Sofia took a small, hesitant step toward the shelf. “Please don’t be mean to Valeria…”
Chloe reached out her hand, aggressively grabbing six-year-old Sofia by her thin wrist.
Marisol reacted instantly. She stepped forward, placing her hand gently but firmly over Chloe’s forearm to break her grip on the child. “Do not touch her.”
In the security room, I stood straight up out of my chair.
Chloe’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Did you just put your hands on me?”
Marisol hadn’t pushed her. The cameras clearly showed she had only blocked Chloe from hurting the child. “I did not touch you, ma’am. I am simply protecting the girl.”
Chloe pulled out her smartphone, a sickening, triumphant smile spreading across her face. “Perfect. I’m calling the police right now. I’m going to tell them you physically assaulted me.”
Marisol went pale.
Chloe stepped closer to Marisol, whispering just loud enough for the microphone to pick up: “And I’m also going to tell Alexander that I caught you trying to crack open his private office safe. Who do you think he’s going to believe? His future multi-millionaire wife, or a domestic servant?”
I turned to Hector, my voice shaking with absolute rage. “Save every single second of that footage.”
“Already backed up to three secure servers, sir,” Hector replied, his jaw set like iron.
I pulled off my headset and headed for the door.
“Where are you going, Mr. Vance?” Hector asked.
I stared at the screen, where Chloe was still berating Marisol while my daughters sobbed behind her apron.
“I’m going to reclaim my home.”
Part 2
I moved swiftly up the back service staircase, avoiding the main entryways so no one would hear me coming.
As I walked down the upper hallway, I kept the audio feed playing through my wireless earpiece.
“When I marry Alexander in three months,” Chloe’s voice echoed in my ear, “you will be fired before the reception even starts. And if you try to get a reference anywhere in Los Angeles, I’ll make sure you never work in this town again.”
Marisol didn’t answer her. She just stood her ground, keeping her arm around my two daughters. “Don’t be afraid, girls,” Marisol whispered softly to them. “I’m right here.”
Then I heard Chloe bark out: “They SHOULD be afraid! They need to learn who’s in charge of this estate. Your father is never home. He doesn’t have time for your pathetic little complaints. He cares far more about his corporate mergers than two spoiled little girls.”
I stopped outside the heavy oak doors of the main living room.
Every single word Chloe had just uttered sliced through my soul because a part of it was agonizingly true.
I was never home.
Board meetings. International trips. Investor dinners. Real estate developments. I had spent years telling myself that I was building an empire for my daughters’ future, while completely abandoning them in the present.
I threw open the double doors. “Finish that sentence, Chloe.”
The room fell dead silent.
Chloe turned around slowly, her face going completely slack. The smartphone nearly slipped from her manicured hand. “Alexander…?”
I ignored her completely.
I walked straight past her, dropping to both knees on the rug in front of my daughters.
Valeria instinctively took a half-step backward. That small, fearful movement broke my heart into a thousand pieces. My own daughter was afraid of how I would react.
“Valeria… Sofia…” My voice broke as I extended my arms to them. “I am so, so sorry.”
Valeria studied my face timidly. “Are you… are you mad at us, Daddy?”
“At you?” Tears welled up in my eyes. “Never at you.”
Sofia peeked out from behind Marisol’s apron, her tiny voice trembling. “Chloe said we were bad girls… She said if we told you, you’d send us away to a boarding school.”
I pulled both of my daughters into a tight, desperate embrace.
Months ago, Valeria had tried to tell me that Chloe yelled at them when I wasn’t around. I had dismissed it, telling her she just needed to give Chloe a chance, that Chloe was trying to adjust to being part of our family, that they were just missing their mother.
I hadn’t investigated. I hadn’t asked questions. I had chosen the most convenient explanation because it kept my personal life easy.
“Listen to me very carefully,” I whispered into their hair. “I will never send you away. You are the most important part of my entire life.”
Valeria began to sob against my shoulder, and Sofia wrapped her small arms around my neck.
I looked up at Marisol. She was standing quietly beside us, wiping tears from her cheeks.
“Thank you, Marisol,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “Thank you for doing what I should have been doing all along.”
“I was just keeping them safe, Mr. Vance,” she whispered.
Chloe stepped forward, putting on her sweetest, most frantic smile. “Alexander, darling, please! This is a massive misunderstanding! The girls were misbehaving, and Marisol put her hands on me—”
I stood up, turning to face her. My tone was icy, flat, and absolute. “Do not touch me. Do not call me darling.”
She froze. “Alexander, what is wrong with you?”
“I have thirty hidden cameras in this house, Chloe.”
The color drained from her face so fast she looked like a corpse. “What…?”
“I never went to the airport today,” I said, stepping closer to her. “I’ve spent the last forty-five minutes in the security control room watching every second of your behavior. I heard how you threatened Marisol. I saw how you treated my daughters.”
Chloe began to stammer frantically, her fake tears flowing. “I… I was just stressed! The wedding planning has been overwhelming, and the girls need proper discipline—”
“You are not their mother,” I cut her off, my voice booming through the vaulted ceiling. “And you will never be a part of this family.”
“Alexander, please—”
“The wedding is canceled.”
She went rigid. “You can’t do this over a domestic dispute!”
I pulled out my phone and tapped a button. “Hector. Bring them in.”
The main entrance doors opened, and Hector walked into the room accompanied by my corporate legal counsel, Laura, and two uniformed LAPD officers.
Chloe stared at the police officers in utter horror.
Laura carried a heavy leather binder under her arm—a binder that contained revelations even worse than what I had witnessed on the security feeds.
