Chapter 7 - The Final Piece of the PuzzleIt was late afternoon by the time Alejandro returned home. The sun was dipping below the horizon, painting the sky over Monterrey in brilliant shades of orange and purple.
He parked his car in the garage, walked through the front door, and immediately noticed a sweet, comforting smell drifting from the kitchen—chicken soup and warm ginger tea.
Mariana was sitting at the kitchen island, wrapped in a cozy knit blanket, sipping tea. Her face looked a bit more rested, though the faint bruise on her lip from the previous day’s horror was still visible.
When she heard footsteps, she turned around, her eyes widening with worry. “Alejandro? Are you okay? I heard rumors on the news... they said police cars were at your office, and... and Ofelia and Diego were arrested?”
Alejandro walked over, pulled up a stool, and gently took her fragile, warm hands into his own. He knelt down right there in front of her—not in submission, like she had been forced to do less than twenty-four hours ago, but out of absolute reverence and love.
“It’s over, my love,” Alejandro whispered, kissing her knuckles. “They are gone. They will never step foot in this house again, and they will spend the next several years behind bars where they belong.”
Tears welled up in Mariana’s eyes, spilling over her lashes. She let out a long, shuddering breath, as if a mountain of lead had finally been lifted off her chest.
“I was so scared, Alejandro,” she sobbed softly, resting her hand on her prominent baby bump. “Not for myself... but for our baby. I thought we were going to lose everything we worked so hard to build.”
“We lost nothing that mattered,” Alejandro smiled gently, wiping a tear from her cheek. “And to make sure you never have to worry about the past again... I did one last thing today.”
Mariana looked at him curiously. “What did you do?”
Alejandro pulled a fresh, sealed legal document from his briefcase and laid it flat on the kitchen counter.
Mariana glanced down at the title. Her breath hitched.
It was the complete deed to the house, along with the primary corporate restructuring papers.
He had legally transferred 50% of the entire Villarreal Corporation directly into Mariana’s name, making her an equal co-owner and executive chairwoman of the enterprise she had sacrificed her youth to build.
And beneath that document was something else—a certified cashier's check for 500,000 pesos, drawn directly from the seized accounts of Diego and Ofelia.
“What is this?” she whispered, staring at the numbers in disbelief.
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“It’s your restitution, my queen,” Alejandro said softly, looking deep into her eyes. “They stole half a million pesos from our safe, thinking they could destroy us. Mateo and the federal police recovered it, plus interest. And this house? It has always been yours. But now, your name is permanently carved into the foundation.”
Mariana looked from the papers to Alejandro, her heart overflowing with a love so deep it defied words. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as they held each other in the quiet, peaceful warmth of their home.
