Valeria had been given the same story as everyone else.
Lucía said:
“You don’t owe me an apology for believing a lie you had no reason to
question.”
Valeria smiled sadly.
“I think we both got used as props in a story a man needed Alejandro to
believe.”
That was accurate.
They never became friends.
They did not need to.
But neither woman accepted the easier story where the other was the
enemy.
The real betrayal sat elsewhere.
Alejandro’s father, Sebastián, struggled most with Ramón’s involvement.
Ramón had been his brother-in-law.
His late wife’s brother.
Family.
Trusted for decades.
Sebastián initially said:
“There must be an explanation.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“There is.”
“He stole from us.”
“He isolated my pregnant wife.”
“He forged my name.”
Sebastián whispered:
“He loved your mother.”
“Maybe.”
“That doesn’t make him innocent.”
The older man sat silently.
