Part 4: The Man in the Kitchen
The shattered coffee mug lay forgotten on the floor.
Neither Emiliano nor Victor looked down.
Every ounce of their attention remained fixed on Camera Three.
Patricia was still standing close to the stranger.
Too close.
She smiled in a way Emiliano had never seen before.
Relaxed.
Carefree.
Unmasked.
The man slipped an arm around her waist.
"I thought he wasn't leaving until tomorrow."
"He changed the flight."
Patricia laughed.
"He believes he's somewhere over the Atlantic by now."
The stranger smirked.
"Good."
He kissed her forehead.
"I've missed you."
"So have I."
Emiliano's pulse pounded in his ears.
For several long seconds, he couldn't hear anything else.
The woman he had planned to marry...
The woman he had trusted with his daughters...
Was entertaining another man inside his home...
Less than an hour after pretending to wave goodbye.
Victor quietly activated the microphone enhancement.
Their voices became clearer.
The stranger walked toward the kitchen island and poured himself a glass of expensive whiskey.
"My favorite bottle."
He smiled.
"Your billionaire has excellent taste."
Patricia laughed.
"He has excellent money."
The man raised his glass.
"Same difference."
They clinked glasses.
Neither noticed the camera mounted discreetly in the corner of the ceiling.
Neither imagined Emiliano was watching.
"How much longer?"
the man asked.
Patricia leaned against the marble counter.
"Not much."
"He already asked me to set a wedding date."
"And?"
"I'm waiting."
"For what?"
She smiled coldly.
"For the new family trust."
The man's eyebrows rose.
"He still hasn't transferred everything?"
"Not yet."
"But he will."
"He worships those little girls."
Patricia rolled her eyes.
"Exactly."
"They're the problem."
Emiliano felt his stomach tighten.
"What do you mean?"
the man asked.
"They inherit almost everything."
"But once we're married..."
She shrugged casually.
"...things can change."
The stranger laughed.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you."
She smiled proudly.
"I don't plan on spending the rest of my life sharing his fortune with two spoiled children."
In the surveillance room...
Victor slowly turned toward Emiliano.
The billionaire hadn't moved.
He looked almost frozen.
Only his clenched jaw betrayed what he was feeling.
Victor spoke carefully.
"Sir..."
Emiliano raised one hand.
Not now.
He couldn't trust himself to speak.
Back in the kitchen...
The stranger wandered toward the refrigerator.
"So..."
"What about the maid?"
Patricia sighed dramatically.
"Still here."
"I've been working on him."
"Is he suspicious?"
"Not yet."
"But he will be."
She opened a drawer and removed a jewelry box.
Inside rested the diamond bracelet she had once claimed had disappeared.
She held it up between two fingers.
The stranger laughed.
"So that's where it went."
Patricia smiled.
"I hid it myself."
She placed it back into the drawer.
"Next week..."
"...I'll 'find' it in Rosa's room."
The man nearly choked on his drink.
"Seriously?"
"Of course."
"Emiliano already has doubts."
"I only need one good excuse."
She shrugged.
"He'll fire her himself."
Victor whispered,
"My God..."
Emiliano finally spoke.
His voice was barely audible.
"She framed Rosa..."
The realization landed like another blow.
Every suspicious conversation.
Every whispered concern.
Every carefully planted seed of doubt.
None of it had been real.
It had all been manufactured.
The stranger laughed again.
"What if he doesn't believe you?"
Patricia smiled confidently.
"He always believes me."
"Why?"
"Because men like Emiliano think they're impossible to manipulate."
She sipped her whiskey.
"They're actually the easiest."
"How?"
"They trust their own judgment."
"So you simply convince them the idea was theirs."
The man shook his head admiringly.
"You're dangerous."
"I know."
Emiliano leaned back in his chair.
He suddenly remembered dozens of conversations.
Each one had begun the same way.
"I'm probably wrong..."
"I don't want to accuse anyone..."
"Maybe I'm imagining things..."
She had never directly told him what to think.
She had simply...
Led him there.
The conclusions had felt like his own.
Now he understood why.
On Camera Twelve...
The girls were still upstairs doing homework with Rosa.
Completely unaware of what was happening downstairs.
Patricia glanced toward the ceiling.
"They're with her again."
The stranger smirked.
"You really hate that woman."
"No."
Patricia corrected.
"I hate what she represents."
"What's that?"
"Loyalty."
He looked confused.
She continued.
"Those girls trust Rosa."
"They tell her everything."
"As long as she's here..."
"...I'll never control this family."
The words echoed through the surveillance room.
Not love.
Not marriage.
Control.
That had always been her goal.
Suddenly the front doorbell rang.
Patricia frowned.
"Who is that?"
She walked toward the foyer.
Camera One captured an elderly delivery driver standing outside holding a bouquet of white lilies.
"Delivery for Miss Rosa Alvarez."
Patricia froze.
"For Rosa?"
"Yes, ma'am."
She signed without asking another question.
After closing the door, she stared at the attached card.
Then slowly smiled.
Not pleasantly.
Cruelly.
She opened the envelope.
Read it.
Then tore the card into tiny pieces.
The flowers followed.
She ripped them apart one stem at a time before throwing everything into the trash.
The stranger laughed.
"What was that about?"
Patricia shrugged.
"Someone appreciates the maid."
"So?"
"I don't."
Emiliano stared.
"What flowers?"
Victor immediately zoomed in on the discarded envelope.
The sender's name became visible.
From your father. Happy Birthday, my little girl. Love always.
Today's date.
Emiliano blinked.
He looked again.
Then at Rosa's employee file displayed on another screen.
Date of birth.
Today.
It was Rosa's birthday.
No one had mentioned it.
Not him.
Not the staff.
Not Patricia.
Her elderly father had sent flowers...
And Patricia had destroyed them before Rosa even knew they had arrived.
Upstairs...
Daniela looked at Rosa.
"Today's special."
Rosa smiled.
"Why do you say that?"
"I remembered."
Daniela reached into her schoolbag.
"So did I."
She carefully pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
It was handmade.
Colored pencils.
Crooked hearts.
Tiny flowers.
Across the front, in childish handwriting, were the words:
Happy Birthday, Rosa.
Martina grinned proudly.
"We made it at school."
Rosa covered her mouth.
"You remembered?"
"Of course."
Daniela smiled.
"You always remember ours."
Tears filled Rosa's eyes as she hugged both girls.
Watching from the surveillance room...
Emiliano felt something break inside him.
His daughters remembered the birthday of the woman who cared for them every single day.
He...
Their father...
Didn't even know what day it was.
And downstairs...
The woman he planned to marry had just destroyed the only gift Rosa would receive from her own father.
For the first time in years...
Emiliano Duarte no longer wondered who the real threat inside his mansion was.
May you like
He knew.
And he had only just begun uncovering the truth.
