Chapter 3 - THE ESCALATION
Before Lucía could pull her hand from her purse, Daniel lunged forward.
Years of executive security training took over. He grabbed her wrist, pinning her arm against the wall, and yanked the heavy leather bag from her grip. It hit the marble floor with a heavy, metallic thud. A small, black sleek stun gun slid across the tile, coming to rest near Mateo’s feet.
"Mateo! Take Sofía into the master bedroom and lock the door!" Daniel roared, keeping Lucía pinned against the wall. "Now!"
"Dad, no! We aren't leaving you!" Mateo yelled back.
"Take your sister and lock the door!" Daniel commanded, his eyes fixed on Lucía. "Call the police! Use the landline!"
Mateo hesitated for a second, then snatched the stun gun from the floor, grabbed Sofía’s hand, and sprinted up the grand staircase toward the upper wing of the villa.
Lucía didn't struggle against Daniel’s grip. She simply stood pinned against the wall, her dark eyes looking into his with a terrifying, amused arrogance.
"Call the police, Daniel. Go ahead," she whispered, her voice dripping with venom. "Do you really think San Pedro police are going to arrest me on the word of a traumatized boy and a security footage hack that wasn't legally obtained?"
"I own the company that designed that hardware, Lucía," Daniel snarled, his grip tightening around her wrists. "And the footage shows you committing child abuse and conspiring to commit fraud with my lead counsel."
"It shows a mother disciplining a troubled child," she countered calmly. "And as for Hector... who do you think controls the local precinct's digital evidence servers? Who do you think manages your company's legal shield? You’ve been away in boardrooms for two years, Daniel. I ran this house. Hector ran your legal life. You're a visitor in your own home."
Suddenly, the heavy front door of the villa clicked open.
Daniel turned his head sharply toward the entryway. Stepping into the foyer was Hector Varela. He was wearing a sharp charcoal suit, holding a leather briefcase, and looking utterly unbothered by the rain dripping off his umbrella.
In his right hand, Hector held a physical set of keys—including a master key fob to Daniel’s private residential security system.
"I saw the security alert on my phone, Lucía," Hector said smoothly, closing the heavy oak front door behind him and sliding the deadbolt into place. He looked at Daniel pinning Lucía to the wall and let out a tired sigh. "I told you to change those padlocks before he landed at the airport."
Daniel felt the blood drain from his face. "Hector... you bastard."
"Don't make this dramatic, Daniel," Hector said, setting his briefcase on the foyer table. "You were always a brilliant engineer, but a terrible father and a naive businessman. You left your children, your estate, and your wife unattended for months at a time. Did you really think no one would take advantage of that vacuum?"
Daniel released Lucía and took three steps back, positioning himself between Hector and the staircase leading up to his children. "You won't get away with this. The police are already being called."
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Hector chuckled quietly, pulling a cellular signal jammer from his coat pocket and flipping a red switch. The small device hummed to life with a faint green light.
"The landlines in this neighborhood run through our corporate private relay, Daniel," Hector said softly. "And their cell phones have no signal now. No one is coming."
