Chapter 3 - The Broken Mask
The helicopter cabin was warm, smelling of sterilized equipment and leather. A team of elite private physicians immediately hovered over Elena, wrapping her in thermal blankets and placing an ultrasound monitor across her abdomen.
"Fetal heartbeat is stable, Mr. Sterling," the head physician reported with visible relief. "Mother is suffering from mild hypothermia and superficial contusions, but both will recover with immediate care."
Arthur sat across from the stretcher, holding Elena’s bruised hand between both of his weathered palms. The cold, untouchable billionaire looked broken, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"I don't understand," Elena murmured, her voice hoarse from crying and the night air. "My mother died in a clinic when I was five. She told me my father abandoned us."
"She told you that to protect you, Elena," Arthur replied softly, his voice thick with twenty-five years of regret. "I was fighting a war against cartels and rival syndicates back then. My enemies car-bombed our safehouse in Madrid. I believed you both burned. By the time I uncovered the truth that you had survived, your mother was gone, and you had disappeared into the foster care system under an assumed name."
Elena touched the golden signet ring on his finger; it bore an engraved crest identical to the faded drawing she carried in her mother's locket.
"Three weeks ago, my intelligence team finally matched your DNA through an routine hospital blood panel," Arthur continued, his jaw tightening. "I set out to bring you home, only to discover that you had married into the Vance family—and that they treated you like dirt beneath their feet."
Down below, the Vance estate looked like an insignificant speck surrounded by tactical vehicles.
"Diego took my phone... he made me give up my job, my friends," Elena whispered, the bitter memories flooding back. "They made me sign away everything."
Arthur’s eyes turned pitch black with a predatory calm. "They took your pride, child. Starting tomorrow, we take their empire. Every single brick."
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Suddenly, the helicopter’s secure satellite terminal chimed. An operative handed Arthur a tablet.
"Sir," the operative said, "Victoria Vance has just placed an emergency call to her brother, the Chief of Police. They are mobilizing to claim Elena was kidnapped."
