Chapter 13 - The Woman Who Was Waiting
They returned to The Pines before midnight.
The estate was empty.
Teresa was gone.
So was Mariana.
Only Javier remained.
Sofia looked around the foyer.
“Where are they?”
Javier shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Elena immediately called security.
No response.
The estate had been completely isolated.
Sofia walked toward the staircase.
Then she stopped.
A voice came from the dining room.
“You finally came.”
Teresa stepped from the shadows.
She looked exhausted.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
No arrogance.
Just fear.
Sofia stared at her.
“Where is Mariana?”
“She left.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Teresa shook her head.
“For once, I'm not.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Who are you protecting?”
Teresa looked at Sofia.
“Your father.”
Sofia's face changed.
“He's alive?”
Teresa nodded.
Javier stared at her.
“Where?”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“He's been alive all these years.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“You said he was taken.”
“He was.”
“By whom?”
Teresa looked at the floor.
“By someone who believed Daniel knew too much.”
Sofia's patience disappeared.
“Who?”
Teresa looked up.
“You.”
Sofia froze.
“What?”
“Daniel discovered something about you.”
Elena stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Teresa shook her head.
“No. She deserves to know.”
Sofia stared at her.
“What did he discover?”
Teresa whispered,
“That you weren't supposed to inherit anything.”
Sofia frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father didn't choose you because you were his daughter.”
Sofia stared.
“He chose you because…”
Teresa's voice broke.
“…you were the only person who could expose them.”
Silence.
Javier asked,
“Expose who?”
Teresa looked toward the dark hallway.
“The people who have been controlling this family for twenty years.”
A door slammed upstairs.
Everyone looked up.
Then footsteps began moving across the second floor.
Slowly.
One step at a time.
May you like
Sofia whispered,
“Someone is here.”
