Chapter 4 - Shadows of the Past
As the officer worked in the bathroom, Mariana stood in the hallway, her mind racing through the past five years of her marriage. Diego had always been the ideal husband: attentive, wealthy, charming, and protective. He ran a successful real estate development firm, buying old historical properties and turning them into luxury apartments.
However, beneath his charming exterior, there were quiet, dark corners Diego never allowed anyone to explore. Four years ago, shortly before Sofia was born, Diego had been involved in a business partnership with a woman named Elena Vance. Elena was an heiress who provided the primary capital for Diego's first major real estate project.
One evening, after a heated dispute over company shares, Elena had walked out of Diego’s office and vanished without a trace. Her car was found abandoned near the harbor, and police had initially ruled it a missing person case. Diego had cooperated fully with investigators, weeping on local news broadcasts as he pleaded for information regarding his business partner's whereabouts.
Mariana had comforted him during that time, believing his grief was genuine. She had held him as he cried, praising his sensitivity and soft heart.
Now, standing in the marble hallway as the officer excavated her shower drain, those memory fragments began to reassemble into a horrifying picture. Diego had worked late on the night Elena disappeared. He had come home smelling faintly of heavy bleach, claiming he had spilled cleaning supplies in his office workshop.
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Mariana’s breath caught in her throat. She looked down at Sofia, who was innocently clutching her pink floral dress, completely oblivious to the horror taking shape in their home.
👉 Read PART 5 to see what happened when Officer Vance made the definitive discovery!
