Her cousin posted everything on social media.
A photo.
One location only.
That was all Rodrigo needed.
“So, what am I supposed to do?”
Alejandro inhaled slowly.
“You can stay at my place for a few days.”
Valeria stared at him.
“I’m sorry?”
“Until we find a solution.”
She immediately shook her head.
“No. I cannot accept that. I don’t even know you.”
Alejandro gave a slight smile.
“Three hours ago, you also didn’t know the man on whose shoulder you slept for two hours.”
For the first time since her divorce, Valeria laughed.
Just a tiny bit.
But she laughed.
“It was different.”
“For what?”
“Because at that time, I didn’t know you were a multimillionaire.”
“And what has changed?”
Valeria had no answer.
Alejandro continued quietly.
“I’m not proposing this because you’re beautiful. And not just because you have a child. I’m proposing this because years ago, someone did the same thing for me.”
She looked at him with silent curiosity.
“What happened?”
He turned his gaze towards the road.
“My wife died twelve years ago.”
Valeria stopped breathing for a moment.
“We had a baby too.”
Her voice softened.
“The baby did not survive.”
A heavy silence reigned in the SUV.
Valeria then understood the sadness in his eyes.
Exhaustion.
The way he looked at Sofia, a mixture of tenderness and pain.
Alejandro had never truly escaped this loss.
An hour later, they passed through the imposing gates of a residence in Bosques de las Lomas.
Valeria was frozen.
It wasn’t just a house.
It looked like a private hotel complex.
Perfect gardens.
Illuminated fountains.
Ancient trees.
Tall windows that shine in the night.
But what struck her most was not the luxury.
There was silence.
There was no loud music.
No parties.
No exuberance.
May there be peace.
When they got out of the SUV, an elderly woman rushed out of the house.
Part 3:
“Mr. Alejandro!”
“Good evening, Clara.”
The woman looked at Valeria, then at Sofia.
His expression softened instantly.
“I hadn’t seen him smile like that in years…”
Alejandro cleared his throat, embarrassed.
“Clara, please prepare a room for them.”
The woman smiled warmly.
“My pleasure.”
That night, while Valeria was giving Sofia a bath, she heard voices coming from Alejandro’s office.
The door was not completely closed.
She had no intention of listening.
But the words still reached him.
“Sir, we have begun investigating Rodrigo Salinas.”
“And?”
“He has debts of over eighty million pesos.”
Alejandro said nothing.
“We also found several complaints of fraud.”
“Continue.”
“There’s something else…”
The head of security placed a file on the desk.
“We believe that Miss Valeria’s divorce had been planned for over a year.”
Alejandro looked up.
“Explain.”
“Rodrigo created shell companies. He transferred properties. He hid money. And it seems he worked with several lawyers to leave her with almost nothing.”
Alejandro slowly opened the file.
As he turned the pages, his expression grew colder.
Then his gaze fell upon a photograph.
Valeria was seen signing documents.
Smiling.
She was completely unaware that the papers in front of her were stripping her of her own possessions.
Alejandro slammed the file shut.
“He didn’t just betray her.”
“No, sir.”
“He stole it.”
“Exactly. And we think there could be something worse behind all this.”
The next morning, Valeria woke up with a start.
She had heard something outside.
Taking care not to wake Sofia, she got out of bed and walked towards the window.
Then the air left his lungs.
A grey truck was parked opposite the main gate.
The same type of car that Rodrigo drove.
Its lights were off.
But someone inside was watching the house.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Number unknown.
With trembling fingers, she replied.
The voice on the other end of the line was the one she had sworn never to hear again.
“Hello, Valeria.”
She froze.
“Rodrigo…”
He laughed softly.
“I know where you are.”
Valeria turned back towards the truck.
Her knees almost gave way.
“You can’t hide behind this businessman forever.”
She tried to end the call.
But Rodrigo spoke again.
And his last words chilled her to the bone.
“Tomorrow, I’m coming to pick up my daughter… and for something Alejandro Montenegro doesn’t know yet.”
The call has ended.
Valeria remained motionless.
She didn’t understand what he meant.
But on the other side of the corridor, Alejandro had heard everything.
And for the first time in years, he realized that their meeting on the plane had not been a mere coincidence.
Someone had been pulling the strings of a much larger game for months.
Now, he and Valeria found themselves at the center of a conspiracy involving millions of pesos, a family betrayal, and a secret powerful enough to destroy more than one of Mexico’s most influential families.
