Masked In Nobility: Secrets Of Mrs. Chavez

Yvette casually flexed her fingers, her dark eyes glinting with an icy sharpness. In a tone as calm as asking about the weather, she drawled, “Which way do you think is the best way to die?”

Winona and the men in black froze, stunned. They had been in the underworld for years, yet they had never encountered a woman like this.

On the brink of death, she was asking them how they wanted to die as if it were the simplest question in the world. It was almost… unsettling.

Winona scoffed, narrowing her eyes at Yvette, trying to mask her unease. She thought, ‘Is this woman insane? What kind of question was that?‘

An uneasy silence settled over the group, each of them caught off guard by her strange question. No one knew how to respond. Yvette sat with her legs bent, relaxed and indifferent. She’d given them a chance–if they didn’t want it, so be it.

Glancing at her watch, Yvette realized it was nearly lunchtime. If she didn’t hurry, she’d miss the pork ribs they served in the cafeteria–a limited special, first come, first served.

Meanwhile, Zachary couldn’t sit still after receiving Winona’s call. She’d threatened that if he called the police, she would kill Yvette on the spot–ready to go down with her if needed. He had to go alone to an abandoned chemical factory on the outskirts.

Zachary knew the place–a project started by a developer years ago, only to be abandoned and left to decay when the developer fled. The area had been deserted for decades, an empty shell of rusted metal and broken machinery.

While driving like a madman, Zachary ran multiple red lights, focusing solely on getting to Yvette.

If anything happened to Yvette, how could he ever face Lilian again? His life would be hollow without Yvette. Although he knew Yvette was an Interpol officer and could handle herself, Winona was cunning and likely had used some underhanded scheme against her. Zachary prepared himself for the worst. He’d trade his life for Yvette’s if he had to.

He couldn’t allow anything bad to happen to Yvette. Winona, that lunatic, should never have been let go–she was a ticking time bomb.

As he sped down the deserted roads, a myriad of terrifying outcomes flooded his mind, fear gripping him with each passing second. Half an hour later, he finally reached the abandoned factory, his heart pounding.

Without hesitation, Zachary threw himself against the door, bursting it open and stumbling inside. When he looked up, he froze, utterly stunned by the sight before him.

“What…what the hell is this?” Zachary couldn’t help but blurt out stunned by the scene before him.

Inside the abandoned factory, the sight was surreal. A group of black men were kneeling on the ground, each in a perfect, disciplined posture, their arms limp at their sides. Their faces were ghostly pale, eyes wide with terror, their gaze vacant and haunted.

Blood pooled beneath their knees, filling the air with a nauseating metallic scent–their kneecaps had been shattered, and their hands were clearly broken.

Behind the men, a trembling Winona clutched her stomach, her face ashen, her eyes unfocused, hair disheveled as she sat huddled on the ground.

Nearby, slumped against a pillar, was an unconscious woman, her face obscured by her hair. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar to Zachary, And in the middle of it all sat Yvette, perched on an old, abandoned piece of machinery, her legs swinging casually as she focused on her phone.

Zachary swallowed hard, struggling to process the scene. He’d prepared himself for every worst–case scenario–except this one.

“Yvette?” Zachary called, his voice barely above a whisper.

Yvette replied, “Yep. You made it.” She glanced up briefly, a hint of impatience in her gaze as if to say she’d already be halfway to the cafeteria’s pork ribs if she hadn’t been waiting for him.

Zachary’s mouth twitched. He was at a complete loss for words. Having such a fierce daughter was definitely an experience— and not for the faint–hearted.

As if it were nothing, Yvette hopped down from her perch and walked toward Zachary, her expression calm. “You’re pretty easy to fool, you know.”

Zachary’s initial shock turned to bemused disbelief. At this moment, wasn’t he supposed to be emotional? Only Yvette would greet him with “You’re pretty easy to fool” after such a situation.

He could only shake his head at her nonchalance. He’d been so panicked that he rushed over without calling Yvette to confirm anything.

Hearing the familiar voice, Winona looked up and screamed, “Dad! Dad, help me! Yvette’s a monster, she’s insane! She’s the one who did this to them!”

Images of Yvette ruthlessly incapacitating these fifty men replayed in Winona’s mind, filling her with dread. How could a single person, a woman at that, dismantle a group of fifty men without breaking a sweat? It was beyond comprehension.

As Winona shakily rose to her feet, Zachary looked at her coldly, “You still have the nerve to call me ‘Dad? You kidnapped Yvette. You’re as hopeless and twisted as your mother.”

Winona froze, stunned by his words, and then exploded in a fit of rage. “I’m the hopeless one? Twisted? It’s Yvette who` destroyed everything for me! I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for her!

“I had a happy family until you brought her back. I was supposed to be Richard’s renowned apprentice, but Yvette exposed me at the worst possible moment, turning me into the laughingstock of Seacrity.

“Now I’m barely surviving with the Carters. All of this–all of it is because of Yvette. She should’ve died with her mother! If act as the perfect husband and father. It’s her fault I’m like this!” could’ve continued your she were dead, you

Winona’s voice grew more hysterical as she spat the words, her messy hair framing her crazed expression as she glared daggers at Yvette. Stepping forward, Zachary positioned himself between Winona and Yvette, blocking her view.

This small action tipped Winona over the edge. She clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into her palms, drawing blood. Zachary sighed, looking at her with a mixture of pity and resignation.

After all, Winona was raised by Nellie–a woman who never accepted responsibility and always blamed others. She wouldn’t be in this position if Winona hadn’t harbored such ill intentions.

Zachary looked at Winona, his face etched with disappointment “Even now, you’re blaming everything on Yvette. I warned you when you were young–to walk the right path because once you stray, there’s no going back.

“The situation you’re in now has nothing to do with Yvette. You know exactly how many underhanded tactics you’ve used, both openly and secretly, ever since she returned.

“I was only acting in front of Nellie, but ver wronged you or Zeke. You walked yourself into a corner, blaming Yvette for every misstep. She’s never once sought you out to cause trouble.

“If you hadn’t tried to deceive everyone with forged paintings from the black market, there’d have been nothing for her to expose. Even now, you refuse to admit your mistakes. You truly are beyond saving.”

Yvette stood beside them, one leg bent casually, her expression cold and distant, like the chill of winter sunlight.

There was a lazy indifference about her as the faint starlight on an autumn night–remote and untouchable.