CHAPTER 3 – The Third Woman Walked Through the Gate… and Everything Fell Apart
For nearly ten seconds, no one spoke.
The only sounds were the fading emergency siren, the pool filter humming beneath the water, and dozens of neighbors whispering from behind hedges and half-open gates.
Diego looked from Renata...
...to Camila...
...to Arturo.
His mouth opened, but no words came out.
Camila was the first to break the silence.
She snatched the jewelry receipt from the table, reading the engraved message again.
To my forever… Sofia.
"No..."
Her voice trembled.
"This has to be fake."
She looked directly at Diego.
"Tell me it's fake."
Diego rubbed both hands over his face.
"I can explain."
Renata laughed.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't hysterical.
It was the exhausted laugh of someone who had finally run out of tears she hadn't even cried yet.
"That's your favorite sentence, isn't it?"
"I can explain."
"Not today."
"Tomorrow."
"Next week."
"After work."
"After the holidays."
"There was always another explanation."
"But never the truth."
Camila stepped toward Diego.
"You told me I was the only woman you loved."
Diego remained silent.
"You said your marriage had been over for years."
Silence.
"You told me you were waiting for the right moment to leave."
More silence.
She slapped him.
Hard.
The sound echoed across the backyard.
Several neighbors gasped.
One teenager filming from across the street whispered,
"Oh my God..."
Camila hit him again.
"You liar!"
"I left everything for you!"
Diego grabbed her wrists.
"Calm down."
That was the wrong thing to say.
She pulled free and shoved him backward.
Still barefoot from climbing out of the pool, Diego lost his balance on the wet stone.
His feet slipped.
He crashed backward into the deep end with a spectacular splash.
For the first time all evening...
Someone laughed.
It was Mrs. Elvira from across the street.
She immediately covered her mouth.
"I'm sorry..."
she muttered.
"I'm really not."
Even Arturo couldn't hide a faint smile.
Diego climbed out of the pool again, soaked from head to toe.
His expensive watch had stopped working.
His phone was still somewhere underwater.
His truck key rested at the bottom of the pool.
His reputation was disappearing just as quickly.
Then—
A white sedan pulled up in front of the house.
Nobody paid much attention at first.
Visitors had been arriving ever since the neighborhood alarm sounded.
But this driver wasn't a curious neighbor.
She parked calmly.
Turned off the engine.
Stepped out carrying a small gift bag tied with a silver ribbon.
She smiled as she walked toward the open gate.
"Diego?"
she called cheerfully.
"I finally found your house."
Every face turned toward her.
She was elegant.
About thirty-two.
Dark hair.
Blue summer dress.
No wedding ring.
No idea what she was walking into.
Diego's face drained of every remaining drop of color.
"No..."
he whispered.
"Sofia..."
The woman smiled.
"There you are."
Then she noticed everyone staring.
The neighbors.
The cameras.
The soaked man standing beside the pool.
The crying woman.
Another crying woman.
An older businessman holding legal documents.
She frowned.
"Did I come at a bad time?"
Nobody answered.
She looked at the gift bag in her hands.
"I was going to surprise you."
She held it up.
"It's our six-month anniversary."
Renata closed her eyes.
Camila staggered backward.
Six months.
Six months?
Camila had been seeing Diego for almost a year.
Renata had been married to him for fifteen.
Sofia looked confused.
"What's wrong?"
Then she saw the engagement ring lying inside the velvet box.
Her eyes lit up.
"You bought it!"
She laughed happily.
"I knew it!"
"You were going to propose!"
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Sofia slowly noticed the expressions around her.
Her smile faded.
She looked at Renata.
"I'm sorry..."
"Are you family?"
Renata answered quietly.
"I'm his wife."
The gift bag slipped from Sofia's fingers.
It hit the ground.
A bottle of expensive wine shattered across the driveway.
Red wine spread across the concrete like fresh blood.
Sofia stared at Diego.
"Your..."
"...wife?"
Diego took one cautious step forward.
"Sofia..."
"I was going to tell you."
She looked as though she had been struck.
"You told me you were divorced."
"I..."
"You showed me apartment listings."
"You asked me what kind of wedding I wanted."
"You introduced me to your friends."
"You promised we'd start a family."
Every sentence hit Diego harder than the last.
Camila slowly turned toward him.
"You said exactly the same things to me."
Sofia looked at Camila.
"Who are you?"
Camila wiped away her tears.
"I'm apparently your replacement."
"No..."
Renata interrupted softly.
"We're all victims."
For the first time that evening...
The three women looked at one another.
Not as rivals.
Not as enemies.
But as three people who had been manipulated by the same man.
Arturo quietly cleared his throat.
"I believe there's something else everyone deserves to know."
He removed another folder from his briefcase.
Diego nearly collapsed.
"No..."
Arturo opened the file.
"I hired a private investigator three months ago."
"I expected proof of infidelity."
"I didn't expect this."
He spread several photographs across the patio table.
One showed Diego entering a luxury hotel with Camila.
Another showed him vacationing in Cancún with Sofia.
Another...
showed him embracing an entirely different woman outside an office building.
Renata counted silently.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Five different women.
Five different dates.
Five different lies.
Sofia's voice trembled.
"How many?"
Arturo looked directly at Diego.
"Go ahead."
"Tell them."
Diego lowered his head.
He whispered so quietly that everyone leaned in to hear.
"I..."
"...don't know anymore."
The backyard fell silent.
Even the neighbors stopped recording.
Because they all realized the same thing.
This wasn't an affair.
It was an entire double—no...
triple...
quadruple life.
And just when Renata thought there were no more surprises left...
A police patrol car slowly rolled to a stop outside the gate.
Two officers stepped out.
One of them held a sealed envelope.
He looked around before asking one simple question.
"Which one of you is Diego Salcedo?"
Diego slowly raised his hand.
The officer looked him straight in the eye.
"Sir..."
May you like
"You're going to want a lawyer."
To Be Continued...
