Chapter 7: The Confession I Never Wanted to Hear
For four years, I imagined Mauricio confessing.
I imagined him standing in front of me, unable to escape the truth.
I imagined him admitting everything.
The lies.
The betrayal.
The moment he watched me disappear beneath the ocean.
But I never imagined this.
I never imagined him standing outside my home, holding a phone with a death threat on the screen, telling me he was only a piece of a much larger plan.
Because somehow, that made everything worse.
If Mauricio had been the mastermind, I could hate him completely.
If he had created every detail of my nightmare, there would be no confusion.
But now there was another truth.
A truth I hated.
He was guilty.
And he was also afraid.
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
The words came out immediately.
Mauricio looked down.
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
I stepped closer.
“You don’t get to stand here and act like you’re another victim.””
His face tightened.
“I’m not.””
“Good.””
My voice shook.
“Because you’re not.””
The silence between us was filled with every memory I tried to bury.
Our wedding.
Our home.
The night he told me we were going to have a daughter.
The night he watched me fall.
“You left me in that water,” I whispered.
Mauricio closed his eyes.
“I know.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You don’t know.””
My hand moved unconsciously toward my stomach.
A habit from when Sofia was still inside me.
“You don’t know what it feels like to realize the person you trusted most was the person who wanted you gone.””
His expression broke slightly.
But I didn’t care.
Not anymore.
“I was awake,” I continued.
“I was underwater, Mauricio.””
His breathing became uneven.
“I heard Lorena laughing.””
He looked away.
“I heard you tell the captain to leave.””
A tear appeared in his eyes.
The sight almost made me angry.
Because tears were easy.
Regret was easy.
Survival was not.
“You don’t get to cry for me,” I said.
“I know.””
“Then tell me everything.””
He looked at me.
Everything.
The word carried more weight than I expected.
Because if he lied now, I would know.
And if he told the truth…
I wasn’t sure what I would do with it.
We sat in the living room.
For the first time in four years, Mauricio was inside my home.
Not our home.
Mine.
A place he had no right to enter.
He sat across from me while Elena stood near the doorway, watching him carefully.
She had every reason to hate him.
Maybe more than I did.
She had seen what I became after that night.
She saw the nightmares.
The panic.
The fear every time a boat passed too close to shore.
Mauricio looked at the floor.
“When I met you, I didn’t know about the full plan.””
I said nothing.
“I knew your family was wealthy. Everyone knew that.””
His voice was quiet.
“But I didn’t know Victor was planning to take control of everything.””
“Convenient.””
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.””
“Good.””
He nodded.
“I was approached by Victor six months before our wedding.””
My jaw tightened.
“Why?””
“Because he knew I had access.””
“Access to what?””
“Your trust.””
The honesty hurt more than a lie.
“He told me if I married you, I could help him gain influence over Alcázar Hotel Group.””
I stared at him.
“And you agreed.””
A long silence.
“Yes.””
The answer landed heavily.
No excuses.
No pretending.
“Yes.””
I looked away.
Because a part of me still remembered loving him.
And that part was the one I hated most.
“What did you do?””
Mauricio swallowed.
“I provided information.””
“What information?””
“Your father’s business habits. His plans. Company decisions.””
My hands curled into fists.
“You spied on my family.””
“Yes.””
“While sleeping beside me.””
His eyes closed.
“Yes.””
The room felt colder.
“But then something changed.””
I laughed bitterly.
“Did you fall in love with me?””
He looked at me.
And for a moment, I saw pain.
“Yes.””
I almost hated that answer.
Because I wanted him to say no.
I wanted everything we had to be fake.
That would have been easier.
But he continued.
“I started seeing what Victor really was.””
“What changed?””
“He stopped talking about business.””
Mauricio looked toward the window.
“He started talking about removing obstacles.””
My heart tightened.
“Me.””
He nodded.
“At first, I thought he meant forcing you to sell your shares.””
“And then?””
“Then your father died.””
The room went silent.
“After your father’s death, Victor became different.””
“How?””
“More confident.””
Mauricio’s voice lowered.
“He told me the only thing left standing between him and complete control was you.””
I stared at him.
“And you still stayed.””
A painful expression crossed his face.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
His answer came after a long pause.
“Because I was a coward.””
That was the first thing he said that I believed completely.
“The yacht wasn’t supposed to happen that way,” Mauricio said.
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
He rubbed his hands together.
“Nobody was supposed to know.””
A chill moved through me.
“Know what?””
“That Victor planned to make your death look like an accident.””
My stomach turned.
“Go on.””
“He wanted you gone after Sofia was born.””
I froze.
“He knew I was pregnant?””
“Yes.””
“Then why the yacht?””
“Because Lorena changed everything.””
His face hardened when he said her name.
“She became impatient.””
I remembered her voice above the water.
Everything is finally ours.
“She wanted everything immediately.””
Mauricio continued.
“She convinced Victor that if something happened to you while you were pregnant, the public would see it as a tragedy.””
I stared at him.
“And you?””
His eyes dropped.
“I was supposed to act devastated.””
The honesty was disgusting.
“I was supposed to inherit control.””
“And Lorena?””
“She believed she would become my wife.””
I laughed softly.
The sound was empty.
“So both of you thought you would get everything.””
Mauricio nodded.
“Yes.””
“Until I survived.””
“Yes.””
The next morning, I met with Daniel again.
I needed another perspective.
Because the truth from Mauricio was still the truth from a liar.
Daniel listened carefully as I explained everything.
When I finished, he was silent.
Then he said:
“Your father suspected this.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“He knew Mauricio was compromised.””
“Then why didn’t he tell me?””
“Because he didn’t have enough proof.””
I looked at the letter again.
My father had been trapped.
He knew something terrible was happening, but he could not expose it without evidence.
“So what did he do?””
Daniel opened his briefcase.
“I found something after our last meeting.””
He placed a small device on the table.
“A recording.””
I stared at it.
“From who?””
“Your father.””
My heart stopped.
“Where did you get this?””
“Hidden inside the old company archives.””
I pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice.
My father’s voice.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
“If you are hearing this, then I was unable to stop them.””
My eyes filled instantly.
“Bella, if you are alive, remember this.””
I covered my mouth.
Because hearing him again after four years felt impossible.
“Do not trust the people who tell you they are protecting you.””
A pause.
“Some people destroy what they cannot control.””
Then his voice became quieter.
“The person who betrayed me is not just after the company.””
A long silence.
“They are after something hidden in the Alcázar estate.””
Daniel looked at me.
I looked back.
The recording continued.
“Something I left for Isabella.””
The audio cut.
That was it.
No explanation.
No location.
Only one final mystery.
But then Daniel noticed something.
“What?””
He pointed at the device.
“There’s another file.””
My heart started racing.
I pressed play.
This time, the voice was different.
Not my father.
A woman.
A woman I recognized.
Lorena.
The recording was faint.
But the words were clear.
“I don’t care what happens to Isabella.””
A pause.
“But the child cannot survive.””
My blood froze.
Because she was not talking about me.
She was talking about Sofia.
Then another voice appeared.
A man’s voice.
Victor.
“We’ll handle it after the birth.””
I stopped the recording.
My hands were shaking.
Because suddenly, the threat was no longer about the past.
It was about the future.
My daughter.
The child they failed to kill four years ago.
The child they now knew existed.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a familiar voice whispered:
“Isabella…”
I froze.
Because I recognized it.
It was Lorena.
And she said the one thing I never expected to hear.
“Victor lied to both of us.””
A pause.
May you like
Then:
“He was never planning to let you or me keep the fortune.””
