Chapter 12 - The Midnight Breach
Valeria was escorted back to Mateo’s room by two heavily armed guards. She packed her small duffel bag with trembling hands, tears of intense frustration and profound despair blurring her vision. She had failed. Alejandro’s blind loyalty to his traitorous friend had doomed them all.
Mateo sat perfectly still on the edge of the bed, watching her pack. He knew she was leaving. His small hands gripped the expensive bedsheets, his bottom lip quivering in silent agony.
“I’m so sorry, little one,” Valeria whispered, dropping to her knees and hugging him tightly. “I tried. I really tried.”
Suddenly, the lights in the massive mansion flickered violently and died, plunging the entire estate into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
Valeria froze. A split second later, the deafening, explosive crack of heavy gunfire erupted from the main courtyard. The unmistakable sound of automatic rifles echoed through the marble hallways, followed by the frantic shouts of Alejandro’s security team.
Héctor’s coup had officially begun.
The two guards stationed outside Mateo’s bedroom door yelled tactical commands to each other before the heavy door was violently kicked open. But it wasn't Alejandro's men. It was three heavily armed mercenaries wearing tactical gear and black ski masks.
Valeria didn't think; she simply reacted. She grabbed a heavy, solid bronze lamp from the nightstand and swung it with all her desperate strength, smashing it directly into the first mercenary’s face as he breached the doorway.
The man grunted and collapsed backward, tangling the feet of the men behind him.
“Run, Mateo!” Valeria screamed, scooping the terrified four-year-old into her arms.
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She bolted through the adjoining bathroom, locking the door behind her, and kicked out the heavy window screen that led to the Juliet balcony. Gunfire was tearing the mansion apart below them. Smoke began to fill the beautiful hallways as incendiary grenades were tossed into the foyer.
Valeria climbed over the balcony railing, holding Mateo tightly to her chest, and carefully dropped down onto the sloped tile roof of the lower terrace, escaping into the chaotic, violent night just as the bedroom door exploded inward.
