Chapter 7 - THE WARNING
The note was still sitting on the table.
Three words.
STOP TRUSTING YOUR FATHER.
I stared at it until the letters blurred.
Because there was only one thing more terrifying than having enemies.
Having enemies who knew exactly where to hurt you.
I picked up the note carefully.
Daniel had written it.
I was sure of that.
But why?
Why warn me about my own father?
My phone rang again.
“Valeria.”
My father’s voice was controlled, but I could hear the tension underneath.
“Where are you?”
“At the restaurant.”
“Leave now.”
“Dad—”
“Now.”
I looked at the empty chair across from me.
Daniel had disappeared.
Someone had attacked him.
And someone wanted me to doubt the only person who had protected me my entire life.
I grabbed my purse.
“I’m coming.”
When I arrived at the hospital, my father was standing outside the emergency room.
He looked older.
Not weak.
Never weak.
But tired.
That scared me more.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“Someone hit him from behind.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
I exhaled.
“Can I see him?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
My father hesitated.
“Because before he lost consciousness, he said one thing.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father looked away.
“He said your name.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
My father was silent.
That silence told me everything.
“Dad.”
He finally looked at me.
“He said…”
A pause.
“‘She needs to know the truth about Arturo.’”
My heart stopped.
I spent my entire life believing I knew my father.
He was strict.
Protective.
Sometimes impossible.
But he was always honest.
At least, I thought he was.
I walked into the hospital room after the doctor allowed it.
Daniel looked different.
The confident executive was gone.
He looked human.
Broken.
His eyes opened slowly.
“Valeria.”
I stepped closer.
“What happened?”
He tried to sit up.
The doctor warned him.
“Don’t move.”
Daniel ignored him.
“Your father…”
I held my breath.
“What about him?”
Daniel looked at me.
“You don’t know everything.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
He looked at the door.
“Are we alone?”
“Yes.”
He lowered his voice.
“Your father didn’t build Grupo Vanguardia alone.”
I frowned.
“Of course he didn’t.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You don’t understand.”
A pause.
“He took it from someone.”
The room became silent.
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel looked at me sadly.
“Is it?”
I left the hospital angry.
Not because I believed Daniel.
Because part of me was afraid I did.
My father found me outside.
“You talked to him.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
“And?”
I looked at him.
“What happened before Grupo Vanguardia?”
His expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
The hesitation.
And that was enough.
“You know.”
My father looked away.
“Valeria.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You tell me now.”
He said nothing.
“Dad.”
Finally, he spoke.
“There are things I never told you because I wanted to protect you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
I stepped closer.
“Protect me from what?”
My father looked at me.
“The truth.”
That night, I opened every document I could find.
Old company records.
News articles.
Archived reports.
And then I found it.
A name.
A company that disappeared twenty years ago.
Mendoza Holdings wasn’t the beginning.
It was the second chapter.
The first chapter belonged to someone else.
A man named Rafael Serrano.
Camila’s father.
I stared at the screen.
The woman who destroyed my marriage…
was connected to my father’s biggest secret.
May you like
And suddenly, the affair wasn’t random.
Nothing was.
