Chapter 4 - The Glass Cage
The heavy rain had turned into a steady, freezing drizzle outside the estate.
Vivian Moretti sat in the back of the armored police transport van, her hands handcuffed behind her back, her crimson silk gown stained with mud and spilled wine. Her perfectly styled hair was disheveled, and her makeup was smeared down her pale cheeks.
The rear doors of the transport van swung open.
Alejandro stood in the opening, framed by the bright spotlights of the police cruisers behind him. He looked down at her with an expression of absolute, icy detachment.
"Alejandro..." Vivian gasped, struggling to sit up against the metal bench. "Please! You have to listen to me! My father forced me to do it! He threatened me! He said if I didn't help him hide the audit, he would destroy my life!"
"Save it for the judge, Vivian," Alejandro said softly.
"Alejandro, please!" she sobbed, tears cutting lines through the dirt on her face. "I loved you! I’ve loved you since we were at university! Elena was nothing! She was just a orphan girl from the coast! I belonged beside you! I gave you three years of my life!"
"You didn't give me three years, Vivian," Alejandro replied, stepping closer until he was looking directly into her frantic eyes. "You stole three years. You made my wife sleep on a concrete floor. You made my son grow up in the dark. You forced the woman I love to clean the marble floors of her own home while you drank my wine."
"I can give you the money back!" Vivian screamed hysterically. "All two hundred million! I have private keys to accounts in Zurich! I’ll sign them over to you right now! Just tell the DA to drop the kidnapping charges!"
Alejandro pulled a small, clear plastic evidence bag from his pocket. Inside was the silver-and-pearl wedding ring that Vivian had forced Elena to take off three years ago—the ring the forensic team had found hidden inside Vivian’s jewelry box an hour ago.
"This ring belonged to my grandmother," Alejandro said, staring at the glittering band. "Elena wore it on the day we were married. You took it from her and kept it like a trophy."
"Alejandro—"
"You’re going to prison, Vivian," Alejandro cut her off, his voice flat and absolute. "Not for five years. Not for ten. Senator Moretti has already begun signing a full confession to save himself from the treason charges. He gave the federal prosecutors every text message, every wire transfer, and every recorded phone call connecting you to the abduction."
Vivian’s breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes widened in absolute, paralyzing terror. "My... my father gave me up?"
"In our world, Vivian, monsters always eat their own when the light turns on," Alejandro said coldly.
He stepped back from the van, holding up his hand to the federal driver.
"Take her away," Alejandro commanded.
"No! Alejandro! ALEJANDRO!" Vivian shrieked, slamming her shoulder against the metal wall of the van as the heavy rear doors slammed shut, locking her into total darkness.
The transport van pulled out of the long tree-lined driveway, its red taillights disappearing into the fog and rain of the night.
Alejandro stood on the gravel path for a long moment, letting the cool rain wash over his face, feeling the heavy, suffocating weight of three years finally lifting from his chest.
He turned back toward the mansion.
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The lights inside the estate were bright and warm, shining through the high arched windows like a beacon in the storm. Up on the second floor, behind the glass of the master bedroom, he saw the small silhouette of his son sitting on the edge of the large bed, holding his mother’s hand.
Alejandro smiled—a real, genuine smile that had not touched his lips in three long, dark years—and walked back home.
