CHAPTER 2:The Marks Beneath the Blanket
The blanket slid onto the hardwood floor.
Alejandro forgot how to breathe.
Purple bruises covered Valeria's ribs.
Dark fingerprints wrapped around both wrists.
Old scars crossed her shoulders.
Fresh ones stretched along her back.
None of them could have come from an accidental fall.
For several endless seconds, the room remained silent except for Valeria's trembling breaths.
Alejandro stared as if he had never seen his wife before.
"What..."
His voice cracked.
"...who did this to you?"
Valeria didn't answer.
Instead, she instinctively reached for the blanket lying on the floor, desperate to cover herself again.
Alejandro dropped to his knees before she could.
His hands shook violently.
He had negotiated billion-dollar contracts without ever losing composure.
Yet now he couldn't even lift a piece of fabric.
His eyes moved across every bruise.
Some were yellowing with age.
Others were fresh enough to still carry traces of swelling.
This had been happening for weeks.
Maybe months.
His stomach twisted.
"I never..."
He swallowed hard.
"I never saw this."
Valeria finally looked at him.
Her eyes weren't angry.
They were empty.
"You never looked."
The words struck harder than any slap.
Alejandro felt something inside him collapse.
Downstairs, footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Marcela.
Doña Esther.
Even the house staff had gathered outside after hearing Alejandro shout.
Marcela smiled the moment she entered.
"So..."
"I suppose she finally confessed."
No one answered.
Marcela frowned.
Then she noticed Alejandro kneeling beside Valeria.
Her smile disappeared.
"What happened?"
Alejandro slowly stood.
His face had become frighteningly calm.
"Who touched my wife?"
Silence.
Doña Esther folded her arms.
"This is ridiculous."
"Pregnant women bruise easily."
Alejandro turned toward his mother.
"Don't lie to me."
For the first time in years...
Fear crossed Esther Aranda's face.
Valeria whispered,
"Please..."
"Don't ask."
"They'll destroy everything."
Alejandro looked back at her.
"They already have."
Then something caught his attention.
Near the bed...
Hidden beneath the nightstand...
A small digital recorder.
Valeria had been hiding it.
She stared at it in horror.
"No..."
Alejandro picked it up.
"It's nothing."
She almost climbed off the bed trying to stop him.
But he had already pressed PLAY.
The room filled with static.
Then voices.
His mother's voice.
Cold.
Calm.
Cruel.
"If that baby is born..."
"...our family loses everything."
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Alejandro slowly turned toward his mother.
May you like
"What did you mean..."
"...loses everything?"
