Chapter 48

We need to talk. You left last night without a word. Please call me back.

Amelia, this is far from over. I need to hear from you. I need to see you.

The next morning, when I turned my phone back on, I had close to a hundred missed calls and a slew of messages. The first person I called back was Martha. In tears, she told me that Richard was furious that I just walked out of the dinner without so much as an apology, but the worst was that, early in the morning, the cops had shown up to the house with a warrant for Richard's arrest.

He was accused of murder, among other crimes. It was all over the news already.

I acted as shocked as I could. Part of my shock was honest. I didn't imagine it would happen so fast. I couldn't help but feel a bit of sadness for Richard, even if I knew he deserved everything that was coming his way.

George had also called and texted to ask where I was and tell me about what had happened. Alejandro had texted me, asking that we meet, but as tempted as I was, there was no point in answering him. I did call my friends back. I did not want them to worry about me, but I felt like, now that Richard was behind bars, and Alejandro hopefully had made Mathias happy, maybe I could tell them what had really happened. But I wanted to wait until what surely was going to be turmoil calmed down. I wanted to be sure this was over. We planned to meet for dinner later in the week. I reassured them that I was safe but explained that I just needed to be alone for a while.

The call I did not expect was the one from Steve Dressler, the chairman of Hotel Estrellas. According to his voicemail, he wanted to discuss a very serious matter in light of Richard's arrest.

When I called him back, I got his secretary, but when I said my name, it was clear that she was given orders to insist that I find time to meet Steve for coffee with utmost urgency.

I couldn't think of what could possibly concern me, but I agreed to meet him for coffee the same day. I put on a pair of jeans with a white shirt and a gray blazer, trying for business casual. The rare times I had seen Steve, he was always in a suit, and I felt like I had to dress a bit more formal so as to not look like a child next to him.

When I arrived at the coffee shop, Steve was already there, seated in a corner on the only two-person sofa by a decorative fireplace. I was concerned the place was too loud, but once I got to Steve, I realized he had picked a spot that was a bit sheltered from all the noise. He got up to shake my hand and offered me a seat.

Steve was a tall man of average build, who always wore tailored suits, and his blue suit that morning was no exception. He had a bit of a long but rectangular face, his all-white hair rightly shaped on his head, with thin lips and a straight nose, giving him a serious look.

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice, Amelia, and I am really sorry for disturbing you like this. I know you went through a horrible situation, and you just got home. And now you have to deal with your stepfather's arrest. I am so sorry for everything you are going through."

"Thank you," I managed to say. Steve seemed very honest and candidly concerned about my well-being. "Richard's arrest was a shock, and I am not sure what happened," I lied.

"From the sound of it, he got involved in a pretty messy situation with some gang in Mexico, but there is a video of him taking part in a robbery and killing a man in cold blood. I just can"t believe this is happening. You think you know someone—I'm sorry," he said, stopping himself. "I know he is family."

"Don't worry, Steve. Richard and I really did not have the best relationship."

"Really?" he asked, a bit surprised. "That wasn't my impression."

"Richard is a con artist, Steve, and he needed the world to see him as the hero who took care of poor me, so that"s what he portrayed. And I played the game well."

Steve didn't just look confused; he looked concerned, his face turning white, his forehead getting a bit sweaty.

"Oh boy."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Uh, well…I don't really know how to say this. I came here because…well…since Richard is in prison, as you can understand, he can't remain our CEO, and he will lose his shares in the company."

"I get that. You have to protect the business, even if it's mostly his."

"His? Uh, this is starting to be concerning…"

Steve took a second to think before continuing. "Richard only owns fifteen percent of Hotel Estrellas, Amelia. There are moral clauses in the shareholder agreement, and in his employment agreement, and since you have both a right of first offer and a right of first refusal as the majority owner, we can't sell them to anyone unless you don't want them. But more importantly, his power of attorney should be revoked, and the management of your interest returned to you, unless you decide to appoint someone else."

"I don't understand. I…I have no interest in the company."

"You do, Amelia. Your mother left you her shares. Richard was, of course, appointed by the court as your representative, but when you turned eighteen, you gave him the power to manage your shares and represent your interest in the company, didn't you?"

"Is this meant to be a joke?" Nothing he said was making any sense.

"No," he hesitated, the truth only too obvious. "You didn't know, did you?"

"No. No, I didn't. I…I don't understand. Richard always told me that the company was his, that my mother was a lowlife artist with no family, that I was his burden for marrying a pregnant woman…What are you trying to tell me?"

"I think you will need a lawyer, Amelia…I think it's clear that, all these years, Richard has been taking advantage of you, enjoying your dividends based on your ownership in the company, pretending that you assigned him the right to represent you and manage your assets for you. He said that he had tried to get you involved, to have you take over your inheritance, but that you were never interested."

"How is this possible?! How could he have gotten away with this?! How did I not know?"

My voice and body were shaking. I was almost hoping the conversation was just a bad dream I needed to wake up from. Steve looked like he was hoping for the same thing.

"I'm really sorry about this…Richard had us all fooled. I am so sorry, but I am sure there is a way for you to make him pay. The shares remain yours. You own forty percent of the company, and if you want them, you have a right to Richard's shares. You are a rich woman, Amelia."

