She shook her head, firm. “I have Mommy. I don’t want to see Mr. Valez ever again.” She added, frowning, “He’s not a daddy. He’s a bad man.”
And just like that, I knew I’d done the right thing.
Archie didn’t deserve Elly for a second. And I have raised another fierce spirit, like the women in Marcellus name.
With Ava and my mother’s help, I threw myself into the family business. Expanded it. Reinvented it. Built something of my own.
And the next time I heard Archie’s name, it was on the news.
A car accident. Spinal injury. Paralysis.
Word was, the Valez family had been celebrating Betty’s pregnancy. She was expecting a boy, the heir they’d always wanted. And yes–Archie had eventually married Betty. Sally probably orchestrated the whole thing.
But then Betty and Sally clashed over inheritance, control and power.
One night, Archie snapped. Tried to kill Betty. She lost the baby. Then she lost her mind.
+15 Bonus
11
A few days later, Betty shot Archie in the head–and then turned the gun on herself.
Just like that, the Valez empire–once ruthless, feared, and untouchable–crumbled into scandal and ruin.
Their fall echoed through every corner of the underworld.
And then, as if the chaos hadn’t already crossed the line into absurdity, Sally Valez showed up at my door.
Tears in her eyes. Voice trembling.
She asked for Elly. Said she made a mistake, that Elly was her favorite grandchild and she wanted to see her again, raise her into a heir for the Valez family.
I didn’t let her finish. I simply gave the order to the Marcellus guards, and within seconds, she was being escorted off our land.
I met Sally’s eyes one last time and said, calm and unshaken, “That’s never going to happen. Mrs. Valez, I hope you die knowing that you have ruined everything, that you brought death to your son and the end to the Valez.”
Since that day, the mighty Mrs. Valez disappeared from the public eye, just like the rest of them.
I never heard from the Valez family again. And that was exactly how I wanted it.
Because the life I built with Elly–with my sister, with my mother, with my family—is sacred now.
Peaceful. Whole.
And I won’t let ghosts from the past disturb what I fought so hard to protect. Not ever again.
