Chapter 13 - ISABEL

I didn’t confront Daniel.

Not yet.

I called Isabel.

She answered on the fourth ring.

“Hello?”

“Isabel Cortés?”

“Yes?”

“This is Mariana Reyes.”

Silence.

Then she hung up.

I called again.

Voicemail.

I sent one message.

I KNOW ABOUT YOU AND DANIEL. I AM NOT CALLING TO ATTACK YOU. I NEED THE TRUTH.

Twenty minutes later, she replied.

MEET ME TOMORROW.

We met in a hotel café.

Isabel looked nervous.

She was thirty-two.

Dark hair.

No makeup.

No wedding ring.

And no baby with her.

I sat down.

“Were you pregnant?”

Her eyes filled instantly.

“Yes.”

“Daniel’s?”

“Yes.”

I felt something strange.

Not jealousy.

That would have required love.

Just exhaustion.

“When?”

“Last year.”

“What happened?”

“I miscarried at fourteen weeks.”

My anger shifted.

“I’m sorry.”

She seemed surprised.

“Thank you.”

“Did you know he was married?”

“At first, no.”

“Later?”

“Yes.”

“And you stayed.”

She nodded.

“I’m not proud of it.”

“Why?”

“He told me you were divorcing.”

I gave a bitter smile.

“Of course he did.”

“He said you lived separate lives.”

“We shared a bed.”

She looked sick.

“He said you only stayed married because of Camila.”

I almost laughed again.

“He also told Rodrigo I was investing millions in his company.”

Isabel stared at me.

“You know about Rodrigo?”

“Yes.”

She leaned back.

“Then Daniel is in serious trouble.”

“He is.”

“DVA wasn’t supposed to be a real company.”

“What?”

“It was supposed to get bought.”

“By who?”

“Rodrigo.”

That caught my attention.

“Explain.”

Isabel told me Daniel planned to create DVA, transfer several client relationships into it, inflate its value, and sell his stake.

“Where would the clients come from?”

She looked directly at me.

“Your company.”

My blood went cold.

Daniel wasn’t trying to build something.

He was trying to gut my business.

Take my clients.

Sell the shell.

Leave with Isabel.

“When did you learn?”

“After I got pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I believed him.”

She looked ashamed.

“Then I lost the baby.”

Her voice shook.

“And Daniel stopped answering my calls.”

I said nothing.

“He told me he needed space.”

Of course he did.

Two women.

Two lives.

Both useful until they became inconvenient.

Isabel reached into her bag.

“I kept everything.”

She handed me a USB drive.

“What’s on this?”

“Messages.”

“What kind?”

“Daniel explaining the plan.”

My heart started pounding.

“Why give this to me?”

She looked toward the window.

“Because after the miscarriage, he told me I imagined our future.”

Her eyes hardened.

“He erased me.”

I understood that feeling.

Before we parted, Isabel said,

“There’s one message you need to read first.”

“Which one?”

“The one where I asked what would happen to Camila if he left you.”

I gripped the USB.

“What did he say?”

Isabel looked at me for a long moment.

Then she answered.

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