Chapter 9 - THE PERSON BEHIND EVERYTHING
The apartment went silent.
Too silent.
I turned toward the hallway.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
Camila stood up.
“Valeria…”
Her voice was shaking.
That scared me.
Because fear looked natural on her.
Not fake.
Not calculated.
Real.
The door at the end of the hallway moved slightly.
Someone was there.
I reached for my phone.
Then the lights went out.
Everything happened fast.
A shadow moved.
Camila screamed.
I heard something crash.
Then a hand grabbed my arm.
I reacted without thinking.
I pushed.
The person stumbled backward.
The emergency lights turned on.
And I saw his face.
Daniel.
I froze.
“You?”
Daniel looked terrified.
“Valeria, listen to me.”
Camila stepped back.
“You attacked him?”
I looked between them.
Nothing made sense.
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed.
“By breaking into an apartment?”
“You don’t understand.”
I was tired of hearing those words.
Everyone said them.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone knew something I didn’t.
“Then explain.”
Daniel looked at Camila.
“She doesn’t know.”
Camila frowned.
“Know what?”
Daniel swallowed.
“The real reason Alejandro married Valeria.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Alejandro didn’t discover your identity after the marriage.”
I stared.
“What are you saying?”
“He knew before.”
The room stopped moving.
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
He looked at me.
“Think about it.”
And suddenly, every strange moment came back.
The questions Alejandro never asked.
The way his family treated me.
The sudden interest in my father’s company.
The financing deal.
The timing.
No.
I refused.
“No.”
Daniel’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at Camila.
She wasn’t surprised.
That was the worst part.
“You knew.”
She looked away.
“Yes.”
My heart cracked.
“How long?”
“Almost from the beginning.”
I stepped back.
Three years.
Three years of my life.
Three years of believing I was loved.
“What was I to him?”
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel said the sentence that destroyed everything.
“A business opportunity.”
I left without saying another word.
I drove for an hour without knowing where I was going.
Because the person I hated most was no longer Camila.
It was myself.
For believing.
For trusting.
For ignoring every sign.
My phone rang.
Alejandro.
I almost didn’t answer.
But I did.
“Hello?”
His voice came immediately.
“Valeria, please listen.”
I laughed.
“Why?”
“Because I need to explain.”
“No.”
“Please.”
I stopped the car.
“Tell me one thing.”
Silence.
“Did you know who I was before you married me?”
Nothing.
That was the answer.
I closed my eyes.
“You did.”
“Valeria—”
“You did.”
His voice became desperate.
“It wasn’t like that.”
I smiled sadly.
“Then what was it like?”
Silence.
Then:
“I thought I could love you.”
The words hurt.
Because they sounded almost honest.
Almost.
“But?”
A long pause.
“But I was angry.”
“At what?”
“At the fact that you had everything.”
I whispered:
“So you married me to get closer to it.”
“No.”
But his voice was weak.
I knew.
“You didn’t love me.”
“Valeria—”
“You loved what my name could give you.”
I ended the call.
The next morning, I returned to Grupo Vanguardia.
My father was waiting.
“You know.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
He looked away.
“Because I was afraid.”
I had never heard my father say that.
“Afraid of what?”
He answered quietly:
“Afraid that if you knew the truth about everyone…”
“You would stop trusting anyone.”
I looked around the empire he built.
Then at him.
“Maybe that already happened.”
Before he could answer, every screen in the office turned on.
A news alert appeared.
BREAKING NEWS:
GRUPO VANGUARDIA UNDER INVESTIGATION.
My father went pale.
I read the headline.
Then the second line.
And my heart stopped.
The person who leaked the documents…
was me.
My signature.
My authorization.
My name.
May you like
Someone had framed me.
And they had done it perfectly.
