Chapter 1
The party is fun.
Even Stewart, the patriarch, has dressed up. He’s still young, and despite his difficulty in walking and speaking, he insisted on participating in the event with his children.
As expected, Martina didn’t come.
“Thank you.” Mrs. Isabel stands next to me and touches my face.
“For what? I didn’t do anything. You two are perfect together.”
“But you’re bringing joy back to us. After Stewart’s second stroke, we didn’t have many reasons to smile other than Valentina. So thank you for reminding us that life can also be good.”
“I should thank you for welcoming me here.”
Again, she gives me that indecipherable look, but this time, I’m not willing to let it go.
“I always feel like you want to tell me something but give up halfway. Why?” I know I’m being bold, but I don’t like secrets, and my intuition has told me since the first day I met her that she’s hiding something.
“My son is very enchanted by you.”
I open my mouth, astonished. It was the last thing I expected to hear.
“He went through some tough months with Nina’s mother. I’m not saying Guillermo is perfect. God knows I’m not that kind of mother, but he was a good father and also tried to be a good husband, despite not loving Layla.”
Part of me thinks I should tell her to stop because if he wants to talk about his marriage, he can do it in person, but curiosity wins, and I remain silent, waiting. However, before she can finish, Rafe appears dressed as Julius Caesar[4] and offers us popcorn.
I thank him and excuse myself.
Distraught, I try to move away a bit to think and head to the balcony. It’s quite cold, but strangely, the door is open.
I’m just about to close it and go back inside when I hear Joaquín’s voice.
“So, in the end, everything worked out.”
“It seems so.”
I recognize the other voice as Guillermo’s and walk towards them, even though neither has seen me yet.
“It was a great idea to make the world think you were in love. It was the only way to protect her.”
I instantly freeze.
His words are like a dagger to my heart.
I cover my mouth, horrified, while everything we’ve done since the false theft accusation incident flashes through my mind like a movie.
The press conference the next day, holding hands during dinners, our trip to the opera . . .
I turn to leave, but I must make some noise because in an instant, both are by my side.
I don’t even see Joaquín; I can only see Guillermo, who approaches.
“No.” I raise my hand to stop him from touching me.
He doesn’t stop, and I have to give it my all to hold back the tears.
“No,” I repeat. “I’m leaving. Don’t say anything to your mother; she’s very happy. Don’t ruin her night, but I swear to God if you touch me, I’ll scream.”
I turn my back, trying to keep my composure and not focus on anyone. When I’m almost at the door, Rafe calls me. I’m afraid to turn back to face him and start crying.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Home.”
“What do you mean? We haven’t even eaten yet.” When he turns me to face him, he immediately pulls me into a hug. “What did my brother do?”
“I don’t want to talk now; I just need to leave.”
“No way you’re leaving without me. I’ll drive you home. I don’t know what happened, but you’re not going out alone looking like this, in this ballerina costume.”
Even with my bleeding heart, I manage to smile.
“That’s better.”
He opens the car door, but before I can get in, Guillermo appears.
“Enough,” he says.
“I have to agree with that,” I retort. I don’t look at him for fear of losing control.
“I tried to tell you little by little. I tried not to hurt you, but I messed up. Now, mark my words: there’s no way I’ll let you walk away without knowing the whole truth.”
He’s not heading to Martina’s apartment but to his.
“I don’t want to go back to your house.”
“You need to listen to me. There are things in my office I need to show you.”
If the situation was different, I might laugh. The two of us arguing dressed up in Halloween costumes.
But there’s nothing funny about this.
I look out the window.
The energy between us is so strong that it’s almost palpable.
Like me, he seems furious, and I don’t understand what is going on.
He turns off the car and walks around to open my door. We’ve done this so many times that it hurts my heart to know it’ll be the last.
He takes my hand, and even knowing I shouldn’t allow it, I don’t try to escape.
In the elevator, facing each other, the scene reminds me too much of what we experienced shortly after I started working at the hotel. I didn’t know it then, but I was already in love.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it was all real.”
“I won’t listen to anything other than what you said you need to tell me.”
He doesn’t seem to have heard me. “I’m crazy about you, Olívia. Nothing you decide will change that.”
I lift my face to look at him, and what I see hurts me. He’s suffering too. “You lied to me.”
“Never. I omitted some things, but I never lied to you.”