Chapter 4 - The Trap is Sprung
Back at St. Jude Medical Center, the digital clock on the wall read 2:15 AM.
Sophie was sleeping more peacefully now, her breathing stabilized by the intravenous antibiotics and oxygen support Dr. Harris had administered. Alejandro sat in the chair, staring blankly at the floor, completely hollowed out.
The door opened softly. Eleanor stepped inside, closing it gently behind her.
She didn't say a word. She walked over to Alejandro, placed the leather-bound notebook and the smashed lockbox directly onto his lap, and set the iPad beside them.
Alejandro looked down. He recognized Valerie’s handwriting immediately. He saw the bank statements showing his own hard-earned company funds being siphoned off to an offshore account. He read the words: “If I keep this up for another month, she won't survive the winter.”
A sound broke from Alejandro’s throat—half gasp, half sob—that sounded like a dying animal. He gripped the edges of the notebook so hard his knuckles turned translucent white.
“She was going to kill my niece,” Alejandro whispered, his voice trembling with a terrifying, fractured resonance. “She was going to murder Marissa’s little girl... while smiling in my face, sleeping in my bed, telling me she loved us.”
“She is a parasite, Alejandro,” Eleanor said, her voice steady and unyielding. “And right now, that parasite is sitting in your house, waiting for you to come home so she can play the grieving, worried stepmother again.”
Alejandro slowly lifted his head. The sorrow in his eyes was entirely gone, replaced by a cold, black void of absolute vengeance.
“She wants my money?” Alejandro said quietly, standing up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floor. “She wants my house? She wants my family destroyed?”
“What are you going to do?” Eleanor asked.
“I’m going home,” Alejandro said, grabbing his car keys from the table. “And you’re going to stay here with Sophie. Call Detective Vance from the Dallas PD. Tell him to meet me at the house in thirty minutes. Bring the warrants, the tablet, the lockbox, and the diary.”
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“Alejandro,” Eleanor warned, grabbing his arm. “Don't do anything stupid. Let the law—”
“The law will handle her in a courtroom, Mom,” Alejandro interrupted, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. “But first... I get to watch her realize that her game is over.”
