Chapter 10 - A New Dawn
Two hours later, flashing red and blue lights illuminated the rain-slicked forest. Lucía and I had managed to drag each other out to the main highway and wave down a passing police patrol car.
Emergency vehicles flooded the estate. Tomás was found alive—he had survived the poison due to receiving a non-lethal portion, but he was immediately arrested and placed under heavy police guard. A search of the house uncovered Esteban’s hidden compartment, complete with the neurotoxin vials and detailed ledgers outlining their conspiracy to murder me.
Three days later, Esteban’s lifeless body was washed ashore three miles downstream. The nightmare was officially over.
Six months later.
Warm sunshine washed over a sprawling, lush vineyard overlooking the Pacific coast, hundreds of miles away from that cursed town.
I sat on a sunlit veranda, sipping fresh juice. The thirty-million-dollar inheritance had been legally secured and freed from all encumbrances. I had sold the old estate, leaving the dark memories behind, and started a new life in this peaceful coastal haven.
Lucía walked out onto the veranda carrying a tray of freshly baked bread, her face glowing with health and serene happiness. Her family back home was safe, fully supported by a trust fund I had established to guarantee their financial freedom forever.
She placed the tray down and sat beside me, closing her eyes as she inhaled the sweet sea breeze.
"No bad dreams last night?" I asked, smiling warmly at her.
May you like
Lucía laughed—a clear, beautiful sound that wiped away every lingering shadow of the past. "No bad dreams, Elena. Not ever again."
We had walked through the depths of hell together. She had entered my bedroom as a mysterious stranger seeking to sleep in the middle of the bed, but she emerged as the truest sister I would cherish for the rest of my life.
