The rain hammered against the enormous glass walls of the estate as Elena stood frozen beneath the covered entrance. Water dripped from the ends of her dark hair onto the marble floor while servants in black uniforms moved silently around her, never meeting her eyes. Everything about the place felt unreal. The mansion towered above the cliffs like a fortress built for someone who trusted no one. Cold blue lights reflected across polished stone floors, and the distant roar of the ocean echoed beneath the storm outside. Matthew Carranza walked ahead without once checking whether she followed him, but somehow Elena understood she was expected to stay close. Fear still clung to her skin like ice.

Only an hour earlier she had been trapped inside a locked bedroom while her stepmother screamed through the door that Oscar Becerra was paying too much money to leave empty-handed. Elena still felt Patricia’s belt striking across her face and shoulders. She still heard Oscar laughing drunkenly in the hallway while Patricia begged him for patience. Running into the storm had been pure desperation. She had not even known whose car she threw herself in front of.