Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Stood Between Them
Regina sat perfectly straight when I entered.
“You went through my accounts.”
“Yes.”
“That is illegal.”
I almost laughed.
“You've known me for two years and that's the argument you're choosing?”
She folded her arms.
“The payments aren't what you think.”
“Explain them.”
“I can't.”
“Try.”
Regina looked toward Marco.
“Alone.”
“No.”
“Emilio, please.”
“No more private conversations. No more stories only I can hear.”
Her face tightened.
I placed printed transaction records on the table.
“Two hundred thousand dollars.”
Regina said nothing.
“To Kowalski.”
Still nothing.
“Why?”
“He approached me.”
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“What did he want?”
“Information.”
“What information?”
“Your schedule.”
Marco swore under his breath.
I remained still.
“What else?”
“Security rotations.”
“What else?”
“Business meetings.”
“What else?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“The children.”
I moved so quickly the chair behind me fell.
Marco stepped between us.
“Emilio.”
I stopped.
Regina was crying now.
“I never gave him access to them.”
“You gave him information about my babies?”
“He threatened me!”
“With what?”
She hesitated.
I knew.
“He didn't threaten you.”
Regina looked away.
“He paid you.”
Silence.
I felt sick.
“How much?”
“Emilio—”
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
Marco stared at her.
The room went silent.
I said, “You sold my family for half a million dollars.”
“I didn't sell anyone.”
“You gave my enemy information about my children.”
“I stopped.”
“When?”
She didn't answer.
“When, Regina?”
“When Julieta noticed.”
That connected everything.
Julieta hadn't been the threat.
She had become inconvenient because she had seen too much.
“What did she notice?”
“Someone outside the nursery window.”
My chest tightened.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
I remembered.
Julieta had requested additional security near the east garden.
Regina told me she was paranoid.
I had believed Regina.
Again.
“She protected them,” I whispered.
Regina suddenly stood.
“She is nobody!”
The door opened behind me.
Julieta was there.
She had clearly heard.
Regina pointed at her.
“She is an employee.”
Julieta calmly answered, “Yes.”
“She doesn't belong in this family.”
“No.”
Julieta looked at me.
“But those children do.”
Regina laughed bitterly.
“Listen to her.”
Julieta ignored her.
“I saw a man near the nursery window three months ago. I told Miss Ashford because you were away.”
I asked, “What did she say?”
“That he was landscaping staff.”
“We had no landscaping crew that day,” Marco said.
Julieta nodded.
“I learned that later.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She looked at me.
“I tried.”
I remembered a morning when Julieta had approached me before a meeting.
Regina interrupted.
She told me Julieta wanted another raise.
I had walked away.
The memory burned.
“You tried,” I said.
“Yes.”
Regina stepped toward her.
“You think you've won?”
Julieta didn't move.
“This isn't a game.”
“You wanted him.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
Julieta looked at me.
Then back at Regina.
“I wanted those babies safe.”
That was when Gianna's crying came through the baby monitor clipped to Julieta's waist.
Julieta immediately turned.
I moved too.
We reached the nursery together.
Gianna stood inside her crib.
Noah sat beside her.
The second they saw Julieta, both reached toward her.
But Julieta didn't pick them up.
She looked at me.
“They need their father.”
The words hit harder than an accusation.
I walked to the crib.
Noah reached for me.
“Dada.”
I lifted him.
Gianna reached next.
I gathered both children against my chest.
Julieta stood nearby.
No judgment.
No triumph.
Just quiet.
I whispered, “I've been failing them.”
Julieta answered carefully.
“You've been grieving.”
“That doesn't excuse it.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn't you leave?”
She glanced at the twins.
“Because they already lost one person they loved.”
That night, Marco uncovered the final piece.
Kowalski had planned to use Regina's access to enter my estate during our engagement party.
The target wasn't me.
It was Noah and Gianna.
And Regina had known enough to understand the risk.
I looked at Marco.
“Call the police.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“What about Kowalski?”
“Give them everything.”
Marco smiled slightly.
“Look at you becoming respectable.”
“Don't push it.”
For the first time in months, I almost laughed.
Then I looked upstairs.
I had another problem.
May you like
Julieta was packing.
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