Chapter 4: The Secret That Started Twenty Years Ago
Three weeks later, Santiago was finally healthy enough to leave the hospital.
Valeria slowly regained her strength.
But Miguel still couldn't understand one thing.
Why?
Why had his own mother hated Valeria so much?
The answer arrived unexpectedly.
His aunt Rosa asked to meet him.
They sat together in a quiet café.
She pushed an old envelope across the table.
"You deserve the truth."
Inside were photographs.
Medical records.
Old letters.
Miguel frowned.
"What is this?"
His aunt took a deep breath.
"When you were born..."
She hesitated.
"...your father wanted to leave your mother."
Miguel froze.
"He fell in love with another woman."
Doña Carmen never forgave him.
Instead...
She blamed every woman who ever became important to you."
Miguel slowly turned another page.
Psychological evaluations.
Anger counseling.
Recommendations she had refused.
"She couldn't control your father."
"So she decided to control you."
His hands trembled.
"She hated every girlfriend I ever had."
Rosa nodded.
"You just never noticed."
Then she smiled sadly.
"But Valeria was different."
"Because I married her?"
"No."
She looked straight into his eyes.
"Because she realized your mother wasn't normal."
Everything suddenly connected.
Every insult.
Every family dinner.
Every unexplained argument.
Every attempt to isolate him.
His marriage had never been the real target.
May you like
He had been.
Since childhood.
