Chapter 7

There was a distant hum of music fading from the ballroom, drowning beneath the pounding of Elena’s heart. Alejandro’s grip on her wrist was possessive with a silent declaration of control. Guests whispered around them, their glances shifting between the two. Some watched with amusement and discomfort.

But none of them would dare intervene.

“I see you were distracted,” Alejandro said, tilting his head as he murmured. His voice was soft and teasing, but Elena knew better. There was calculation with no warmth in his words. “Thinking about him?”

Elena kept her expression blank as her stomach twisted. She didn't want him to see the effect he had on her.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, with an even tone.

Alejandro's thumb brushing over her palm with a smirk on his face. The touch was a mockery of affection but gentle. “I felt your hesitation and your mind somewhere else as I held you.” He whispered.

She forced herself to meet his gaze as she tightened her chest. “You’re drunk.”

He smiled. “Not drunk but observant.” His fingers trail her arm in a feather-light yet suffocating fashion. “And I observe that you’re still struggling with something you lost long ago.”

A chill ran down her spine.

Alejandro had always been cruel, but this was different. He wasn’t just tormenting her—he was ripping her apart gently.

And then he said it.

“You should’ve made more inquiries about your mother.”

The world tilted.

Elena caught her breath, her body going rigid.

Not Dino. Not escape. Her mother.

The mother whose absence was no longer just an accident.

Something inside her cracked with a flood of memories rushing in. The silent warnings. The whispers she had ignored. She had spent years nursing the notion that her mother’s death was just a cruel twist of fate. But if it were true, why was Alejandro bringing it up now? Why was it important all of a sudden?

Her ears heard her heartbeats roaring.

She needs to be calm and not react, else he would know.

So she calmed her breath. “What are you talking about?”

Alejandro’s smirk widened. “Ah, finally. The curiosity.” He leaned in, lowering his voice in a calm whisper. “You know curiosity is a dangerous thing, and it makes you desperate, Elena.”

She needed answers as she dug her nails into her palm.

She lets a flicker of vulnerability seep into her voice as she speaks gently. “Tell me, if you know something.”

Alejandro's eyes flickered in amusement as he studied her. He is loving this—dangling information just out of reach, seeing her beg for it.

“Sanchez never told you everything.” He sips from a glass of wine he took from a passing waiter.

Elena’s stomach dropped.

Tilting his head, Alejandro settled the glass. “He hid secrets from your father and you.”

Elena swallowed. “What secrets about my mother?”

Alejandro, feigning pity, exhales. “The reason she really died.”

Her vision dimmed. All these years she spent mourning her mother, believing she was just another case of casualty in a tragic world. But now, Alejandro was shattering that illusion beneath the glow of the chandelier in the hall room.

And Sanchez was behind it.

Her fingers trembled.

“Why are you telling me this now?” she demanded.

Alejandro smirked. “Because I enjoy watching you squirm.” As he brushed his fingers on her cheek, she fought the urge to recoil. “And because I know you’ll spend the rest of the night wondering how your life has turned out, how much of your life was a lie.”

She hated him for the momentary power he held over her.

And she hated herself for wanting to know more.

Alejandro pulled back slightly, “You’re shaking.” as he studied her like a cat toying with a bird.

Elena clenched her jaw. “You are deliberately keeping things from me.”

Alejandro tilted his head in amusement. “You assume I have all the answers.”

“Don’t you?” She challenged him.

His smirk widened. “Maybe.”

She snapped, losing patience. “Alejandro. If you know something, tell me,stop playing games with me.”

Alejandro exhaled, All in due time,with a tone savoring her frustration.

She couldn’t breathe.

He had put her on a leash, leading her faster and deeper into a web of secrets.

She had to get away from him.

“Elena.” With a soft voice again, but dangerous in its quietness. “Do you think Dino can save you from me?”

Her throat tightened.

Alejandro closing in on her, his lips brushing against her ear. “Dino has no idea what he’s up against.”

Elena struggles to stay still in order not to react.

Alejandro chuckled, stepping back. “If you must, you can run to him. But when the truth is eventually out, he won't look at you the same way, I promise.”

The breath left her lungs.

Alejandro with a slow and cruel smile. “Some things can’t be undone, Elena. Once revealed… it changes everything.”

Then he turned while she stood alone on the balcony.

Her hands clenched into fists.

She had to find out the truth. Before it was too late.

---

Dino sat in his apartment in a dim glow, his mind brewing a storm of thoughts. With an untouched glass of whiskey sitting beside him, forgotten.

Elena was still with Alejandro.

And something was wrong.

His thoughts were snapped by a knock on the door.

Sergio entered with a grim expression. “We found something.”

Dino straightened. “What?”

Sergio, moving closer, tossed a folder onto the table. “This name kept popping up in Sanchez’s old records.”

Dino opened it—and froze.

Elena’s mother.

His pulse pounded. “What in the world is this?”

Sergio hesitated. “She made payments. Large ones. Right up until she died.”

Dino inhaled sharply. “Payments to who and why?”

Sergio’s jaw tightened. “There is a shell account connected to Sanchez; that's where the payments go into.”

Dino’s world tilted.

Elena’s mother must have been involved in something; she was just a victim.”

And Sanchez perfectly covered it up.

Dino’s fists clenched.

Elena lived in a house full of liars and murderers; Alejandro had her trapped and now had the final piece of the puzzle.

He wouldn’t let her be swallowed by their secrets.

Dino stood. “We move tonight.”

---

Back at the Balcony

Elena is breathing fast, the weight of the conversation crushing down on her.

Alejandro has confirmed what she feared—her mother’s death wasn’t just an accident.

Now he was holding the truth over her head.

She needed to get to Dino. She needed to find out about Sanchez’s past record; now Alejandro wants to use it against her.

She made a silent vow as she gripped the rail on the balcony.

She would not be controlled.

Not by Sanchez.

Not by Alejandro.

Not by anyone.