Chapter 4 - BLOOD BETRAYAL
Alejandro arrived at Ricardo's estate before sunset.
No security team.
No lawyers.
No police.
Just Alejandro.
And the truth.
Ricardo greeted him with a smile.
"Brother. This is a surprise."
Alejandro said nothing.
He simply tossed the investigation file onto the table.
The smile vanished.
Ricardo stared at the documents.
Then at Alejandro.
Then back at the documents.
For several seconds neither man spoke.
Finally Ricardo laughed.
A cold laugh.
A laugh Alejandro had never heard before.
"So you know."
Alejandro felt something break inside him.
"No denial?"
"No point."
The answer hurt more than any lie could have.
Alejandro stepped closer.
"Why?"
Ricardo poured himself a drink.
"You really don't understand?"
His eyes hardened.
"Because everything was always yours."
"The company."
"The money."
"The attention."
"The future."
Ricardo slammed the glass onto the table.
"And Father gave me scraps."
Years of jealousy poured out like poison.
Alejandro listened in stunned silence.
Then came the confession.
The one that changed everything.
"It wasn't supposed to go this far."
Alejandro's voice was barely audible.
"Victoria."
Ricardo looked away.
For the first time, guilt appeared.
"She discovered the transfers."
Alejandro stopped breathing.
Ricardo continued.
"She threatened to expose everything."
The room felt colder.
"What did you do?"
Ricardo swallowed.
"I sent Vanesa to convince her to stay quiet."
Alejandro's fists clenched.
"And?"
Ricardo looked directly into his brother's eyes.
"Something went wrong."
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Alejandro suddenly understood.
Victoria had not died naturally.
She had confronted the wrong people.
And paid for it with her life.
But the nightmare was not over.
Because Ricardo slowly opened a drawer.
And removed a handgun.
The security alarms in Alejandro's mind exploded.
Ricardo wasn't afraid anymore.
He was desperate.
"You should have stayed in London," Ricardo said quietly.
Alejandro's pulse quickened.
Outside, thunder rolled across the desert sky.
"Ricardo..."
"You always win."
The gun rose.
"But not this time."
A shot shattered the room.
Glass exploded.
Alejandro dove behind a marble pillar.
Another shot.
Then another.
The two brothers who once played together as children now found themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield built from greed, lies, and blood.
And as sirens suddenly echoed in the distance, Ricardo realized something horrifying.
Alejandro had never come alone.
The police were already on their way.
Cornered and running out of options, Ricardo backed toward a hidden door at the rear of the office.
A door Alejandro had never seen before.
Ricardo smiled one last time.
"You still don't know everything."
Then he disappeared behind it.
The secret passage slammed shut.
And on the desk he left behind was a single photograph.
A photograph of Victoria.
Taken three days before her death.
She was standing beside a man neither brother recognized.
Written across the back, in Victoria's handwriting, were four chilling words:
"He is the mastermind."
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TO BE CONTINUED...
chapter 5,6
