CHAPTER 3: THE GARDENER’S SECRET
CHAPTER 3: THE GARDENER’S SECRET
For fifteen years, Tomás had been invisible.
That was exactly how he survived.
He watered the roses.
Trimmed the trees.
Maintained the greenhouse.
He knew every corner of Santiago’s estate.
Every entrance.
Every camera.
Every secret.
But Santiago never imagined Tomás knew his biggest secret.
“Why would someone tell me to ask you?” Santiago asked.
Tomás stood silently in the greenhouse.
His hands trembled.
The old gardener who had spent years caring for flowers suddenly looked like a man carrying a heavy weight.
“Because I should have told you years ago.”
Santiago narrowed his eyes.
“Told me what?”
Tomás looked at Abril.
Then back at Santiago.
“Your wife wasn’t the first person planning to destroy you.”
The room went silent.
Santiago stepped closer.
“What are you saying?”
Tomás sighed.
“Before Valeria married you, she already knew about your company.”
Santiago froze.
“She didn’t meet you by accident.”
Every memory started changing.
Their first meeting.
Their early struggles.
The moments he thought were love.
All of it.
Tomás continued.
“She knew you would become powerful.”
Santiago shook his head.
“No.”
“She knew because someone told her.”
“Who?”
Tomás looked toward the window.
“The person who funded your first business.”
Santiago felt his stomach tighten.
“My investor?”
Tomás nodded.
“The man you trusted more than anyone.”
A name appeared in Santiago’s mind.
The only person who knew everything.
His mentor.
His partner.
The man who helped him build his empire.
Daniel Vargas.
Impossible.
Daniel had died three years ago.
Or at least...
That was what everyone believed.
Suddenly, Abril remembered something.
“Sir...”
She reached into her pocket.
“I copied something before the phone disappeared.”
Santiago looked at her.
“What?”
She pulled out a small memory card.
“The recording.”
They played it.
Static filled the greenhouse.
Then Valeria’s voice appeared.
"...once Santiago is gone, everything transfers."
A man's voice answered.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Not everything."
A pause.
"The company stays with me."
Santiago froze.
Because he knew that voice.
The recording continued.
Valeria whispered:
"What about his wife?"
The man replied:
"She gets the money."
Another pause.
"And I get the empire."
Santiago slowly lowered the phone.
Daniel Vargas.
Alive.
Watching.
Planning.
And now...
Coming for everything.
Then the greenhouse lights suddenly turned off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A voice came from the doorway.
“You always were slow, Santiago.”
Everyone turned.
A man stood there.
Older.
Calm.
Smiling.
Daniel Vargas.
May you like
Alive.
“Hello, old friend.”
