Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WITH THE BLACK BAG
Alejandro ran toward the side gate.
Mateo was already outside.
The woman in the beige uniform had fallen near the gravel driveway.
Her ankle had twisted beneath her.
The black handbag lay several feet away.
Mateo reached it first.
“Don’t touch that!”
Renata’s voice exploded behind them.
Everyone turned.
Renata had followed them out.
Her wedding dress dragged through the gravel.
Alejandro looked at her.
“You just said you didn’t know what was inside.”
Renata froze.
“I meant we shouldn’t go through someone else’s belongings.”
Mateo gave a humorless laugh.
“Very considerate.”
The woman on the ground tried to stand.
“Stay there.”
Mateo’s voice was firm.
She stopped.
Alejandro recognized her now.
She wasn’t hacienda staff.
He had seen her earlier that morning.
She had been inside Renata’s bridal suite.
“You’re Renata’s makeup assistant.”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes, you are.”
Renata stepped between them.
“She was helping several people.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“What’s her name?”
Renata hesitated.
“Paola.”
The woman closed her eyes.
Alejandro looked at Mateo.
“Call security.”
Renata grabbed his wrist.
“Alejandro, please.”
He slowly turned toward her.
“Please what?”
“We need to think.”
“I am thinking.”
“No, you’re angry.”
“My daughter was locked in a room.”
Renata lowered her voice.
“Not everything needs to become public.”
Alejandro looked toward the garden.
Dozens of guests were standing now.
Phones were out.
Whispers were spreading.
Renata noticed too.
Her expression changed.
“Alejandro, our families are here.”
“So?”
“My father’s business partners are here.”
There it was.
Not Lucía.
Not the child crying on the floor.
Not what had happened.
Her father’s business partners.
Alejandro almost laughed.
Mateo picked up the handbag.
Paola suddenly lunged.
She grabbed the strap.
Mateo held on.
“Let go.”
“No!”
Paola pulled harder.
The zipper tore open.
Everything spilled onto the gravel.
Lipstick.
Keys.
A phone.
A small bottle of perfume.
An envelope.
And a child’s pink bracelet.
Alejandro stopped breathing.
Lucía had followed his mother outside.
She saw it.
“That’s mine.”
Everyone turned.
Lucía pointed at the bracelet.
“My mommy gave me that.”
Alejandro picked it up.
He knew it instantly.
Mariana had bought it during a family trip to San Miguel de Allende.
Lucía wore it on special occasions.
Alejandro looked at Paola.
“Why do you have my daughter’s bracelet?”
Paola began shaking.
“I found it.”
“Where?”
“In the hallway.”
Lucía shook her head.
“No.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“Tell me.”
Lucía pointed at Paola.
“She was there.”
Paola’s face collapsed.
Renata immediately stepped forward.
“Lucía is confused.”
Alejandro raised one hand.
“Stop.”
Renata fell silent.
Lucía continued.
“She held the door.”
Alejandro felt his stomach drop.
“What door?”
“The bathroom door.”
Paola started crying.
“No.”
Lucía’s voice trembled.
“Renata pushed me inside.”
The guests closest to them gasped.
Lucía pointed at Paola.
“And she closed it.”
Paola covered her mouth.
Renata snapped.
“She is lying!”
Alejandro turned on her.
“Enough!”
His voice carried across the hacienda.
Even the people in the garden went silent.
Alejandro picked up the envelope.
Renata moved.
Fast.
She grabbed for it.
Mateo blocked her.
Alejandro stared at her.
“What is this?”
“Nothing.”
He opened it.
Inside were printed documents.
At first, the words didn’t make sense.
Then they did.
Alejandro read the first page.
His pulse slowed.
Not because he was calm.
Because his body had entered that strange place beyond anger.
It was a school enrollment application.
For a boarding school.
In Switzerland.
Student name:
Lucía Rivera Morales.
Alejandro looked up.
Renata couldn’t meet his eyes.
He read further.
The planned enrollment date was six weeks after the wedding.
Guardian authorization was required.
Alejandro’s name appeared at the bottom.
With a signature.
His signature.
Except Alejandro had never signed it.
Mateo leaned over.
“What the hell?”
Alejandro turned the page.
There was a letter from the school.
They had received a substantial deposit.
Alejandro stared at the amount.
Forty thousand dollars.
Paid from a private account belonging to Renata’s family.
Lucía looked at him.
“Daddy?”
Alejandro folded the papers.
“Mom, take Lucía inside.”
His mother, Elena, immediately came forward.
“No.”
Lucía grabbed his hand.
“I want to stay with you.”
Alejandro crouched.
“You’re not in trouble.”
“I know.”
“I need to talk to the adults.”
Lucía looked toward Renata.
“She said you already agreed.”
Alejandro’s eyes lifted.
“What?”
Lucía’s voice became tiny.
“She said you wanted me to go away too.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
That hurt more than anything else.
He pulled Lucía against him.
“I never agreed to that.”
“She said you were tired of taking care of me.”
“No.”
“She said after you had new babies, you wouldn’t need me anymore.”
Alejandro’s mother covered her mouth.
Mateo muttered something under his breath.
Alejandro held his daughter’s face.
“Listen to me.”
Lucía looked at him.
“There will never be a day when I don’t need you in my life.”
She started crying.
Alejandro kissed her forehead.
“Never.”
Elena took Lucía toward the hacienda.
Alejandro waited until she was gone.
Then he stood.
He looked at Renata.
“Did you forge my signature?”
Renata shook her head.
“I can explain.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Alejandro—”
“Did you forge my signature?”
Teresa interrupted.
“Perhaps we should all calm down.”
Mateo laughed.
“Your daughter forged his signature to ship an eight-year-old across the Atlantic.”
Teresa glared at him.
“You know nothing about this.”
“Apparently neither did Alejandro.”
Renata’s father, Guillermo, finally appeared from the garden.
He was a tall man with silver hair and a reputation for ending business arguments by simply buying the person on the other side.
“What is happening?”
Renata looked at him.
“Dad.”
Alejandro held up the papers.
“Did you pay forty thousand dollars to enroll my daughter in a boarding school?”
Guillermo’s face changed.
Barely.
But enough.
Alejandro saw it.
“You knew.”
Guillermo straightened.
“I knew there had been discussions.”
“Between whom?”
“Renata and her mother.”
Alejandro looked at Teresa.
Teresa said nothing.
“You planned this together.”
Teresa lifted her chin.
“We were trying to solve a problem.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“My daughter is a problem?”
Teresa didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Alejandro turned toward Renata.
“The wedding is over.”
Renata went still.
“Alejandro.”
“You heard me.”
“You’re angry.”
“The wedding is over.”
“You can’t do this.”
He looked at her.
“I just did.”
Renata’s face twisted.
For the first time that day, the polished bride disappeared.
“You will regret humiliating me.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed.
“Is that a threat?”
Renata stepped closer.
“No.”
Her voice dropped.
“It’s a warning.”
Then Paola, still sitting on the gravel, suddenly spoke.
“Tell him about the medicine.”
Renata spun around.
“Shut up.”
Alejandro looked at Paola.
“What medicine?”
Paola stared at Renata.
Then at Alejandro.
May you like
“The medicine she’s been giving Lucía.”
And Alejandro realized the locked restroom might have been the smallest part of what Renata had done.
