The Video on Adrian's Phone
Chapter 02 - The Video on Adrian's Phone
Adrian ordered the doors closed and asked the musicians to stop playing. Guests stared as security moved into position, uncertain whether they were protecting the Castillos or trapping everyone inside. Vivienne placed her champagne glass on a table with perfect calm.
“That video is fake,” she said. “Anyone can create something like that now.”
Adrian watched the clip again. The timestamp matched the evening. The service hall, the dress, the bracelet, even the storm flashing through the window were exact. Still, he knew how easily a lie could wear the face of truth. He looked at Elena. “Who sent this?”
“My brother,” she answered. “Gabriel works for the company that maintains the mansion's security network. He found a backup file that someone tried to delete.”
Vivienne laughed softly. “How convenient. Her brother controls the cameras, and suddenly I appear in a criminal video.”
Elena swallowed. “Gabriel didn't alter it. He restored it.”
Marcus Vale stepped forward from the crowd. He was silver-haired, polished, and trusted by every member of the board. “Adrian, this is clearly an attempt at blackmail. We should call the police and let them handle the maid.”
Elena flinched at the word maid, not because it described her job, but because Marcus used it as if it erased her name. She reached into her apron and handed Adrian a folded scrap of paper. On it were six bank transfers, each marked with the same initials: M.V. and V.C.
“I found this behind a loose drawer in the east-wing study,” she said. “The money came from the housing fund. It was sent to companies that don't exist.”
Adrian's chest tightened. The housing fund had been his mother's final project before she died. It was supposed to build safe apartments for families displaced by floods. He had trusted Vivienne and Marcus to manage it while he expanded the business overseas.
Vivienne's calm finally cracked. “She has been breaking into private rooms.”
“Because someone locked the east wing after my father was blamed for stealing from this family,” Elena replied.
Adrian stared at her. The name Marquez struck an old memory. Mateo Marquez had served the Castillos for twenty-seven years. Two years earlier, he had been accused of taking foundation records and causing a small archive fire. He died before the case was resolved.
“You're Mateo's daughter,” Adrian said.
Elena nodded, tears shining in her eyes. “And my father was innocent.”
A second message appeared on Adrian's phone. This one contained only a photograph: his signature on a document he had never seen.
May you like
Below it was a sentence that made his blood run cold.
By sunrise, your wife will own your company.
