Chapter 3 - THE HUSBAND WHO CHOSE HIS MOTHER
Javier came to my apartment the next morning.
Alone.
At least, that's what he wanted us to believe.
Alexander noticed the second vehicle parked across the street.
He didn't mention it.
He simply stood beside the window and watched.
“Don't let him know you saw it,” he said.
I nodded.
Sofia was in the bedroom.
She didn't want to see Javier.
And I didn't blame her.
When the doorbell rang, I opened it.
Javier stood there holding flowers.
White roses.
I almost shut the door.
“Where is Sofia?”
“She doesn't want to see you.”
“I just want to explain.”
“No.”
He looked past me.
Then he saw Alexander.
His face went pale.
Alexander didn't move.
Javier swallowed.
“Colonel.”
“Javier.”
The two men stared at each other.
Javier tried to smile.
“I know this looks bad.”
Alexander's voice was quiet.
“Then explain.”
Javier looked at me.
“I wasn't inside the room.”
Sofia heard him.
The bedroom door opened.
She stepped into the hallway.
“You were outside.”
Javier turned.
“Sofia.”
She stared at him.
“You heard everything.”
“I didn't know what was happening.”
“You knew my mother was asking for the condo.”
“I thought it was just paperwork.”
“Paperwork?”
Her voice broke.
“You married me.”
“I love you.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Javier stepped forward.
Alexander immediately moved between them.
Javier stopped.
Sofia looked at him.
“You didn't protect me.”
“I was trying to keep things from getting worse.”
“You left me there.”
“I was afraid of my mother.”
The admission stunned everyone.
Even Alexander.
Javier lowered his voice.
“She controls the company. She controls the money. She controls everything.”
Sofia stared at him.
“So you sacrificed me.”
He didn't answer.
That was the answer.
Javier looked at Alexander.
“You don't understand what my mother can do.”
Alexander's expression remained calm.
“I understand exactly what people do when they think nobody will stop them.”
Javier's phone buzzed.
He looked down.
The color drained from his face.
“What?”
I asked.
He didn't answer.
Alexander noticed.
“Show me.”
“No.”
“Then leave.”
Javier backed toward the door.
Before he could leave, Sofia spoke.
“Javier.”
He turned.
“Did you know about the forged signature?”
He froze.
The silence was enough.
Sofia's eyes filled.
“You knew.”
“I didn't sign it.”
“But you knew.”
He looked at the floor.
“My mother said it was temporary.”
Alexander laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Temporary theft.”
Javier's face hardened.
“You're destroying my family.”
“No,” Alexander said.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Javier left.
That afternoon, the attorney filed emergency protections around Sofia's property.
But Carmen didn't wait.
She went public.
By evening, a story appeared online claiming Sofia had attacked Carmen during the wedding and fabricated allegations because she regretted signing the prenup.
The comments were brutal.
People believed the version that appeared first.
I wanted to scream.
Alexander didn't.
He simply called the attorney.
“Find out who planted the story.”
Then he called someone else.
A retired military investigator.
Within hours, we learned Carmen had contacted a local blogger through an intermediary.
But that wasn't the worst part.
There was video.
Security footage from the hotel.
A hallway camera.
The footage showed Javier entering the honeymoon suite.
Then leaving.
Then Carmen arriving with the other women.
Then the women entering.
Then Javier standing outside.
For almost forty minutes.
He never left.
He never called for help.
He never opened the door.
The footage was devastating.
But we still didn't have the inside recording.
We needed something more.
Sofia remembered something.
“There was a second phone.”
“What?”
“Carmen carried one.”
“Did you see what she did with it?”
Sofia shook her head.
“She kept recording something.”
Alexander leaned forward.
“Where?”
“In the suite.”
That night, the hotel manager called.
Someone had requested access to the hallway footage.
A woman had arrived claiming to be Carmen's attorney.
But she wasn't.
She was a Robles employee.
And she had tried to delete the recording.
Fortunately, the system had backed itself up.
Alexander smiled for the first time in days.
“They're getting nervous.”
I looked at him.
“What's next?”
“We let them make another mistake.”
He was right.
The next morning, Carmen called Sofia.
Not me.
Not Alexander.
Sofia.
She answered on speaker.
Carmen's voice was sweet.
“Darling, we should talk.”
Sofia looked at her father.
Then she said:
“About what?”
“Family.”
Sofia almost laughed.
“You don't get to use that word anymore.”
Carmen's voice changed.
“If you continue this, Javier will lose everything.”
Sofia's eyes hardened.
“You already took my wedding.”
Carmen went silent.
Sofia continued.
“You're not taking my home.”
Then she ended the call.
Alexander nodded.
“Good.”
“What now?” I asked.
May you like
He looked at the phone.
“Now we find out what Carmen is really afraid of.”
