Elena had arrived two weeks earlier through a high-end domestic staffing agency. Her background check was flawless. Her references glowing. Middle-aged, soft-spoken, efficient to the point of invisibility. She moved through the house like a whisper, cleaning without disrupting, organizing without leaving fingerprints behind.
To the staff, she was a gift.
To Ana, she was polite but distant.
To Roberto… she was a question mark.
Still, life demanded compromises. Running a global corporation meant long absences. So every night, without fail, Roberto retreated to his private study—a room of steel, glass, and glowing monitors—and reviewed the footage.
At first, everything seemed normal.
Elena worked methodically. She dusted. She folded. She adjusted Ana’s blankets with a gentleness that almost felt rehearsed. Sometimes she lingered in Ana’s room longer than necessary, standing quietly as if watching her breathe.
Roberto noticed.
But he wanted to believe.
Then came the afternoon that shattered everything.
Roberto was in the middle of a critical investor call when something in the corner of his screen pulled his attention away. One of the live feeds—Ana’s room.
Elena had just entered.
At first, nothing seemed wrong. Ana was asleep, sunlight spilling across her bed, her chest rising and falling in slow, even rhythm. Elena approached quietly.
But then Roberto felt it.
That instinct—the one that had saved him in hostile negotiations and market crashes—tightened in his chest.
Elena wasn’t cleaning.
She stood beside the bed, unmoving, staring down at Ana with an intensity that made Roberto’s skin prickle. Not affection. Not concern.
Assessment.
Calculation.
Roberto ended the call without explanation.
On-screen, Elena’s expression shifted. The softness drained from her face like a mask being removed. Her posture changed—less servant, more predator. She reached into the pocket of her uniform and pulled something out.
Small.
Metallic.
Deliberate.
Roberto leaned closer to the screen, his pulse roaring in his ears.
Elena crouched beside the bed. Her shadow stretched across Ana’s face. The object glinted once in the light—too precise to be anything harmless. Her hand moved slowly, methodically, toward Ana’s mouth.
Roberto couldn’t breathe.
His mind screamed, his body locked, and then—
The screen went black.
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