Chapter 4 - THE FIRST LIE HE ABANDONED
Ricardo tried denial for approximately nine seconds.
Then he skipped directly to justification.
“You don’t understand the situation.”
That phrase should be printed on the family crest of unfaithful men everywhere.
“Explain it.”
He paced.
“Daniela and I made mistakes.”
“A child is not a scheduling mistake.”
His face hardened.
“You followed me?”
“I was taking care of your mother.”
That stopped him.
Because now we both knew Elvira was part of the conversation.
“She didn’t know everything,” he said.
“She knew enough to keep me upstairs.”
Ricardo looked away.
I had my answer.
“How long?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Daniela and I started seeing each other last year.”
“During the Guadalajara convention?”
Silence.
Of course.
There had been a convention.
An extra night because of cancelled meetings.
A receipt from a hotel restaurant he said was for clients.
All the tiny things I had chosen not to assemble.
“And the baby?”
“Seven months.”
I calculated automatically.
The conception date landed around the weekend of Sofía’s sixteenth birthday.
Ricardo had left her party early because of an “emergency shipment.”
Something inside me became colder.
“Does Sofía know?”
“No.”
“She will hear it from me.”
His head snapped up.
“You are not dragging our daughter into adult problems.”
I almost admired the hypocrisy.
“You already dragged her into them when you created another family.”
He changed tactics.
“Mariana, we can handle this privately.”
“Good. My lawyer prefers private settlement discussions.”
His eyes went to Alejandra’s card.
“You called a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
He looked at me as though betrayal belonged only to him.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Daniela.
He rejected the call.
I smiled.
“Answer her.”
“Stop.”
“She might be asking whether I found out.”
His jaw tightened.
Then he said something strange.
“Whatever you do, don’t touch the money until we talk to Arturo.”
“Who is Arturo?”
“Our company accountant.”
That interested me.
Not marriage counselor.
Not lawyer.
Accountant.
May you like
The affair was only the first problem.
The seven million was connected to something else.
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