At the Hacienda, Rafael:
It was almost noon when we returned to the hacienda, tired, happy and ready to share with our family. When we arrived, we heard the latest news: my mother had ordered Leonel to take all her jewelry out of the safe.
-Well, that’s hers! -I agreed, “Let her do what she wants! She’ll see if she lets him take them out or not, because I’m sure she won’t be able to get them back afterwards,” I added in front of my wife, Aunt Anastasia, Diana and Lionel, who was on his way to the City to carry out her orders.
-Rafael, that’s what Mirelys wanted! We’re going to let her get away with it,” Diana complained to me.
-We can’t do anything, sis. That’s her will and those are her jewels. Let them steal it. That’s the only way our mother will learn her lesson,” I exclaimed, not letting Sofia out of my hand.
Taking it for granted that she will be stripped of her possessions and her inheritance, I authorized Lionel to oblige her. I walked upstairs with Sofia by my hand, we went to our room, changed and went back downstairs for lunch as a family.
One of the things that has fascinated me most about this union with Sofia, is that our meals are respected and we are together at that time, sharing with our children. The rest can wait, our children cannot. They are our priority.
That night, I prepared everything with my brother-in-law Sasha, who will be in charge of the hacienda while I am on the Island with Sofia. The idea was for the staff to feel the hand of a man ruling, not the delicacy of my sister Diana or Aunt Anastasia.
On Paradise Island, at the Medina family mansion.
The Narrator:
After they left the clinic, Jose David was in a fury with Shayla. The last thing he wanted was to assume responsibility for unwanted paternity. And so he let her know, even though she represented his best business.
-You’re going to lose him! And the sooner the better, because I don’t want any responsibility whatsoever,” he said.
-How can you ask me to take the life of your own son? Why, you know he’s yours, don’t you? -Shayla questioned, feeling worse than she already did.
-Shayla! You’re supposed to be a grown woman, of age and even older than Sofia, to go out with this “Sunday seven”,” he alleged, losing control of the situation.
-I didn’t do it on purpose! I forgot to make this prevention. What’s more, you never mentioned that I should take care of myself. You were just desperate to make me yours and nothing else,” she replied, also angrily.
-That was your responsibility, your obligation, to take care of yourself! -he objected, furiously.
-In any case, I don’t need you to have him, I’ll take care of him on my own,” she said, determined to carry her pregnancy to term.
-You won’t force me to do anything! Not even to accept a DNA test to prove the paternity of that child,” he threatened.
-I am the one who is most interested, so that no one finds out that this child is yours,” she said, gathering her clothes and the personal things she had taken to his mansion during the month she lived with him.
Once she had packed her suitcase, she left with it towards the garage area, getting into her own car. She returned to her friend’s mansion, where she wept bitterly for this situation she was living, before the cruelty of Jose David.
(***)
Meanwhile, at the Medina mansion, Jose David, was evaluating the consequences of this separation with Shayla.
“I should have waited to send the two shipments to get her out of my life. What stupidity did I do? I got carried away by the rage and the surprise of the moment”, thought this one, reflecting on the way to reach her again, but without assuming, his responsibility.
“The stupid one! So adult and immature. I must convince her to forgive me, at least while I send this merchandise that is about to arrive at the port” he analyzed.
“It’s not convenient for me to leave her for now!”, he concluded, dialing his father’s cell phone number.
In Ciudad La Rosa, the narrator:
That same day, but at night, at the Zambrano mansion, Chepa, waking up in pain, lying on the floor of her mansion’s office, remembered Reyner’s aggression. She, as best she could, got up and sat down again on the sofa, while the dizziness she felt passed.
Knock, knock! Knock, knock!
-Who is it? -she cried out, drawing strength from where she had none.
-It’s me, Mom! Your daughter, who else could it be? -Mirelys questioned, knocking louder on the door, “Open up! I want to talk to you,” she said.
-I’m coming! -she answered, getting up, leaning on every piece of furniture and table she could find on her way to the door.
-What happened to you? -her daughter shouted in astonishment, seeing her face all bruised and swollen, detailing, in addition, the mess in the office.
-This happened to me because of you! Because of your stupid whim with Rafael Corner,” her mother accused her.
-How so? -she asked, stunned, covering her mouth with her hand.
-Yoly del Mar Medina’s father came to complain! -She said, staring at her daughter, who always ends up doing whatever she wants, without measuring the consequences.
-How did she know it was me? -Mirelys interjected, scared and trembling with dread, “Did Brutus sell me?
-For a man like Reyner Medina, that information is easy to get,” she said, massaging the side of her face where his hand was marked.
-What is he going to do? Is he going to report me? And how do you know that? -her daughter asked, in a trembling and frightened voice, at the thought that she might be imprisoned.
-It’s better if you leave the country for a while! Let me face this with him,” Chepa demanded, to protect her from Reyner’s wrath, because she knows he is capable of killing her.
-I am not going to leave Rafael in the hands of that little woman! -After I have done everything for him, I am not going to leave him on a silver platter to another one,” she said.
-That’s why everything goes wrong for you, because you don’t listen to advice, do whatever you want! -Chepa replied, leaving the office, walking with difficulty towards the stairs. Mirelys, seeing this, approached him and helped him to get to his room.
-Do you think it’s fair that after I ordered the death of that little woman, of Maria de los Angels and now the kidnapping of Yoly del Mar, I should go away and leave Rafael alone? -she interjected.
-It seems fair to me that you should protect your life first and leave your other interests for later,” advised her mother, in pain.
“Daughter, you don’t know Reyner! I do, and I know what he is capable of, to achieve his goals,” Chepa affirmed.
-Like what, for example? -You think a person of his status is going to dirty his hands or his image, sending me to kill me? -she questioned, with a smile on her lips.
-He is a severe, cruel man, I would not have wanted to have him as an enemy, but you are my daughter and I will defend you from anyone,” she affirmed, holding her hands to her face…