CHAPTER 6 THE MISTRESS’ FINAL MOVE
CHAPTER 6 THE MISTRESS’ FINAL MOVE
The headlines changed every hour.
One day, Andrew Cole was known as a powerful businessman.
A respected CEO.
A man who built an impressive empire.
The next day, people were questioning everything.
The company.
The money.
The marriage.
The woman who had secretly controlled it all.
And most importantly—
The people who had betrayed her.
Inside my office at Escalante International, I watched the news reports without emotion.
The reporters were finally telling the story that had been hidden for years.
Not the version Andrew created.
Not the version Margaret repeated.
The truth.
“Sources confirm that Mariana Escalante was connected to the original investment structure behind Cole Corporation.”
“Industry experts believe the company survived several financial crises because of her private intervention.”
“Andrew Cole’s future inside the company remains uncertain.”
I turned off the screen.
Victor looked at me from across the room.
“You expected this.”
“Yes.”
“But not this quickly.”
I looked out the window.
“When someone loses power, everyone who benefited from that power starts looking for a new source.”
Victor nodded.
“And Brenda?”
I already knew what he was going to ask.
“She will not stay.”
Victor placed a file on my desk.
“You were right.”
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Messages.
Financial records.
Brenda meeting with investors.
Brenda contacting competitors.
Brenda searching for a way to protect herself.
I slowly turned each page.
“She was preparing an escape plan before Andrew even lost control.”
Victor sighed.
“That woman never loved him.”
“No.”
I closed the folder.
“She loved the life she thought he owned.”
Meanwhile, across town, Brenda sat inside an expensive restaurant.
She looked completely different from the confident woman who stood beside Andrew days earlier.
Her smile was gone.
Her confidence was replaced by frustration.
Across from her sat a businessman named Richard Vaughn.
A competitor of Andrew’s company.
Brenda leaned forward.
“You need to understand something.”
Richard looked amused.
“What?”
“Andrew Cole is finished.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds like something a loyal partner would never say.”
Brenda smiled.
“Loyalty does not pay bills.”
Richard laughed softly.
“You really believe Mariana will let you walk away?”
Brenda’s expression changed.
“She has no reason to come after me.”
Richard looked at her.
“You humiliated her.”
“She humiliated herself by hiding who she was.”
He smiled.
“You still don’t understand her.”
Brenda became irritated.
“What does that mean?”
Richard leaned back.
“Mariana Escalante is not angry because you wanted Andrew.”
“She is angry because you thought she was weak.”
That sentence bothered Brenda.
Because deep down, she knew it was true.
She never feared Mariana when she believed Mariana was powerless.
But now everything had changed.
Now every room Mariana entered belonged to her.
Every decision carried consequences.
Every person listened.
Brenda returned to the mansion that evening.
But the place no longer felt like home.
The servants no longer treated her with admiration.
They treated her with silence.
And silence was something Brenda hated.
She walked into the living room.
Andrew was sitting alone.
A glass of untouched whiskey sat on the table.
He looked exhausted.
For the first time, Brenda saw him without the illusion.
Not the powerful businessman.
Not the wealthy husband.
Just a man who had lost control.
“Andrew.”
He looked up.
“You’re back.”
Her smile was forced.
“Of course.”
He studied her.
“Where were you?”
She hesitated.
“Out.”
“With who?”
The question surprised her.
Because Andrew had never questioned her before.
Not seriously.
He had trusted the version of her that made him feel good.
“I was meeting someone.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Brenda crossed her arms.
“Why does it matter?”
Andrew stood.
“Because everything I believed is falling apart.”
“And now I want the truth.”
The room became tense.
Brenda looked away.
“Maybe you should have looked for the truth four years ago.”
That sentence made him freeze.
“What does that mean?”
She realized she had said too much.
But it was too late.
Andrew stepped closer.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing.”
“Brenda.”
His voice became colder.
“What do you know about Mariana?”
She remained silent.
That silence was the answer.
Andrew’s face changed.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew who she was.”
Brenda looked frustrated.
“I knew she came from a powerful family.”
“And you never told me?”
“Would you have believed me?”
Andrew stopped.
Because again, the answer was obvious.
He would not have.
He had spent years believing Mariana was lucky to have him.
He never imagined she was the one who gave him everything.
Brenda softened her voice.
“Andrew, listen.”
“We can still fix this.”
He looked at her.
“We?”
“Yes.”
“You and me.”
For a moment, she tried to become the woman he loved.
The supportive woman.
The woman who always stood beside him.
But Andrew was finally seeing through the performance.
“You were going to leave me.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“You were planning to leave.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
He grabbed the file from the table.
The one his assistant had found.
The records.
The meetings.
The messages.
He threw it in front of her.
“Explain this.”
Brenda looked at the documents.
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But Andrew saw it.
“You were looking for another man.”
“No.”
“You were looking for another opportunity.”
Silence.
Then Brenda spoke quietly.
“You are not the same man anymore.”
Andrew laughed.
A painful laugh.
“So that’s it?”
“You only loved me when I had power?”
Brenda looked away.
And that was all the answer he needed.
At that moment, Andrew finally understood.
The two women in his life had shown him the same truth in completely different ways.
Mariana had loved him when he had nothing.
Brenda had loved him because she thought he had everything.
His phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
A few seconds later, his expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
Brenda looked at him.
“What happened?”
His voice was almost empty.
“The mansion.”
“What about it?”
He looked toward the ceiling.
“The bank has frozen the property.”
Brenda went pale.
“What?”
Andrew whispered:
“The house is not mine.”
The words felt impossible.
The mansion.
The symbol of their success.
The place where they laughed at Mariana.
The place where they believed they were untouchable.
It had never belonged to them.
Brenda stepped backward.
“No.”
Andrew looked at her.
“Yes.”
A painful silence filled the room.
Then his phone received another message.
This time from Mariana’s legal team.
He opened it.
His face turned completely pale.
The message contained only one sentence.
Mrs. Escalante has requested your presence tomorrow morning.
Andrew stared at the screen.
Brenda watched him.
“What does she want?”
Andrew looked toward the window.
At the mansion.
At the life that was disappearing.
“I don’t know.”
A pause.
“But I think tomorrow…”
He swallowed.
“…she is going to tell us why she stayed silent for four years.”
And somewhere across the city, I prepared the final documents.
Because the truth about Andrew’s empire was only the beginning.
The biggest secret had not been revealed yet.
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And when it finally came out—
Everyone would understand why the Escalante name had been feared for generations.
