Chapter 2 - The Promise Written Three Years Ago
Paulina slowly lowered her hand.
“Nothing.”
Diego looked at her without blinking.
“You nearly tore it out of my hands.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From another performance.”
Diego opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter folded into three careful sections.
A faded photograph slipped out and landed on the marble floor.
Marisol covered her mouth.
It was the first ultrasound image of Valentina.
Diego bent down and picked it up.
His name was written on the back.
Diego,
This is your daughter.
I do not want money.
I only need you to know she exists.
Diego read the words twice.
His fingers tightened around the photograph.
He unfolded the letter.
Marisol remembered every sentence.
She had written it in a rented room while rain leaked through the ceiling.
She had been seven months pregnant.
She had been terrified.
She had begged Diego to meet her once.
She had included the address of the clinic.
She had written that she would wait there every Friday afternoon for one month.
Diego finished reading and looked at Marisol.
“You waited?”
“Every Friday.”
“For four weeks?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you had made your choice.”
Diego closed his eyes.
“I never received this.”
Paulina scoffed.
“That proves nothing.”
Diego turned toward her.
“It proves you had a letter you claimed not to know existed.”
“I found it recently.”
“Where?”
“I already told you.”
“In my old office?”
“Yes.”
“That building was demolished two years ago.”
Paulina’s face lost its color.
Marisol stared at her.
Diego took out his phone.
“Gabriel.”
His head of security answered immediately.
“I want every employee entrance and exit locked.”
“No one leaves this property without my permission.”
Paulina stepped forward.
“You are imprisoning me?”
“I am protecting evidence.”
“Evidence?”
Diego held up the letter.
“This was stolen from me.”
Paulina laughed bitterly.
“You are humiliating your fiancée over a servant.”
Diego’s jaw tightened.
“Stop calling her that.”
“She is your maid.”
“She is the mother of a child who may be mine.”
Paulina’s eyes flashed.
“And if she is?”
Diego looked at Valentina.
“Then I lost three years with my daughter.”
The words broke something inside Marisol.
For years, she had imagined Diego learning the truth.
She had expected anger.
She had expected denial.
She had expected him to accuse her of wanting his money.
She had never imagined hearing regret.
Valentina pulled gently on Marisol’s apron.
“Mommy?”
Marisol crouched.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Why is the man sad?”
Diego turned away, but not before Marisol saw the moisture in his eyes.
“He is remembering something,” Marisol said softly.
The doctor arrived less than an hour later.
Dr. Ignacio Salazar had known Diego’s family for decades.
He collected samples from Diego and Valentina under the supervision of two witnesses.
Paulina stood near the window, watching every movement.
“The results will take several hours,” the doctor explained.
“I will personally deliver them.”
Diego nodded.
“Until then, no one leaves.”
Paulina turned toward the stairs.
“I am not staying for this circus.”
Gabriel stepped into her path.
“Mr. Villaseñor asked everyone to remain downstairs.”
Paulina glared at him.
“Move.”
Gabriel did not.
Diego walked into his study and unlocked an old cabinet.
He removed several boxes containing financial records, personal documents, and archived correspondence.
Marisol remained in the doorway with Valentina.
“What are you looking for?”
“My old appointment books.”
“Why?”
“Because the week you said you called, my office records should show who was working.”
He opened the first book.
Then the second.
Paulina watched from across the hall.
Her face became more tense with every page he turned.
Diego finally stopped.
A name had been written beside every incoming call during the month Marisol tried to reach him.
Tomás Robles.
Paulina’s older brother.
Diego lifted his eyes.
“Your brother was handling my private correspondence.”
Paulina said nothing.
“He worked for my father for six months,” Diego continued.
“He was fired after documents disappeared.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“Then why did you have Marisol’s letter?”
Paulina’s voice sharpened.
“Because Tomás gave it to me.”
Marisol stared at her.
“When?”
Paulina hesitated.
“Years ago.”
Diego stepped closer.
“That means you knew about Valentina before we became engaged.”
Paulina backed away.
“I did not know the child was yours.”
“The letter says she was.”
“I never read it.”
“You just said Marisol was trying to extort me.”
Paulina realized her mistake too late.
The mansion door opened behind them.
Dr. Salazar had returned much sooner than expected.
He carried a white envelope.
His face was grave.
Diego approached him.
“You have the result?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Salazar looked at Valentina.
Then he handed the envelope to Diego.
“The probability of biological paternity is 99.9998 percent.”
No one moved.
Diego looked down at the report.
Valentina was his daughter.
Paulina stared at the paper as though it had sentenced her.
May you like
Then she whispered something so cruel that even Diego looked shocked.
“A child like that will never belong in this family.”