I couldn't process his words. My fight-or-flight mode was activated. I wanted to run. I wanted to break something.

"How did he manage to get away with this? There were no red flags on the company side? Didn't he have a document to sign? Why would I never take an interest? I have talked—not with you, necessarily—but I"ve shared my ambitions with some of the directors at cocktail hours and even during the short period when I worked at the company. How did this never come up?"

Steve looked distraught, clearly understanding what I was implying.

"I'm sorry, Amelia. We just…didn't know. It's not unheard of that a wife or child will have their husband or father just handle the business aspect of things. You"ve had a bank account set up for you like a trust since you were a kid. He has always been the one to manage it and represent you. The account is under your name. I assume now that he has been using it for his personal affairs. We had no reason to doubt him. He presented signed and notarized documents, and you seemed to have the perfect father-daughter relationship."

This had to be a fucking joke. I could not believe what I was hearing. My whole life felt like it was a lie. Everything Richard had told me about my mother was all fabricated by his greed. On the other hand, some things started to make more sense now.

"That's why he kept me," I said, almost to myself. "That's why he kept me after my mother's death. He wanted her money, and keeping custody of me was the only way for him to get it. That was the reason for all the fake hugs and all the bullshit about loving me like his own daughter. That's why he never really wanted me to go away, and that's why he wanted me to marry George…George must have known what was going on…Everything makes so much more sense now. I was so stupid! How did I not know this! I should have known, but deep down, I guess I had always hoped he did love me, in his own weird, twisted way."

"You couldn't have known, Amelia," Steve offered, patting my twisted hands. "He has clearly been covering his tracks since you were a toddler. He repeated the lies to you and everyone else since then, so you had no reason to doubt him, even when you turned eighteen. He probably made you sign documents, and you didn't even realize. Why would you? Once that was done, he took it over. Selling them without you knowing would have been harder, but as long as he had your power of attorney, he could reap the benefits. But I will help you, Amelia. I promise."

I was skeptical and very quickly learning from my mistakes. I needed a lawyer—a very good one.

"Thank you, Steve. I think we need to call for a special meeting. I need to have all the information, all the relevant documents."

"Yes, anything I can do, I will."

I left the meeting distraught, fueled only by a desire to hit Richard with my fist until he took his last breath. I couldn't take it anymore. I called in reinforcements, and within thirty minutes, Chloe, Keisha, and Iris were at the apartment.

Chloe arrived first, Keisha and Iris showing up shortly after. Chloe gave me the longest hug before she turned to beast mode.

"I knew it. I knew it. You weren't just kidnapped randomly," she said as we all sat on the couch with mimosas at three p.m.

"What happened, Amelia?" asked Iris in her soft voice.

"We are here for you. You know that, right?" said Keisha as she grabbed my hand.

"I know. I can"t believe you are all here. You all have been here for how long?"

"We flew in a few times," answered Chloe. "We didn't trust Richard was handling this. And he wasn't. We came back when we saw the news that you were alive and all they wanted was two fucking million. We made sure every newspaper in the fucking country picked up the news. If you didn't come back alive, Richard would be done for."

"He wouldn't give us any information. Nothing. George either. They told us the police didn't want anyone getting involved, that your life would be in danger if people interfered," added Iris.

"Iris called us. She knew something was off," said Keisha.

"Well, he never cried. Never. He was agitated, but that wasn't the reaction you'd expect for a daughter, or even a daughter-in-law," explained Iris.

"I don"t know what to say," I said, fighting the tears.

Chloe and Keisha had jobs working in big law firms, things to do, yet all three of them were here and had tried to help me get back to my life. If only they knew. But I didn't know how to tell them. I didn't know how to say the words.

"You don"t have to talk if you don"t want to," said Iris. "But we are here. You know that, right?"

"And we will find those bastards who took you. I promise you they will pay. I don't know what they…what they did to you." Chloe took a break to swallow.

Seeing my strongest friend wobble was all I could take. I exploded, tears leaving my body as if I hadn't cried in years. My friends, my family, my sisters…they held me until I didn't have any feelings left in me, until I was too exhausted to feel anything. Only then could I tell them everything.

"I got taken because Richard stole diamonds from some cartel in Mexico. They wanted the diamonds back."

Iris put her hand over her mouth, holding in a gasp. Keisha's eyes grew wide, and Chloe shook her head.

"I don't know what dealings he had with them, how he knew to steal those diamonds in the first place. But that's what happened. They took me on my birthday when they couldn't find them in his safe. He wouldn't budge, though. They tried to negotiate with him, but he wouldn't give them the diamonds in exchange for me."

"Fucking bastard," said Keisha.

We all stayed silent for a bit. Iris held me in her arms while Keisha held my hand in hers. Chloe kneeled in front of me, her hands on my knees. She was too perceptive to be satisfied.

"How do you know all this?"

I hesitated. Talking about Alejandro…that was the hard part of it all. Harder than the kidnapping. Harder than Richard's betrayal.

