CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET INSIDE THE ATTIC
Valeria barely slept.
Bruno's message kept replaying in her mind.
"You'll come back on your knees."
At seven in the morning, Mariana handed her a cup of coffee.
"You don't have to go back."
Valeria nodded.
For the first time, she believed it.
Then her phone rang.
The caller ID made her freeze.
It was Doña Beatriz.
Valeria almost ignored it.
Almost.
"Hello?"
The older woman's voice sounded different.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Scared.
"Valeria... Bruno is looking for something."
Valeria frowned.
"What?"
There was silence.
Then Doña Beatriz whispered,
"The documents."
Valeria's heart skipped a beat.
"What documents?"
"The ones your father left."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Years earlier, after her father's death, Valeria had inherited a small property outside Guadalajara.
Bruno had always mocked it.
"A useless old house."
But her father had insisted she never sell it.
Never.
"Why is Bruno looking for them?" she asked.
Doña Beatriz lowered her voice.
"Because that house isn't worthless."
The call ended abruptly.
An hour later, Valeria and Mariana drove to the abandoned property.
Dust covered the windows.
The wooden floors creaked.
Everything looked untouched.
Until they reached the attic.
There, hidden beneath loose floorboards, Valeria found a metal box.
Inside were old legal records.
Land deeds.
Investment contracts.
And one final document.
A certificate showing that the land had recently become part of a major development project.
Current value:
48 million pesos.
Valeria stared at the number.
Her hands trembled.
Bruno hadn't married her because he loved her.
He had married her because he knew.
May you like
And now he wanted the inheritance.
Everything suddenly made sense.
