Chapter 4 - The Enemy Inside His Family
Vincent Dwarte arrived without permission.
Nobody stopped him.
Because he was family.
And family was complicated.
Rafael stood in the main hall when the older man entered.
"Still protecting servants?"
Vincent's first words were not a greeting.
Rafael's face remained calm.
"Still confusing cruelty with strength?"
Vincent smiled.
"Careful."
He looked around.
"This house built you."
"No."
Rafael stepped forward.
"My father built this house."
Vincent's smile disappeared.
"And you are destroying everything he created."
"Because I refuse to become you?"
Silence.
Marisol stood near the staircase, watching.
She hadn't intended to listen.
But Vincent's next words made her stop.
"That woman doesn't belong here."
Rafael's eyes turned cold.
"Choose your next words carefully."
Vincent looked at Marisol.
"People like her always forget their place."
The room became silent.
Then Rafael moved.
Not aggressively.
Not violently.
Just enough to stand between them.
"Her place?"
His voice was quiet.
"Her place is wherever she earns it."
Vincent laughed.
"You really believe that?"
"I know it."
"She is a maid."
Rafael looked at him.
"And you are a Dwarte."
A pause.
"But only one of those things describes what someone does."
Vincent's expression hardened.
"You would risk the family empire for her?"
Rafael didn't hesitate.
"I would risk anything before allowing this family to become what you made it."
---
That night, Marisol found Rafael outside.
The Charleston air was heavy with rain.
"You didn't have to defend me."
Rafael looked at the dark sky.
"Yes, I did."
"You always answer like that."
"Because it's usually true."
She smiled slightly.
Then became serious.
"Why?"
He looked at her.
"Why what?"
"Why do you keep standing up for me?"
Rafael was quiet.
Then:
"Because nobody did."
The answer surprised her.
For the first time, she saw something behind the reputation.
Not the powerful man.
Not the feared businessman.
Just a man carrying old wounds.
"My father believed people were either useful or useless," Rafael said.
Marisol listened.
"I spent years proving I wasn't like him."
"And now?"
He looked toward the manor.
"Now I think I spent too long trying to prove it."
A pause.
"Maybe I should have just been different."
Marisol studied him.
"You are."
Their eyes met.
And neither of them looked away.
But across the city, Vincent Dwarte made a phone call.
A dangerous one.
Because he had realized something.
May you like
Rafael Dwarte had found the one person he cared about.
And that person was now his greatest weakness.
