Chapter 8: The Recording From The Past
The recording played through the speakers.
Mateo’s younger voice sounded different.
Less confident.
More uncertain.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.””
My stomach tightened.
The room disappeared.
There was only that voice.
A version of my husband I had never met.
Camila looked down.
Beatriz watched me carefully.
She wanted a reaction.
She wanted me hurt.
But I refused to give her one.
The recording continued.
“I care about Valeria.””
A pause.
Then:
“But my family will never accept her.””
Mateo closed his eyes.
He remembered.
I looked at him.
“You recorded him?””
Beatriz ignored me.
The recording continued.
Camila’s voice appeared.
“You could choose easier.””
A younger Mateo answered.
“I know.””
“You could have the life everyone expects.””
“I know.””
“Then why won’t you?””
Silence.
Then Mateo said:
“Because it wouldn’t be mine.””
The recording stopped.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Beatriz.
“That’s what you wanted me to hear?””
Her expression changed slightly.
Not what she expected.
“What?””
“I heard my husband choosing me.””
She frowned.
“No.””
“Yes.””
I turned toward Mateo.
“You were scared.””
He looked at me.
“I was.””
“But you chose me anyway.””
He nodded.
“I did.””
Beatriz grabbed the phone.
“You don’t understand.””
“No,” Mateo said.
“You don’t.””
Everyone looked at him.
“You brought a recording from before my marriage to prove what?””
She said nothing.
“That I loved her?””
Silence.
“That I knew my family wouldn’t approve?””
Silence.
“That I still chose her?””
His voice became stronger.
“You just proved exactly what my grandfather wrote.””
Beatriz looked furious.
But behind the anger was panic.
Because her own evidence had failed.
Camila suddenly spoke.
“Beatriz, this wasn’t supposed to happen.””
Everyone turned.
Beatriz looked at her.
“What did you say?””
Camila swallowed.
“I thought you wanted him to understand.””
“Understand what?””
“That I wasn’t the problem.””
A strange silence followed.
I looked between them.
“What does that mean?””
Camila looked uncomfortable.
Then she said:
“I didn’t come here because I wanted Mateo back.””
Mateo stared.
“Then why?””
She looked at Beatriz.
“Because she asked me to.””
The room exploded.
“You what?”” Mateo said.
Beatriz’s face turned cold.
“Camila.””
“No.””
Camila stepped back.
“I’m tired of being part of this.””
I watched everything shift.
The enemy I thought I understood was changing.
Camila wasn’t here to steal my husband.
She was here because Beatriz had brought her into a battle.
“Why?”” I asked.
Camila looked at me.
“Because your mother-in-law believed if you saw me, you would feel insecure.””
I almost laughed.
“Insecure?””
“She thought you would leave.””
Mateo stared at his mother.
“You wanted Valeria to leave me?””
Beatriz looked away.
Nobody denied it.
That was the answer.
I felt a strange sadness.
Not anger.
Sadness.
Because this woman had spent years trying to destroy something she never understood.
A marriage.
A partnership.
A family.
All because she wanted control.
Daniel gathered the documents.
“We should discuss the legal implications now.””
Ernesto stood.
“There is no need.””
Daniel looked at him.
“There absolutely is.””
Ernesto walked toward the door.
“This family meeting is over.””
Mateo stopped him.
“No.””
Everyone froze.
Ernesto turned.
“What did you say?””
Mateo looked at his father.
“For years, you both made decisions about my life.””
He pointed toward the papers.
“You don’t get to end the conversation because you’re uncomfortable.””
For the first time, Ernesto looked uncertain.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A few seconds later, his expression changed.
“What?””
Everyone watched.
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
Mateo noticed.
“What happened?””
Ernesto looked at him.
And the color drained from his face.
“The company.””
“What about it?””
Ernesto swallowed.
“Your grandfather’s other trust has been activated.””
Daniel immediately looked up.
“What trust?””
Ernesto stared at the attorney.
“The one he created before he died.””
Daniel went silent.
Because he knew.
May you like
And whatever it was…
Nobody in that room had expected it.
