Chapter 10 - SAN AURELIO
Alejandro arrived on San Aurelio shortly before sunset.
At least Vivian believed he arrived alone.
Nathan’s federal team approached by sea from the eastern side.
Daniel traveled with a tactical unit.
Elena had been ordered to remain on the command vessel.
She ignored that order.
By the time Nathan discovered she had boarded Daniel’s boat, turning around would have exposed the operation.
“You are impossible,” Nathan told her.
Elena checked her life vest.
“I’ve had worse reviews.”
The southern peninsula looked like paradise.
White sand.
Palm trees.
A Spanish-style villa overlooking blue water.
But hidden behind the beauty were cameras, armed guards, and a private dock.
Alejandro walked toward the villa carrying a drive.
Inside was a decoy copy of Hale’s confession.
Vivian waited on the terrace.
White dress.
Barefoot.
Glass of wine.
Exactly as if she were hosting dinner.
Victor sat tied to a chair.
“You came,” Vivian said.
Alejandro looked at Victor.
“You okay?”
Victor laughed weakly.
“I’ve had better vacations.”
Vivian smiled.
“Still charming.”
Alejandro held up the drive.
“Release him.”
“No.”
“That was the deal.”
“The deal was truth.”
She poured wine.
“You spent weeks treating me like a monster.”
“You imprisoned my wife.”
“Yes.”
“Why are we debating terminology?”
Vivian’s smile faded.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Then enlighten me.”
She looked toward the ocean.
“I loved you before Elena knew your name.”
“That wasn’t love.”
“You don’t decide what I felt.”
“I decide what I call it.”
Her eyes flashed.
For the first time Alejandro saw the unstable rage beneath years of polish.
“You never saw me.”
“I barely knew you.”
“I was beside you at university for four years.”
“We shared one economics seminar.”
Vivian stared.
“You remember.”
“After seeing hundreds of photographs of myself taken without my knowledge, yes.”
She laughed.
“Fair.”
Alejandro glanced toward Victor.
“Why is he tied up?”
“Because Victor became greedy.”
Victor spat.
“You became insane.”
Vivian calmly struck him across the face.
Alejandro’s jaw tightened.
She turned back.
“Victor was useful when he understood his role.”
“What role?”
“To keep the company stable after your death.”
Victor stared at her.
“You said Alejandro would leave voluntarily.”
Vivian smiled.
“I lied.”
Alejandro looked at his uncle.
“You knew she planned to remove me.”
Victor’s face fell.
“I thought financially.”
“Of course.”
Victor looked ashamed.
Alejandro felt little sympathy.
Vivian stepped closer.
“Your father made the same mistake.”
Alejandro held himself still.
“What happened to him?”
“He discovered Marco would eventually exist.”
“He knew Elena was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“He ordered you to hide it.”
“Initially.”
“And then?”
“He changed his mind.”
Vivian’s expression became distant.
“Mateo decided family mattered more than succession.
Very sentimental.”
“So you killed him.”
“I corrected his inconsistency.”
Alejandro felt rage surge.
But he remembered the microphone hidden beneath his shirt.
Keep her talking.
“Poison?”
Vivian smiled.
“Digitalis.
Small doses.
Symptoms looked cardiac.”
Confession.
Nathan heard it offshore.
Alejandro continued.
“And Gabriel Vargas?”
“He discovered offshore transfers.”
“You killed him too?”
“Raymond handled Gabriel.”
Another confession.
“Isabella?”
Vivian’s smile disappeared.
“She was supposed to die.”
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
“And Elena?”
Vivian took a slow breath.
“Elena was different.”
“How?”
“She had everything without earning it.”
“She had a family.”
“She had my family.”
“She was your sister.”
“Half.”
The bitterness was immediate.
“She inherited the Vargas name.
The money.
The legitimacy.
Then she took you.”
“I was never yours.”
Vivian’s face changed.
The statement struck exactly where he intended.
“She made you believe that.”
“No.
I made my own choice.”
“You barely noticed her at first.”
“I married her.”
Vivian stepped close enough that Alejandro smelled wine.
“And look what that gave you.”
“A wife I love and a son.”
Her eyes darkened.
“You don’t know your son.”
“I will.”
“He’s seven.”
“I have the rest of my life.”
Vivian stared at him.
Then laughed softly.
“If you leave this island.”
Alejandro heard movement behind him.
Two guards stepped onto the terrace.
His earpiece remained silent.
Something had gone wrong.
Vivian held out her hand.
“The drive.”
Alejandro gave it to her.
She inserted it into a laptop.
While she watched the video, Alejandro glanced toward the water.
No sign of Nathan.
No sign of Daniel.
Vivian suddenly paused the recording.
She smiled.
“This is fake.”
Alejandro’s heart sank.
“How do you know?”
“Because Raymond called me before he died.”
Victor looked up.
“What?”
Vivian turned toward the trees.
“And because Nathan’s team walked into my trap twenty minutes ago.”
Lights came on along the beach.
Federal agents were surrounded by armed guards.
Daniel was on his knees.
Nathan beside him.
Alejandro stared.
Vivian smiled.
“I told you.”
She raised a pistol.
“I always know where everyone is.”
Then a woman’s voice came from behind her.
“No, Vivian.”
Vivian froze.
Elena stepped from the villa.
May you like
Holding Hale’s real drive.
“For once,” Elena said, “you were watching the wrong person.”
