The way Mateo hid slightly behind her.
As if he was afraid of losing her.
And something inside Alejandro broke.
Because he knew that feeling perfectly.
He had grown the same.
His father was a ruthless businessman who never had time for him. A man obsessed with money and power, incapable of embracing his own son.
That’s why Alejandro swore that, if he ever had a family, it would be different.
And now she had just discovered that five irreplaceable years had been stolen from her.
She took a deep breath before speaking again.
—Come with me.
Valeria immediately looked up.
-No.
—I’m not asking you.
—Do you want to take my son away from me?
The tension between them became unbearable.
Several people began to discreetly watch the scene.
Mateo squeezed his mother’s hand tightly.
Alejandro noticed the fear on the little boy’s face… and took a step back.
Then, for the first time since he appeared, he softened his voice.
—I’m not going to separate him from you.
Valeria looked at him suspiciously.
-I don’t believe you.
That seemed to hurt him more than anything else.
Alejandro remained silent for a few seconds before saying:
—I searched for you for years because I thought something had happened to you. When I discovered you were alive… and that you had also had my child… I understood that you hated me.
Valeria lowered her gaze.
Because a part of her did hate him.
She had hated him for making her fall in love with him.
Because she appears in his thoughts every night.
For continuing to live in his heart even when he was on the other side of the world.
“I didn’t hate you…” she finally murmured. “I was afraid.”
Alejandro gave a bitter smile.
—Afraid of me?
She nodded slowly.
And then, for the first time in many years, she decided to tell the whole truth.
“You were the most powerful man in Mexico… and I was just another employee. That night meant so much to me, but I thought it meant nothing to you.”
Alejandro frowned.
—Did you think so?
“What else could I think?” she asked, fighting back tears. “I woke up alone in your apartment… surrounded by luxury, feeling out of place. I thought that if I told you I was pregnant, you’d think I was trying to trap you.”
Alexander’s face hardened.
Because he understood something terrible.
She had fled precisely because of the wounds he himself had been inflicting on others for years.
His reputation as a cold man.
