Chapter 2: The Family Behind the Mask
Alejandro stood motionless, holding the photographs as if they weighed a hundred pounds.
For years, he had believed his family was simply difficult.
Cold.
Traditional.
Demanding.
He had convinced himself that Valeria was too sensitive. That his mother’s sharp words were just “the way she was.” That Marcela’s jealousy was nothing more than a sister protecting the family name.
But now, every memory looked different.
Every ignored moment returned like a wound reopening.
The night Valeria cried after their wedding dinner.
The morning she stopped painting.
The afternoons she sat alone in the mansion’s library while his family laughed downstairs.
He had seen everything.
And he had chosen not to see.
“Who took these?” he asked.
Valeria shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
A painful smile crossed her face.
“Because your mother reminded me that your family owns half the city’s lawyers.”
Alejandro looked away.
That sentence hurt because he knew it was true.
The Aranda name opened doors.
It also closed mouths.
“Tell me everything,” he whispered.
Valeria hesitated.
For two years, she had protected him from a truth he wasn’t ready to accept.
Now there was no reason to protect him anymore.
“The night after our wedding, your mother came into my room.”
Alejandro frowned.
“My mother?”
“She told me I was never good enough for you.”
Valeria’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“She said I was a temporary mistake. A poor artist who caught the attention of a billionaire.”
Alejandro felt his jaw tighten.
“But that wasn’t the worst part.”
“What was?”
“She told me something I never forgot.”
Valeria looked directly into his eyes.
“She said, ‘A woman like you can be replaced. A family like ours cannot.’”
Silence filled the room.
Alejandro swallowed.
“Why now? Why did you hide for so long?”
Valeria touched her pregnant belly.
“Because I found out someone was trying to hurt our child.”
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
She pulled out another piece of paper.
A medical report.
Then another.
The second one had a handwritten note attached.
Make sure the baby never carries the Aranda name.
Alejandro’s hands began shaking.
“Who wrote this?”
Valeria looked toward the locked bedroom door.
Then she whispered:
“The same person who has been standing beside you, pretending to love you.”
Before Alejandro could answer, a voice came from the hallway.
“Darling?”
Both of them froze.
Doña Esther.
“I heard shouting.”
The door handle slowly turned.
Alejandro looked at Valeria.
For the first time in their marriage, they were on the same side.
And for the first time, his mother realized something had changed.
May you like
Her son was no longer defending her.
He was protecting his wife.
