Chapter 2: The Certificate They Never Expected Me to Find
The document was a marriage certificate.
Not ours.
Santiago and Renata's.
Dated four months ago.
My hands didn't shake.
My voice didn't break.
But something cold moved through my chest as I looked at his signature next to hers.
"You're already married to her."
Santiago said nothing.
"You brought me here — to my own wedding — already married to another woman."
Renata lifted her chin.
"You were never anything more than a solution to a money problem.
Santiago needed your family's backing.
That's all this ever was."
Teresa grabbed her arm.
"Renata, stop—"
"Why?
She already knows."
I looked at Santiago one last time.
"How long?"
He couldn't meet my eyes.
"Valeria, I can explain—"
"How long, Santiago?"
"…Eight months."
Eight months.
The same timeline as the pregnancy.
The guests were completely still.
Someone near the back started recording.
Then Mariana's phone rang.
She answered, listened for three seconds, and went pale.
She turned to me slowly.
"Valeria…
it's about your grandfather's will."
"What about it?"
She looked at Santiago before she answered.
"Someone filed a legal challenge against it.
Six weeks ago."
I turned to Ernesto.
His eyes dropped to the floor.
And I understood.
May you like
The wedding wasn't the trap.
The will was.
