Tessa regains her consciousness in a strange yet luxurious room. Fear gripping her as she recalled all that had took place before she found her herself at the very spot.
The silence of the mansion was unsettling, thick and heavy like smoke that refused to clear. Every corner of the room seemed alive with secrets, each shadow clinging stubbornly to the high walls as though unwilling to leave. Tessa sat alone in the grand chamber, her body tense, her hands sore from where the ropes had dug into her skin. Though she had been freed of her bindings, she remained trapped. The velvet chair beneath her felt more like a throne of judgment than a seat of comfort.
Her eyes darted toward the tall windows where moonlight spilled In, thin and silver. Beyond the glass, the world was vast and unreachable. The mansion's gates were a fortress, the guards an iron wall. There was no escape.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the hall outside, slow and unhurried. Each step announced power, dominance, inevitability. Tessa's heartbeat raced in rhythm with the sound until the door finally opened.
Ricardo de Acosta entered.
He carried himself with the poise of a man who owned everything he touched. His dark suit was perfectly pressed, his stride steady, his gaze sharp and calculating. There was no rush in his movements — only the heavy certainty of control. Even the guards at the door seemed to shrink under the weight of his presence.
"You're awake," Ricardo said, his voice smooth and deep, laced with authority.
Tessa forced herself to look at him, though fear pressed hard against her chest. Her throat was dry, but she found her voice. "What do you want from me?"
He did not answer immediately. Instead, he crossed the room with measured steps, his shoes clicking against the polished marble floor. At the desk that sat beneath the chandelier, he paused. One of his men stepped forward and laid a folder on the polished surface. Ricardo opened it with deliberate care, as if unveiling something sacred.
Tessa's eyes caught the symbol printed on the front page
TERSAN COMPANY.
Her parents' company.
"This… this was theirs," she whispered, her voice trembling.
Ricardo turned his head toward her, a cold smile spreading across his lips. "Yes. Their empire. Their pride. Their downfall." He flipped through the pages, the sound of paper crisp in the stillness. "But what you do not understand, Teresa, is that Tersan Company was built on my foundation. My money. My protection. Without me, your parents would have been crushed before they even began."
Tessa gripped the armrest of her chair. "That's not true. They worked for everything they had. My parents were honest people."
Ricardo chuckled, though the sound held no warmth. He moved closer, each step pulling the air tighter around her. He lowered himself until his face was inches from hers, his gaze piercing, relentless. "Don't be naïve. No one climbs so far without paying the price. Your parents promised me loyalty. Instead, they betrayed me."
With a sudden motion, he slammed the contract onto the desk, the papers scattering slightly from the force. The sound echoed, sharp and final.
"And your uncle?" Ricardo continued, his tone darkening. "Logan thought he could bury the truth. He thought he could keep you hidden, shield you from the past. But debts, Teresa, do not vanish. They pass on. They live in blood. And now they rest on your shoulders."
The words struck like daggers. Tessa's breath unstable, her body trembling though she fought to keep her expression firm. Her uncle… Logan… he had been hiding this from her all along?
She could hear Ricardo's voice as though from a distance, but the weight of it pressed down on her chest. "You, little girl, are the last Sanchez. The final key to what was always mine."
He straightened again, towering over her, his shadow long and merciless under the chandelier's glow.
"Here is your choice," he said smoothly, almost tenderly, though the steel in his voice betrayed the threat beneath. "Sign these papers, hand me what should already be mine, or watch your uncle bleed to death before your very eyes."
The silence that followed was colder than the marble beneath her feet.
Tessa sat frozen, staring at the papers. The familiar crest mocked her from the desk. Tersan Company , the dream her parents had built, the empire they had poured their lives into now dangled as bait in the hands of the man who claimed it was his.
Her heart raced, torn between disbelief and horror. She wanted to scream at Ricardo, to deny his words, but a small voice inside her whispered: What if it's true?
Her parents' sudden deaths. The car explosion. The way Logan always avoided her questions, always urged her to move on. Pieces of the puzzle began to take shape, forming an image she didn't want to see.
She drew a shaky breath, forcing herself to meet Ricardo's eyes. They were cold, unflinching, and certain. He believed every word he spoke. And whether truth or manipulation, the danger was real.
"You think you can scare me into betraying my family's legacy?" she said, her voice trembling but steady enough to mask her fear.
Ricardo tilted his head, regarding her like one might a stubborn child. "No. I don't need to scare you. I only need to show you the cost of disobedience." He snapped his fingers, and one of the guards pulled a knife from his belt, placing it gently on the desk beside the papers.
Tessa could recognize the guard as Elvis, Lena's boyfriend. "So he had a hand in this" she thought.
Ricardo's smile was calm, measured. "Everything has a price, Teresa. Even survival."
For the first time since she had been brought into the mansion, she understood the depth of it all. This was never just about her parents' death. It was about Tersan Company. The empire they had built was not only their legacy — it was the very chain binding her life to Ricardo's hands.
Tessa wasn't just a hostage. She was leverage.
And Ricardo knew it.