PART 1
“Sir, don’t make any noise… If your wife hears this, your daughter won’t leave this house alive.”
Alejandro Mondragón stopped at the service entrance of his villa, a bouquet of white roses in his hand and his heart pounding as if it wanted to burst out of his chest.
No one knew he’d returned.
It’s said he was still in Madrid, closing the biggest hotel deal of his life. Renata, his wife, had sent him sweet messages throughout the week. Photos of drinks, elegant dinners, of his daughter Valentina smiling faintly for the camera. But something in that smile had hurt him.
So he changed his flight without warning.
He landed in Mexico City, took a regular taxi from the airport, and, before arriving at Lomas de Chapultepec, passed a flower shop in Polanco. He bought the same white roses he’d given Renata when he proposed.
He came to apologize for so many trips, so many absences, so many times he thought paying for school, drivers, and vacations was the same as being present.
But as he approached the house, he noticed something strange.
There was music.
Luxury cars filled the entrance.
He could hear laughter, clinking glasses, elegant voices. A party. At home. A party no one had told him about because everyone thought it was on the other side of the world.
Alejandro had asked to be dropped off a block back. He walked slowly, entered through the service door, and as he crossed the kitchen, Maricela, the employee who had worked with them for years, dropped a tray. The glasses shattered against the marble floor.
“Maricela, it’s me,” he whispered.
But she ran to him and covered his mouth with her hand.
“Shut up, sir. Please. You need to see something before you go down to the living room.”
Alexander felt his blood run cold.
Maricela led him up the back stairs, away from the music and the expensive perfume of the guests. The second floor was dark. Too quiet for a crowded house.
They stopped in front of Valentina’s room.
The door was ajar.
“Don’t come in yet,” Maricela said, tears in her eyes. Look first.
Alejandro pushed the door open.
And the world was torn apart.
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