Chapter 1
"Starting tomorrow, you're handing over your payroll card. You'll get up at 6 a.m. to make me breakfast, and if you ever talk back to me again, you'll learn the hard way."
Mauricio spoke those words just three days after he and Renata had begun the paperwork to get married at the Civil Registry in Guadalajara.
Then he kicked the table so hard that a pot of pozole crashed onto the floor. The red broth splashed across the tiles, two plates shattered, and a sharp fragment sliced a small cut into Renata's calf.
She stood perfectly still, her spoon frozen in midair.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" he growled.
For nine months, Mauricio had seemed like a caring man. He brought her coffee at work, respected her schedule, and swore he would never become one of those men who shouted just to feel powerful.
But that night, he looked like a completely different person.
"My mother says a wife has to learn her place from day one," he continued. "Once you're a Salgado, she'll manage your salary. You'll take care of the house, and when I speak, you don't."
Renata looked around the apartment. Almost the entire down payment had come from her savings. She also paid most of the mortgage, even though Mauricio proudly told his family that he had "bought a home for his woman."
"And what if I say no?" she asked.
Mauricio slowly raised his hand.
"First comes one slap. Then another. My mom says they all end up obeying."
Renata took a deep breath.
Then, to his surprise...
She smiled.
"What's so funny, huh?"
"Your mother looked into my salary," she replied calmly. "But she never bothered to find out what I do for a living."
Mauricio lunged forward and grabbed for her arm.
In one smooth movement, Renata pivoted, trapped his wrist, and pinned him against the wall—without throwing a single punch.
He let out a groan and struggled to break free.
"Let me go, you psycho!"
"I'm a self-defense instructor," she said evenly. "And I competed in sambo for twelve years. Working at the sports center is only part of my job."
Mauricio immediately stopped struggling.
Renata picked up her phone.
On the screen was an open chat labeled "Mom Ofe."
She played a voice message that had arrived earlier that afternoon.
"Mau, today you take her payroll card. If she resists, scare her. We need her money before the wedding. Don't you dare go soft on me."
Renata turned on the voice recorder on her own phone.
"Now tell me... who told you to threaten me?"
Mauricio lowered his eyes.
"My mom. She's coming tomorrow morning to make sure you've learned your lesson."
Renata released him, gathered her banking documents, and backed up the recordings to three separate accounts.
Then she pulled a suitcase out of the closet.
"Are you leaving?" he asked, his face pale.
"Not yet."
She zipped the suitcase shut.
"Tomorrow your mother is going to meet the obedient daughter-in-law she's always dreamed of."
"What are you planning?"
Renata glanced at the broken dishes scattered across the floor.
"I'm going to let her talk... until she reveals why she's been so desperate for months to get her hands on my paycheck."
Mauricio said nothing.
At 6:48 the next morning, the doorbell rang—an hour earlier than expected.
May you like
And when Renata looked through the security camera and saw who had arrived with Ofelia, she realized...
This was no ordinary family visit.
