Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
Diego said nothing.
Paulina continued.
“Five million pesos.”
Marisol covered her mouth.
Diego’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“For what?”
“To make Marisol believe you had moved on.”
“You forged photographs?”
“Some.”
“You intercepted letters?”
“Your mother handled most of them.”
“Most?”
Paulina laughed.
“One reached me.”
Diego closed his eyes.
“What did it say?”
“That Marisol was pregnant.”
Marisol began crying silently.
Diego tightened his grip on the phone.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Valentina might be mine before yesterday.”
Silence.
Then Paulina answered.
“Yes.”
Something inside Diego broke.
“You looked at my daughter every day.”
Paulina said nothing.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“And you tried to throw her out.”
“She was going to ruin everything!”
The words exploded from the phone.
Marisol stared at it.
Paulina had finally stopped pretending.
“I waited years for your mother to accept me.”
Her voice became sharp.
“I did everything she asked.”
“I stayed quiet.”
“I played the role.”
“And then that woman walks back into your life with a child and suddenly I’m supposed to disappear?”
Diego’s eyes turned cold.
“You were never competing with Marisol.”
“Of course I was.”
“No.”
“You were competing with the truth.”
Paulina hung up.
Diego immediately called his attorney.
“I want every transfer between my mother and Paulina Robles investigated.”
He paused.
“And find that box.”
That night, Marisol couldn’t sleep.
At midnight, she walked into the kitchen.
Diego was already there.
No suit jacket.
Sleeves rolled up.
Coffee untouched.
“I should leave.”
Diego looked at her.
“No.”
“This house has become a battlefield because of me.”
“No.”
“Diego.”
He stood.
“This happened because people made decisions for us.”
Marisol looked away.
“I made one too.”
He waited.
“I should have fought harder to reach you.”
“You were pregnant and alone.”
“I still should have tried.”
“You did.”
Silence.
Then Diego asked something unexpected.
“Why did you come here?”
Marisol understood.
Why apply for a job inside his home?
“I needed work.”
“That’s not the whole answer.”
She looked at him.
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
Marisol swallowed.
“I wanted Valentina to see you.”
Diego’s eyes softened.
“Even if you never knew who she was.”
She nodded.
“I thought maybe that would be enough.”
Diego looked down.
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
“It isn’t enough for me either.”
A small voice came from the doorway.
“Mommy?”
They turned.
Valentina stood there holding her rabbit.
Diego crouched.
“Bad dream?”
She nodded.
He opened his arms instinctively.
Then stopped.
He wasn’t sure he had the right.
Valentina made the decision for him.
She walked forward.
And climbed into his arms.
Diego closed his eyes.
Marisol watched him hold their daughter for the first time.
Then Valentina whispered against his shoulder.
“Daddy?”
Diego’s eyes opened.
Marisol stopped breathing.
Valentina touched his cheek.
“Are you my daddy?”
Diego looked at Marisol.
She nodded through her tears.
He turned back to Valentina.
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“I am.”
Valentina smiled.
Then wrapped both arms around his neck.
Diego held her as if he would never let go.
But across the city, Paulina opened Isabel Villaseñor’s stolen wooden box.
Inside was one sealed envelope.
May you like
On the front, Isabel had written:
FOR DIEGO — IF THE TRUTH EVER COMES OUT.
