Chapter 35 The Decision

Chapter 35 The Decision
~Elena’s POV~

I drop the phone.

Marina raises the gun higher. “Pick it up, slowly.”

“You’ve been working with my father this whole time? The lawsuit, the surveillance, all of it.”

“Your father approached me two years ago, after Mateo’s divorce. Antonio knew Mateo’s pattern, knew the Sandoval family’s weakness for covering up scandals.” Marina steps further into the apartment. “We just needed the right plaintiff. The right circumstances. The right amount of documented evidence.”

“So you…waited for Mateo to fuck another student?”

“We created the opportunity. I suggested Mateo apply for the Barcelona position. Your father enrolled you in his art class. I made sure you were desperate enough financially to accept questionable arrangements.” Her smile is cold. “You were so easy to manipulate Elena. One sabotaged grant application and you were willing to pose naked for cash.”

“David sabotaged my grant…”

“On your father’s instructions. Antonio paid David twenty thousand euros to tank your application. Make you vulnerable and desperate.” Marina gestures with the gun. “Now pick up the phone and delete those messages.”

“No.”

“Elena…”

“Shoot me right here. In my mother’s apartment.” I don’t move, just pointing my fingers to my forehead. “Explain that to the police. Explain why Mateo’s lawyer murdered his girlfriend in her mother’s home.”

Marina’s finger tightens on the trigger.

Behind her, my mother’s voice: “Put the gun down, Marina.”

We both turn. Mama stands in the bedroom doorway, holding Papa’s old hunting rifle. Hands steady despite her age.

“Marta.” Marina’s voice shifts, it becomes conciliatory. “You don’t understand…”

“I understand perfectly. You and my husband planned to use Elena as bait. Create a scandal, sue for millions. Split the proceeds.” Mama’s aim doesn’t waver. “What I don’t understand is why you are here now. The plan failed, Carlos Sandoval was arrested. The university is settling. There is no lawsuit.”

“There is still the Sandoval estate. Mateo stands to inherit three hundred million euros when Carlos dies. If Elena and Mateo stay together, if they marry, she gets half in divorce and I get my percentage as her attorney.” Marina laughs. “Your husband didn’t think long-term but I did.”

“So you are pushing us together now?” I ask. “After spending weeks tearing us apart?”

“I’m repositioning you. The tragic lovers who survived scandal to find true love. When you marry Mateo, and you will eventually because trauma bonding is powerful, I will be there. Your attorney, your friend. Managing the estate, the finances, the prenup that quietly funnels millions into accounts I control.”

My mother’s rifle shifts slightly. “Antonio wouldn’t have agreed to that.”

“Antonio died before I could explain phase three.” Marina’s eyes are cold. “Honestly, his death was convenient. No split proceeds, no questions about where the money came from. I had planned to…” She stops. “Let’s just say his heart attack came at an opportune time.”

Ice floods my veins. “You killed him.”

“I helped him along. Stress is a wonderful murder weapon, it’s untraceable. I simply made sure he saw the worst of the videos at the worst possible moment. His heart did the rest.” 

She adjusts her grip on the gun. “Now Elena. Delete the messages or I will shoot your mother first.”

I look at Mama. Her rifle is pointed at Marina’s chest, but her hands are starting to shake. She is seventy-three years old, she hasn’t fired a gun in decades.

Marina sees it too. “You won’t shoot Marta. You are not a killer.”

“Neither were you until my husband.” Mama’s voice is steel. “But apparently we all have limits.”

The crack of the gun splits the air, and my eyes squeeze shut on instinct.

I don’t see who fired first. Don’t see who hit what.

I’m diving for cover behind the couch when something burns across my shoulder. Pain explodes, hot and sharp.

Mama screams. The rifle clatters.

When I look up, both women are on the floor.

Mama clutching her leg, blood spreading. Marina face-down, not moving.

“Mama!” I’m scrambling toward her, shoulder screaming. “Mama, stay with me…”

“I’m okay. Just my leg.” She is gasping. “Marina?”

I check Marina’s pulse with shaking hands. Nothing. The rifle shot caught her square in the chest.

My mother just killed someone.

“We need to call…” I start.

“No.” Mama grabs my wrist. “Wait. Think.”

“You shot her. Self-defense but…”

“But she’s Mateo’s lawyer. She was here alone with us. She has a legal right to access our home for the case.” Mama’s breathing is labored but her mind is clear. “If we call the police now, it’s our word against a dead woman’s. No witnesses, no proof she was threatening us.”

“The text messages…”

“Prove your father was conspiring with her, it proves he was a criminal. It will destroy his reputation, our family name, everything.” She squeezes tighter. “Or we make this look like something else.”

“You are talking about covering up a murder…”

“I’m talking about survival. About protecting what’s left of our family.” She pulls herself up slightly, wincing. “Marina came here to steal documents. She wasn’t expecting us to be home. She ran and fell down the stairs outside and broke her neck.”

“The gunshot wound…”

“Is in her back. Consistent with a fall. It happened when she hit the railing.” Mama is looking at me with terrifying clarity. “You said you were done being the victim. Done letting people manipulate you. Prove it.”

I stare at my mother. At Marina’s body. At my father’s phone still clutched in my hand.

“If we do this, there’s no going back.”

“There’s been no going back since you walked into that bar, mija. We’re just choosing which version of the story survives.”

I’m about to respond when footsteps pound up the stairs outside.