Chapter 6 - The Ranch Belongs to Daniel Now
The phrase echoed through the ballroom.
Marisol says the ranch belongs to Daniel now.
Not might belong.
Not should belong.
Not will inherit.
Belongs.
That word turned Daniel’s face from confusion into dread.
He looked at Marisol.
“You told them that?”
Marisol shook her head too violently.
“No. They misunderstood.”
Clara looked up at the screen.
The men had not sounded confused.
They sounded instructed.
Elena stepped closer to Daniel, voice low and urgent.
“This is your wedding. Do not let your mother make this about property.”
Clara looked at her sharply.
“She made it about property when she announced where I would live.”
Elena’s mouth tightened.
The guests murmured again.
Daniel’s shame deepened.
He had allowed the joke.
That truth sat heavily between him and Clara.
Marisol reached for him, but he stepped back.
Her fingers closed on air.
The movement was small.
For Marisol, devastating.
Her bridal face twisted, tears beginning to shine under her dramatic makeup.
“You’re embarrassing me.”
Clara’s eyes moved to her.
“You began the evening by embarrassing me.”
“That was different.”
“Because you expected me to stay seated?”
Marisol’s lips trembled.
No answer.
On the screen, one Rivas brother suddenly looked off camera.
His body stiffened.
The others kept working for one more second.
Then powerful headlights swept across the ranch gate from somewhere unseen.
The ballroom reacted like the light had entered the room itself.
A woman dropped her champagne flute.
Daniel stepped closer to the screen.
Marisol’s face went rigid.
Elena whispered, “No.”
Clara heard it.
May you like
That single word told her Elena recognized the danger too.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because Marisol could deny the plan, but the unseen headlights at the ranch terrified her before anyone explained why.
