered:
“That's exactly why.”
At the mansion, Diego received another message.
A photograph.
Valentina sitting inside the warehouse.
She was holding her rabbit.
Underneath the photograph:
Thirty minutes.
Diego looked at the image.
Something caught his attention.
A small metal door behind Valentina.
There was a symbol painted on it.
V.V.
The same symbol from the golden button.
His grandfather's trust.
Diego zoomed in.
Then realized something.
The warehouse belonged to V.V. Holdings.
It wasn't Paulina's.
It belonged to his family.
Which meant—
someone had given Paulina access.
Someone inside the trust.
Someone who wanted Valentina there.
“It's not just Paulina.”
Marisol looked at him.
“What?”
“She thinks she's controlling this.”
He pointed at the photograph.
“She isn't.”
Diego contacted the police.
Then he called his security team.
“Everyone goes to the warehouse.”
His lawyer shook his head.
“If you go there yourself—”
“I'm going.”
“Diego.”
“My daughter is there.”
No argument could stop him.
Marisol stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“She needs me.”
Diego looked at her.
“She needs both of us.”
They left together.
At the warehouse, Paulina received a message.
He is coming.
She smiled.
“Good.”
Rafael looked at her.
“What are you planning?”
“You'll see.”
She turned toward Valentina.
The little girl was drawing with a pencil.
“What are you drawing?”
Valentina showed her.
Three people.
Mommy.
Daddy.
And herself.
Paulina stared.
Then something caught her attention.
A fourth person stood behind them.
A man in a black suit.
Paulina's face went pale.
“Who is that?”
Valentina shrugged.
“Grandpa.”
Paulina stopped breathing.
“Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Your grandfather?”
Valentina nodded.
“He visits Mommy sometimes.”
Paulina stepped backward.
“That's impossible.”
Valentina looked confused.
“Why?”
Paulina's hands began to shake.
Because she knew exactly who that man was.
Diego's father.
And he was supposed to be dead.
A vehicle stopped outside.
Paulina looked toward the warehouse entrance.
Diego had arrived.
But before she could move—
the lights went out.
A voice came from the darkness.
“Paulina.”
She froze.
That voice.
She knew it.
A man stepped into the faint emergency light.
Older.
Calm.
Powerful.
Alive.
Diego's father.
Paulina whispered:
“You.”
He smiled.
“You were never supposed to take the child.”
Paulina's face went white.
“You told me to bring her here.”
“I told you to frighten Diego.”
“You said—”
“I changed my mind.”
Rafael stepped backward.
“What are you doing?”
The older man looked at him.
“You've served your purpose.”
Rafael's face drained.
Then came the sound of sirens outside.
Diego's voice echoed through the warehouse.
“Let my daughter go!”
The older man smiled.
May you like
And whispered:
“Now the real game begins.”
