Chapter 5 - THE HUSBAND WHO RAN TO HER
Alejandro waited downstairs while a pediatric urgent-care physician examined Valeria at home. Her hand was bruised but not seriously injured. The doctor documented the mark, her exhaustion, and the changes in her behavior.
I returned to the living room after Valeria fell asleep.
Camila had put her heel back on.
Alejandro stood beside her.
“You cannot disappear for two months and come back acting like this,” he said.
“I was completing an assignment you knew about.”
“You left me to manage everything.”
“You removed the childcare team.”
“They reported to you, not me.”
“They reported to the household.”
He glanced at Emily.
“She became difficult.”
Emily did not lower her eyes. “I objected when Ms. Vale began disciplining a child she had no authority to supervise.”
Camila stepped forward.
“Valeria is spoiled because everyone treats her like the heir to an empire.”
“She is five.”
“She needs structure.”
“She needed her father.”
Alejandro flinched.
Then I asked the question I already knew would hurt.
“When you entered and saw her crying on the floor, why did you run to Camila?”
He looked toward his mistress as though she might supply a better answer.
“She looked frightened.”
“So did your daughter.”
Silence.
There are betrayals hidden in hotel receipts and deleted messages. Then there are betrayals revealed in the direction a person runs during an emergency.
Alejandro had chosen.
May you like
Not only that morning.
For weeks.
