Carmen’s hands shook as she dialed Marco’s number. Her heart pounded so violently that she felt like she might pass out. The phone rang once, twice—
Then Marco picked up.
“Carmen?” His voice was sharp, alert.
She could barely breathe. “Marco—” her voice cracked, panic flooding her chest. “She took him. Ella took Mateo!”
The line went dead silent. Then—
“What the hell are you talking about?” Marco’s voice was suddenly deadly calm. Carmen spun around to face Alexandra, her free hand trembling.
“Tell him! Tell him what you just told me!”
Alexandra swallowed hard, shifting on her feet.
“Marco, the nanny came to pick up Mateo. She showed me a message saying she was allowed to take him.”
“I NEVER SENT ANY MESSAGE!” Carmen screamed.
Alexandra flinched, clearly shaken.
“She had proof! There were messages, even pictures of Mateo with her—like she was still part of your family.”
Carmen felt like the ground was crumbling beneath her.
Her vision blurred. “It wasn’t me,” she whispered.
“We’re coming now,” Marco growled through the phone. “Don’t let anyone leave that school.”
But the damage was already done.
Mateo was gone.
Again.
By the time Carmen and Marco arrived back at the estate, the entire security team was already searching every inch of the property.
“FIND HIM!” Marco’s voice boomed, his fury like a storm ready to break.
Carmen felt like she was in a nightmare.
She ran through the halls, checking every room, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
But she already knew.
Mateo wasn’t here. He was nowhere. When she stepped into Mateo’s bedroom, her stomach dropped.
It was clean. Too clean.
The bed was perfectly made. The toys that had been scattered the night before? Gone. The crumpled drawings he always left on the desk? Gone.
Even his small, beloved stuffed bear—gone.
Carmen’s knees buckled.
She gripped the doorway, trying to steady herself.
“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no—”
It was like he had never lived there at all.
Marco stormed in, his face pale with fury.
“Where the hell are his things?”
Carmen shook her head violently.
“I don’t know! I haven’t cleaned his room since yesterday!”
Marco turned to the security team.
“ANY SIGNS OF FORCED ENTRY?!”
One of the guards hesitated, then shook his head.
“Nothing, sir. No broken windows. No doors tampered with. No alarms triggered.”
Marco’s fists clenched.
“That’s impossible.”
One of the men pulled up the security footage.
“Sir, you need to see this.”
Marco and Carmen rushed to the screen.
The footage played—
Everything looked normal.
Then—
A glitch.
And when the screen came back—
Matteo’s room was empty. Just like that.
Carmen felt her entire body go cold.
“Play it again,” Marco demanded.
The guard rewound the footage. This time, they watched closely.
Matteo was in the room—
Then the screen glitched—
And then he was gone.
“This isn’t real,” Carmen whispered. “How—how did he just disappear?”
The guard shook his head, looking just as disturbed.
“The cameras were disabled for exactly two minutes, then turned back on.”
Marco turned to the head of security, his voice low and full of rage.
“Are you telling me someone came into my home, took my son, and left without a single goddamn trace?”
No one had an answer.
Carmen stumbled back, gripping the edge of the table for support.
Her lungs felt like they were collapsing.
“She took him again,” she gasped. “And she erased everything. Like he was never here.”
Then—
A loud crash sounded from the doorway. Luca. Out of breath.
Eyes wide and panicked.
“I found something.”