The moment the video call ended, Carmen’s hands were already moving.
She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t stop to breathe. Didn’t stop to think. Her fingers shook violently as she redialed the number, pressing the phone against her ear.
Marco and Luca watched her, tense, waiting, silent.
The call rang once.
Twice.
Then—
“Carmen, darling,” Ella’s voice slithered through the speaker, smooth and mocking. Carmen’s breath caught, her stomach twisting with rage.
“You actually called me back,” Ella purred, amused. “How sweet. It’s almost like we’re old friends.”
Carmen’s fingers clenched into fists. “Give me back my son,” she whispered, her voice already breaking.
Ella sighed dramatically.
“Oh, Carmen,” she said, fake sympathy dripping from every word. “Why do you sound so upset? Matteo is perfectly fine. No, actually—” she let out a soft laugh, ”—he’s better than fine. He’s happier with me than he ever was with you.”
Carmen’s breathing turned uneven.
“You’re lying,” she hissed.
“Am I?” Ella mused. “You saw it yourself, didn’t you? He called me Mama. He didn’t cry. He didn’t beg for you. He didn’t even ask to go home.”
A sharp pain stabbed through Carmen’s chest. She felt her knees go weak, but she forced herself to stay standing.
Marco stepped closer, his eyes dark and locked onto her.
Luca was already typing furiously on his laptop, working on tracing the call.
“Matteo loves me,” Carmen choked out. “He knows who I am.”
Ella hummed softly.
“Not for long,” she whispered. “Day by day, piece by piece… I’ll erase you from his mind.”
Carmen snapped.
“You’re a fucking monster!” she screamed.
Ella only laughed. “Oh, sweetheart,” she said, her voice as soft as a lullaby. “I’m just a mother. A mother protecting her son.”
Carmen’s hands shook violently. Her vision blurred with fury, heartbreak, and helplessness.
She took a deep breath, her rage turning into something cold and sharp.
“I’m coming for you, psychotic bitch.”
And then she cut the call.
The moment the call ended, Carmen turned to Marco and Luca, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Tell me you have something,” she demanded.
Luca didn’t look up, his fingers still flying over the keyboard.
“Almost,” he muttered. “She used a burner phone, but I’m triangulating the signal.”
Carmen’s hands curled into fists.
“Work faster.”
Marco was watching her, his face unreadable.
“She’s playing with us,” he said. “She wanted you to call her. She wanted you to hear Matteo choosing her over you.”
Carmen whipped around to face him.
“I don’t need you to fucking analyze her!” she snapped. “I need to find my son!”
Marco didn’t react. Didn’t flinch. He just stared at her, something dark in his gaze. “We will find him,” he said, his voice low, controlled.
“Got it.” Luca said.
Both Marco and Carmen snapped toward him.
“Where?” Marco asked sharply.
Luca turned the laptop, revealing a blinking red dot on a map.
“She’s in an estate outside the city. Remote. Private.”