When Lies Unfold

Chapter 90

A Few Decades Later

When you find yourself entrenched deep in the shadows, it’s for a reason. There’s a lesson to be learned. It may not seem like it at the time, but fate always has a purpose.

I can attest to this because it led me to your father. The first time we met, other forces were already in motion. When we met again, we were far different people. We needed to rebuild ourselves to be better, stronger, and more resilient.

We each found our inner strength through circumstances intent on destroying us. But we didn’t succumb.

Everyone has to deal with traumatic experiences. But if you let it define you, you’ve lost the battle entirely. Instead, use it as fuel to rise higher and to better yourself the way you want.

Remember, my love: Always pave your own way, and don’t be afraid of those shadows. Make them fear you instead. Force them to face the light. But most of all, I want you to live every second as though it’s your last—without a single regret.

I love you, my sweet girl, and am so very proud of the young woman you’ve become.

Fate’sa ruthless bitch at times, and I hate the hell it put my mother through. Yet it brought her back to my dad. And, in turn, it brought her to me.

My mother wrote little notes for me year after year and kept ’em in a journal. She gifted it to me once Dad retired and handed over his business to me.

Every single entry’s special and relevant in a particular way. Many of ’em I’ve reread time and again.

I change up the entry I carry with me dependin’ on what’s happenin’ in my life. Shitty times come and go, but I don’t let it get me down.

Both my parents are responsible for teachin’ me that.

They’re also the reason I believe in love. Maybe not happily-ever-afters the way the movies portray, but the real, authentic kind. The type that includes struggles and triumphs and love that never dies.

They made me believe that I can achieve just about anythin’ if I’m stubborn enough and work my ass off. It’s how I got where I am today, provin’ myself not only to my father, but to the men who worked for him and subsequently chose to work for me.

I like to think I inherited my strength and determination from my parents. My father taught me that gettin’ my hands on all the information I can to increase my intelligence is critical.

My mom taught me how important it is to be resilient. To learn to navigate the thickest part of the jungle and maintain the utmost respect for nature. To keep my body and mind strong and healthy.

Most of all, she showed me what it meant to be willin’ to sacrifice for those you love. To willingly walk directly into danger.

She did that for me when I was just a child. That moment confirmed that there was no other woman on this earth I wanted as my mother.

Even though I wasn’t her biological daughter, she never treated me like it. I never called her my stepmother, and she never introduced me as her stepdaughter.

I never once wondered if she loved me. If she cherished me. If she adored me. She did all that and more.

I’ve always believed that my mother had a little magic to her, ’cause she not only changed my life for the better, but my father’s, too.

In my eyes, he was always a hero for rescuin’ me, but he never realized he needed to be rescued, too.

Mom rescued him from himself. From his own stubborn belief that he didn’t have a heart or the capability to love. That he didn’t have enough redeemin’ qualities to be loved.

But they both gave me the most priceless gift: a family.

Ours might not’ve been blood-related, but it never mattered to me. Mom always reminded me that a real family’s comprised of those who love and protect you at all costs.

Aunt Sabrina, Uncle Nando, Grandpa Esteban, and Uncle Gordo spoiled me with love. It was my mother who dazzled them individually and who cared for them in her special way.

And while Dad was frequently flashin’ stern looks at Uncle Nando at birthday parties or other holidays for the first few years, I knew with a certainty that Mom only had eyes for my dad.

He didn’t have to worry for long, though, since Uncle Nando ended up fallin’ in love and marryin’ Aunt Sabrina.

I blink away the stingin’ sensation in my eyes and trace my finger over the worn photo. It’s creased from keepin’ it in my pocket, but it’s my favorite. It was taken durin’ the celebration we had when I officially inherited the business from Dad.

Standin’ with my parents on either side of me, everyone else gathered around with broad, happy smiles.

“The next shipment’s gonna be there soon, boss.” Ronaldo’s voice interrupts my thoughts. I turn to my second-in-command who’s waitin’ for me beside the SUV.

My other men mill around, cleanin’ up the scene. I put a bullet between the eyes of three pieces of shit who tried to traffic young girls, thinkin’ I wouldn’t notice what goes on in my territory.

They assumed I got where I am by nepotism and thought I’d never figure it out, let alone retaliate.

But I did.

This sends a clear message to anybody else who dares to fuck with me and my business. ’Cause this isn’t just a job for me; it’s my family’s legacy. And I’ll protect it with everythin’ I’ve got, until my last goddamn breath.

“We should leave now if we’re gonna be there in time to inspect everythin’,” Ronaldo suggests.

I nod. “Got it.”

I fold Mom’s words around the photo and slide them inside my pocket. It’ll give me comfort and confidence and help to soothe a fraction of the ache that never ceases now that they’re both gone. But maudlin thoughts have no place right now. All my focus needs to be on my work.

I glance down at my left hand, inked with blue morphos identical to my mother’s tattoos. Curlin’ my fingers into a fist, I channel her strength and lift my eyes to the sky, knowin’ she and Dad are watchin’ over me.

I’m damn sure gonna make ’em proud.

I stride toward the vehicle while double-checkin’ my weapon one final time. Then I return it to the holster and tug open the vehicle’s door.

“Let’s go.”

THE END

“Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.” —Rumi