Chapter 2: The Truth Behind the Perfect Marriage
Three days later...
Valeria sat inside her father's mansion overlooking the city.
For the first time in years...
She slept without locking her bedroom door.
She woke up without fear.
She ate breakfast without wondering if every word would make someone angry.
But peace did not erase pain.
Ricardo found her sitting alone in the garden.
"You still love him."
Valeria didn't answer immediately.
She touched her stomach.
"I loved the man I thought he was."
Her father sat beside her.
"And now?"
She looked at the morning sunlight.
"Now I know I loved someone who never existed."
Ricardo remained silent.
Because he understood.
The hardest betrayal was not losing a person.
It was realizing the person you loved was an illusion.
That afternoon, Valeria received a message.
From Santiago.
"I need to talk to you. Alone."
She almost deleted it.
Almost.
But something inside her needed answers.
She agreed to meet him in a public place with security nearby.
When Santiago arrived...
He looked different.
The expensive suits were gone.
The confidence was gone.
For the first time, he looked like a man who had lost everything.
"Valeria..."
She stared at him.
"Don't call me that like you still know me."
His eyes lowered.
"I made mistakes."
She almost laughed.
"Mistakes?"
Her voice remained calm.
"You tried to take my child."
"You tried to have me declared mentally unstable."
"You threatened my life."
Santiago swallowed.
"My mother pushed me."
"No."
Valeria shook her head.
"You made your choices."
For a moment...
Santiago looked like he wanted to apologize.
But then his true nature appeared again.
"You ruined everything."
Valeria froze.
"You still don't understand."
He leaned closer.
"If you had just signed the papers, none of this would have happened."
That was when she knew.
He wasn't sorry.
He was angry because he lost control.
Security immediately stepped forward.
But Valeria raised her hand.
"No."
She looked directly at Santiago.
"I spent two years afraid of you."
A pause.
"Today is the last day you get to scare me."
She walked away.
Behind her...
Santiago realized something terrifying.
The woman he believed was weak...
Was the only person who had defeated him.
Weeks passed.
Valeria gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Ricardo held his grandson with tears in his eyes.
He had built an empire.
But nothing had ever mattered more than that moment.
Valeria named her son Mateo.
A name meaning "gift from God."
But happiness was interrupted.
Because Beatriz Rivas disappeared from custody before her trial.
And she left one final message.
May you like
A threat.
"You destroyed my family. Now I will destroy yours."
