Chapter 6 - A FIANCÉE WITH TWO FACES|
Isabel Carrera had been awake since four in the morning.
She stood in her penthouse dressing room while a stylist arranged the sleeves of her cream jacket. The city spread beyond the windows, gray and glittering beneath the clouds.
On the dressing table lay two phones.
One was her personal device.
The other belonged to a man who never used his real name.
It rang.
“You said the waitress was harmless,” the caller said.
Isabel dismissed the stylist with a glance.
“She was supposed to be.”
“She warned Vega.”
“Then Vega should have ignored her.”
“He didn’t sign the document.”
Isabel’s mouth tightened.
“Can you recover it?”
“The original is safe. But he’s asking questions.”
“About the waitress?”
“About the routing number.”
For the first time that morning, Isabel looked genuinely worried.
The routing number had been chosen because it would trigger suspicion without revealing the entire scheme. If Marcos signed, the document would place him in a position where both federal investigators and the Manta Group could be manipulated into believing he had betrayed them.
If he refused, they needed another way to isolate him.
“Find the woman,” Isabel said. “I want the files before she reaches anyone who can read them.”
“And if she refuses?”
Isabel looked at her reflection.
“Then make sure she never speaks again.”
She ended the call.
An hour later, she arrived at Vega Maritime’s headquarters carrying coffee for Marcos. She wore the engagement ring he had given her, a diamond large enough to attract attention from across a room.
Marcos stood beside the window in his office.
“You’re early,” he said.
“I thought we should talk.”
“About the document?”
“About your behavior last night.”
He accepted the coffee but did not drink it.
“You seemed upset when I asked who prepared the proposal.”
“My father’s lawyers.”
“Which one?”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because I called them. They have no record of it.”
Isabel’s smile disappeared.
Only briefly, but Marcos saw.
“You went behind my back?”
“I verified a document.”
“You’re treating me like a suspect.”
“Are you?”
She stared at him.
For years, Isabel had known how to turn a question into an accusation. It had helped her survive family dinners where men discussed loyalty while secretly counting one another’s weaknesses.
She stepped closer.
“Marcos, I am your fiancée. I have stood beside you through every public scandal, every ugly rumor, every business fight. And now you’re questioning me because a waitress whispered something in your ear?”
“Tell me her name.”
“Nadia Reyes.”
“Tell me how you know it.”
Isabel froze.
Marcos placed the coffee on his desk.
“You knew exactly who she was.”
“She worked in my father’s club once.”
“Which club?”
She hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because you just said you knew her, and you can’t name the place.”
Isabel’s eyes hardened.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Possibly.”
“You need me.”
“Maybe.”
She stepped back, her voice lowering.
“You have no idea what happens if you embarrass my family.”
Marcos looked at the ring on her finger.
“Then perhaps you should explain it.”
Isabel left without another word.
In the elevator, she took out the second phone and typed a message.
Move the operation forward. Vega is suspicious.
The reply arrived almost immediately.
Then eliminate the witness.
Isabel stared at the screen.
She had spent years persuading herself that every betrayal was necessary, every lie temporary, every victim expendable.
But Nadia’s brother had been the first person to make her question that logic.
And Marcos was becoming the second.
She deleted the message, stepped out into the lobby, and smiled at the receptionist.
By the time she reached the street, the woman in the cream jacket had returned.
May you like
The woman who never lost control.
At least, not where anyone could see.
