“No problem.”
Gabriel saw her.
Then Alejandro.
His smile disappeared.
Alejandro noticed.
“You know who she is?”
Gabriel swallowed.
“She works here.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Gabriel’s eyes moved toward Lucía’s stomach.
Then toward Alejandro.
Something close to panic appeared.
Alejandro’s voice lowered.
“What do you know?”
Gabriel said:
“Perhaps we should speak privately.”
Lucía shook her head.
“I have nothing to say.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“Did you send me a message saying you were leaving?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you receive my messages?”
“What messages?”
Alejandro felt cold.
Valeria stepped backward.
This was no longer an awkward encounter with an estranged wife.
Something was wrong.
Deeply wrong.
Alejandro looked at Gabriel.
“Private room.”
“Now.”
Gabriel led them toward a conference lounge.
Lucía refused to move.
“I am on shift.”
Alejandro looked at her uniform.
At the cart.
At the hands he remembered wearing his wedding ring.
“You’re coming with us.”
Lucía’s expression hardened.
“You don’t order me anymore.”
He stopped.
She was right.
Alejandro corrected himself.
“Please.”
Lucía looked at Gabriel.
The manager nodded.
“Your shift is covered.”
She reluctantly followed.
Valeria remained near the lobby entrance.
Alejandro turned.
“Valeria.”
She lifted a hand.
“Go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
There was hurt in her face.
But also understanding.
“This isn’t about me.”
She walked toward the bar.
Alejandro followed Lucía into the conference room.
Gabriel closed the door.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Alejandro looked at his wife.
“Is the baby mine?”
Lucía’s eyes filled.
She looked away.
Alejandro immediately regretted the question.
Not because he did not need the answer.
Because of how he asked it.
Lucía whispered:
“Yes.”
His knees almost weakened.
“How far?”
“Thirty-two weeks.”
He calculated.
Eight months.
The child had been conceived before she disappeared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lucía laughed through tears.
“I tried.”
Alejandro stared.
“When?”
“The morning I found out.”
“I called you.”
“Your number was disconnected.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I emailed.”
“I wrote.”
“I went to your office.”
“Security wouldn’t let me upstairs.”
Alejandro turned toward Gabriel.
The manager looked sick.
Lucía continued.
“Then your attorney contacted me.”
“What attorney?”
“Ramón Salazar.”
Alejandro froze.
Ramón was not merely an attorney.
He was Alejandro’s uncle.
His late mother’s younger brother.
For twenty years, Ramón had been legal adviser to the Montero family.
He had attended Alejandro’s wedding.
He had toasted Lucía.
He had called her family.
“What did Ramón say?”
Lucía looked at Alejandro.
“He said you knew about the baby.”
“He said you believed it wasn’t yours.”
Alejandro’s face drained.
“He said what?”
“He brought documents.”
“Divorce papers.”
“A confidentiality agreement.”
“A letter signed by you.”
“I never—”
“I know that now.”
Lucía’s voice broke.
“But I didn’t know then.”
Alejandro sat.
“What did the letter say?”
“That you had proof I was unfaithful.”
“That you didn’t want me near your home or companies.”
“That if I publicly claimed the baby was yours, your lawyers would
destroy me.”
Alejandro stood again.
“I never wrote that.”
Lucía nodded.
