His voice was gentle now.
That frightened her more than when he had been shouting.
“At the hospital.”
“Is my son okay?”
My son.
Not are you okay.
“The doctors are monitoring him.”
“Thank God.”
A pause.
“Valeria, you need to come home.”
“No.”
“My parents are upset.”
Valeria nearly laughed.
“Your parents are upset?”
“You know what I mean. Tonight got out of hand.”
“Your father burned me with a cigarette while you held my wrists.”
“That’s not what happened.”
Valeria looked directly at Lucía.
“Then what happened?”
“You were hysterical. You started screaming. Dad tried to calm you down.”
“With a cigarette?”
“He barely touched you.”
Valeria’s hand tightened around the phone.
Lucía raised one finger.
Stay calm.
Nicolás continued.
“And then you destroyed the table in front of everyone. Mariana has it on video.”
There.
He had offered it without being asked.
Valeria swallowed.
“Mariana was recording?”
“She started when you became aggressive.”
“That’s interesting.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
His breathing changed.
“Have you spoken to anyone?”
“Yes. Doctors.”
“I mean police.”
Valeria allowed two seconds of silence.
“Why?”
“Because involving police will make everything worse.”
“For whom?”
“For our family.”
“Our family?”
“You’re carrying my child.”
Valeria placed a hand over her belly.
“And I’m your wife.”
“Exactly.”
“So why did you hold me down?”
Another silence.
Then Nicolás made the mistake that destroyed whatever remained of Valeria’s doubt.
“Because we needed you to stop resisting.”
Lucía’s eyes lifted.
Valeria felt tears fill hers.
Not from sadness.
From clarity.
“Resisting what, Nicolás?”
He realized too late.
“I meant resisting my father.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“You’re twisting my words.”
“I’m repeating them.”
His voice hardened.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Valeria.”
“No.”
“The penthouse is my marital residence too. You cannot just throw me out because you had a tantrum.”
Lucía quietly wrote something on a notepad and slid it toward her.
ASK ABOUT MONEY.
I got married at 15… But the morning after our wedding night, my husband told everyone that I was not a virgin and left me
SHE WAS FORCED TO MARRY THE “PIG BILLIONAIRE” TO PAY OFF HER FAMILY’S DEBTS
My Neighbors Digged A Two-Acre Lake In My Land While I Was Out Of State, Then They Told Me That Their Contractor Said It Was Theirs, And That Was The Day I Learned How Expensive Kara Arrogance Can Be
Thanks to this trick your house will never stop smelling: 2 ingredients are enough
The Envelope She Couldn’t Hide 1
