CHAPTER 2 – The Truth Beneath the Blanket
Alejandro's hand froze.
His anger disappeared so quickly it almost made him dizzy.
Valeria's body was covered in deep purple bruises.
Some were old, fading into yellow.
Others were fresh, stretching across her ribs, shoulders, and upper thighs.
Dark fingerprints were clearly visible around both wrists.
A wide medical bandage wrapped tightly around the left side of her abdomen.
Just below it, another bruise spread dangerously close to where their unborn son rested.
Alejandro staggered backward.
His breathing became uneven.
"What... what happened to you?"
Valeria didn't answer.
She simply pulled her knees closer to her chest, trying to hide herself even after the blanket was gone.
"Alejandro..."
Her voice barely existed.
"I begged you not to look."
His eyes filled with confusion.
"No..."
He shook his head repeatedly.
"No one could have done this."
Then she whispered the words that shattered everything.
"Your mother."
Silence.
"And Marcela."
Alejandro stared at her as if he had stopped understanding language itself.
Valeria slowly reached toward the bedside drawer.
Inside was a small leather journal.
Its pages were filled with dates.
Photographs.
Medical reports.
Each bruise had been documented.
Each insult recorded.
Every threat carefully written down.
The first entry was dated nearly two years earlier.
"Today Doña Esther said my baby would never carry the Aranda name if I disappointed her."
The next entries became darker.
"Marcela pushed me down the back staircase but told everyone I slipped."
"They locked me in the wine cellar for four hours because Alejandro was overseas."
"The doctor warned that another blow could kill the baby."
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Alejandro's hands began trembling so violently he almost dropped the journal.
His entire world collapsed page by page.
