She let out a sad laugh. She didn’t know why, but she ended up telling him everything. Mauricio. Camila. Her mother. The wedding happening in just five days.
Damián listened without interrupting, his expression growing darker with every word. When Valeria finished, he set his glass down firmly.
“You are going to that wedding.”
“I’d rather die.”
“You are going,” he countered. “And you won’t walk in as a victim. You will walk in as the woman they all thought they destroyed.”
Valeria shook her head. “And what do you get out of this?”
Damián smiled faintly. “Sometimes, watching an arrogant man fall in front of everyone is reward enough.”
Valeria didn’t answer. But that night, for the first time in months, she felt that maybe her story wasn’t over. She had no idea that by accepting his offer, she was about to turn her sister’s wedding into the biggest scandal her family would ever try—and fail—to hide.
PART 2
The next five days rewired something deep inside Valeria. Damián didn’t shower her with empty promises or tell her she was beautiful just to comfort her. He gave her something far more dangerous: unshakeable confidence.
He sent his personal chauffeur to pick her up and took her to an exclusive Mexican designer in Roma Norte—a woman famous for dressing actresses, politicians, and businesswomen without demanding they drop a single size to deserve looking spectacular.
“I don’t want to look like I’m wearing a costume,” Valeria said, staring at the mirror.
The designer smiled. “Then we won’t disguise you. We are just going to remind you who you are.”
The dress was a rich wine-red—elegant, structured, falling flawlessly with a subtle slit that gave power to her every step. It didn’t hide her body; it honored it.
On the day of the wedding, Valeria looked at herself in the mirror, a lump forming in her throat. She was no longer the broken woman Mauricio had left weeping in a café. Nor was she the submissive sister her mother wanted to parade around to silence family gossip. She was someone else. Or perhaps she was the exact same woman, but done asking for permission to exist.
Damián arrived to pick her up in an impeccable black suit, sporting a tie that perfectly matched the shade of her dress. When he saw her, he fell silent for a few seconds.
“What?” Valeria asked, suddenly self-conscious.
“Nothing,” he replied smoothly. “I’m just thinking that today, someone is going to deeply regret being such an absolute idiot.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