"I tried to escape a couple of times. The first time was just a few days in. Well, I did escape, but the person who I ran into on the street, he…he was semi-connected with the kidnappers. He took me, against my will, to his house and held me there. He didn't hurt me," I quickly added. It was important to me that they knew.

"He kept me there, but I was fed, clothed, staying in this gorgeous house with this…mysterious man who tried to make me comfortable but wouldn't tell me much of what was going on. Until he did. He explained who he was—his name is Alejandro—and why I was taken. His brother got killed when Richard attacked the shop to take the diamonds. He wanted revenge. The cartel told him they would give him the video of the crime, showing Richard clearly shooting people, including his brother, if he helped them find the diamonds. He lives here, too. So he got close to Richard to break into his house and look for the diamonds. When they didn't find them, the cartel decided to take me. He wasn't able to stop them."

"Bullshit," said Keisha. Iris shot her a stare. She sighed. "Sorry."

All I could do was smile. Any of my friends would stab Alejandro for me if they could.

"I believe him. I believe him because when Richard found out where I was, he sent people—not to rescue me, but to kill me so they wouldn't have something to hold against him anymore. Alejandro saved my life. He took a bullet for me, using his body as a shield."

Tears started pouring out of me again at the memory of the man I loved bleeding all over, almost dying in my arms.

Chloe eyes went wide.

"Oh my God," said Iris.

"That"s some crazy shit," said Chloe.

"Yes, yes, it is," I said as I laughed and cried.

"Anyway, I plotted with Alejandro's girlfriend to get that picture of me in the news, asking for two million dollars, to force Richard's hand. Alejandro was furious."

"Did he hurt you?" asked Keisha as she swallowed.

"No," I answered, smiling against my better judgment. "He didn't want to risk my life for the diamonds."

Chloe searched my eyes, a small smile drawing on her lips. Keisha just looked startled, looking at the both of us.

"Okay. What is going on?" asked Iris.

"He seems awfully concerned about the safety of someone he kept captive, doesn"t he?" asked Chloe.

I swallowed, hard. I needed to say it.

"I slept with him."

"What the fuck?" Iris blurted out.

We all turned to her. Iris, my most prim and proper friend, the only trust-fund baby of the group—well, until now—didn't generally use curse words.

"What?" she asked, the picture of innocence.

We all exploded with laughter when she looked at us with a confused look on her face.

"'What the fuck' is exactly right," said Keisha in between laughter.

"Okay," Chloe said, trying to bring some order to our cackling. "Where is he now?" she asked, searching my eyes.

I stopped laughing. I couldn't use my words. I just started crying again as Chloe took me back into her arms.

We talked for another three hours. It felt good to tell others, to certify how fucked up my life had been for the past few months. Too much had happened. So much had changed that my life no longer fit the old lifestyle I once had.

But I couldn't help the relief that came with telling my best friends the truth. That I had fallen for Alejandro. It felt crazy to admit that I wanted him above all else, even if I didn't feel like I could be with him after everything that had happened. I had never planned on giving my heart away. It was always a risk that I didn't want to take.

My mother had, and I paid the consequences of that, living in a house where I was rejected by the only parental figure I had. What was the point of love, of putting oneself at the mercy of another? None of it mattered now, though. He had his diamonds. He had his revenge. And I now apparently had a company to run.

I called Nicholas Constantinou as soon as the girls reluctantly left. Chloe thought he would be perfect to help with the legal battle I had coming. Chloe and Keisha did not practice in California, and this wasn"t really an area of expertise for any of them. But it was perfect for Nicholas. He had called me shortly after I had returned home after the kidnapping, but I had not yet called him back.

Nico was my high school boyfriend. He had always been a good friend to me, making many men and women quite envious of me, considering that the man was your typical tall, dark, and handsome, eligible, rich bachelor. More importantly for me at the moment, he was a very successful trust and estates attorney with experience in shareholder disputes. He was out of town when I called, but we FaceTimed for over an hour.

Nicholas was livid. He never got along with Richard. Within twenty minutes of hanging up the phone with him, I had received five emails from Steve and other executives at the company, sending me and Nicholas all the documents we needed to review. I saw the power of attorney, my mother's will, and all the dividends that had been transferred to an account set up under my name over the past twenty years.

Within two hours, I was able to drive to Citibank, with Nicholas on the phone, to solve what had clearly been fraudulent transfers from that account to Richard's accounts over the years. He was quite clever and never emptied the account completely. All future automatic transfers were canceled, and I was now finding out that I had over eight million dollars to my name. Nicholas had also pulled my tax records. I was ashamed to admit that I had never bothered with them.

Richard had an attorney that took care of both our taxes, so I usually sent him my W-2 and 1099s, and he took care of it. I never really made a lot of money, so it wasn't a problem. I didn't expect any tax returns either because of all the money I got from Richard—or at least what I thought was his. Richard had managed to pay taxes on the dividends on my behalf—I'm sure because an issue with the IRS would have indeed caused his farce to crumble very quickly.

The only thing that was keeping me from running away right now was Nicholas's calming voice telling me that everything was going to be okay, reminding me that this was a best-case scenario, really. Now, money I didn't know I had was mine.