The doorbell rang.
Sebastián arrived—flawless, smug, poisonous.
“I’m here for my fiancée.”
“She’s not your fiancée,” Rodrigo replied, firm. “And she’s not your property.”
Sebastián talked contracts. Family deals. “Your father misses you.” Manipulation as always.
But Valeria wasn’t alone anymore.
“If you come near her again,” Rodrigo said coldly, “I will destroy you with the truth. Your money can’t bury everything.”
Sebastián left, but with a final blow: “When your father dies without seeing you, it’ll be your fault.”
The words cut deep.
Bruno returned days later with news.
“We found your father. He’s alive.”
The reunion was healing. Leonardo, fragile and thin, wept when he saw Valeria.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“So am I,” she replied.
Then he turned to Rodrigo.
“Do you love her?”
Rodrigo took her hand.
“Yes. And if she lets me, I’ll spend my life protecting her.”
This time, Valeria didn’t run.
“I love you too,” she whispered. “It terrifies me. But it’s the only truth I don’t want to hide anymore.”
