Chapter 2: The Locked Door
Alejandro forced himself to stay calm.
For his daughters.
For now.
He wrapped his suit jacket around the girls' shoulders and led them into the warm kitchen.
The house chef gasped when she saw the children.
"Señor Santillán..."
"Feed them."
Immediately.
Within minutes, bowls of hot soup, fresh bread, roasted chicken, and warm chocolate milk covered the table.
The quadruplets stared at the food as if it might disappear.
Alejandro's heart shattered.
Children raised with love did not look at food that way.
Hungry children did.
Abused children did.
As the girls ate, he quietly asked questions.
Simple questions.
Questions that made the truth begin to emerge.
"Did Jimena eat dinner with you?"
Four heads shook no.
"Who puts you to bed?"
"Usually Rosa," Valeria whispered.
Rosa was the nanny Alejandro had hired years ago.
A woman he trusted completely.
"Where is Rosa?"
The girls exchanged nervous looks.
"Jimena fired her."
Alejandro froze.
"When?"
"Three months ago."
His jaw tightened.
He had never approved that.
Not once.
Then Camila quietly added:
"Rosa cried when she left."
A cold feeling spread through Alejandro's chest.
Something was very wrong.
Very, very wrong.
He stood up.
"I'm going to check something."
Upstairs, at the end of the west hallway, he found the door.
The door to his daughters' playroom.
Locked.
Alejandro frowned.
Why would a playroom be locked?
He demanded the master key from security.
When the door opened, his stomach dropped.
The room was empty.
Every toy.
Every doll.
Every stuffed animal.
Gone.
The shelves were bare.
Even the Christmas decorations the girls loved had disappeared.
Only dust remained.
And in the corner sat several cardboard boxes labeled:
LUXURY CONSIGNMENT AUCTION
Alejandro opened one.
Inside was Regina's favorite doll.
Another contained dozens of toys.
Another held bicycles.
Another held Christmas gifts he had purchased months earlier.
Everything had been sold.
Or was about to be.
His hands began to shake.
Then he noticed a folder tucked beneath one of the boxes.
Inside were receipts.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Designer handbags.
Jewelry.
Private vacations.
Luxury spas.
Everything paid from accounts Alejandro believed were supporting his daughters.
The betrayal hit him like a truck.
But the worst discovery was still waiting.
Because hidden among the receipts was a legal document.
A document Jimena had already prepared.
A boarding school enrollment contract.
For all four girls.
In Switzerland.
Permanent placement.
Starting in January.
Three weeks away.
She wasn't just neglecting them.
She was planning to get rid of them forever.
And suddenly Alejandro understood why she had encouraged his constant travel.
Why she never wanted him home.
Why every video call with the girls somehow got interrupted.
Jimena had been quietly erasing his daughters from his life.
And tonight she was going to explain everything.
Whether she wanted to or not