CHAPTER 4 — The Woman Behind the Betrayal
For three years, Lucía Mendoza believed she had lost herself because of love.
She believed that choosing family over ambition was a sacrifice worth making.
She believed that the man she married would protect her heart the same way she protected his dreams.
But now, sitting in a hospital bed with a broken leg, she finally saw the truth.
The people closest to her had been playing a game.
And she had been the prize.
“Your former business partner?”
Lucía repeated the words slowly.
The hospital security guard nodded through the phone.
“Yes, Mrs. Mendoza. We checked the footage twice.”
Lucía’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who was she?”
The guard hesitated.
“Camila Ortega.”
The name hit her like another accident.
Camila.
Her best friend.
Her partner.
The woman who had stood beside her when Grupo Altavista was nothing but a small office with two employees.
The woman who cried with her during the hardest days.
The woman who always said:
“Lucía, I will protect what you built as if it were my own.”
And now…
She was inside her hospital room with Rodrigo.
Without permission.
Without explanation.
Without fear.
Lucía ended the call.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Rodrigo noticed her expression.
“What happened?”
She looked at him.
“You already know.”
His face changed.
“I don’t.”
“Then why did Camila Ortega come here with you?”
The color disappeared from Rodrigo’s face.
Lucía watched him carefully.
That reaction told her everything.
“You know her.”
Rodrigo looked away.
“Lucía…”
“How long?”
Silence.
“How long have you known Camila?”
Rodrigo swallowed.
“I met her through work.”
“Work?”
Lucía laughed quietly.
A painful laugh.
“Interesting.”
She looked at him.
“Because Camila stopped working with me the same year you joined Grupo Altavista.”
Rodrigo remained silent.
And that silence was more powerful than any confession.
Three years earlier…
Before Rodrigo.
Before the wedding.
Before the betrayal.
Lucía and Camila were unstoppable.
Two young women with a dream.
They started with a tiny warehouse.
No investors.
No famous names.
No connections.
Just determination.
Lucía handled strategy and finance.
Camila handled operations.
Together, they turned a small appliance distributor into a company worth hundreds of millions.
Everyone admired them.
Everyone except one person.
Camila.
Because behind every smile…
There was envy.
She watched Lucía receive recognition.
She watched journalists call Lucía a genius.
She watched investors ask for Lucía’s opinion first.
And slowly…
Admiration turned into resentment.
Then Rodrigo appeared.
A charming young executive.
Confident.
Ambitious.
Exactly the type of man Camila believed could help her take control.
At first, she only gave him advice.
“Lucía trusts people too much.”
“She doesn’t understand power.”
“She thinks love is more important than business.”
Rodrigo listened.
Because he liked what he heard.
Someone finally told him he deserved more.
Someone finally made him feel important.
And while Lucía was planning their future together…
Rodrigo and Camila were planning something else.
Back in the hospital room, Rodrigo finally spoke.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Lucía stared at him.
“What wasn’t?”
“The company.”
“The money?”
“The lies?”
His silence answered.
Lucía felt something inside her go numb.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Something worse.
Disappointment.
“You never loved me.”
Rodrigo immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“I did.”
“Lucía, listen—”
“No.”
Her voice was calm.
“You loved the version of me that made your life easier.”
She looked directly at him.
“The wife who cooked.”
“The wife who stayed quiet.”
“The wife who supported your dreams.”
A pause.
“But when you discovered I had power…”
She shook her head.
“You didn’t know whether to love me or fear me.”
Rodrigo’s eyes filled with regret.
“Please believe me.”
“Believe what?”
“That I made mistakes?”
Lucía looked away.
“Mistakes happen once.”
She pointed at the door.
“What you did was a choice.”
That evening, Lucía called Ernesto.
Not as his friend.
Not as the woman who trusted him.
But as the owner of Grupo Altavista.
“Freeze all executive accounts.”
Ernesto became silent.
“Lucía…”
“Do it.”
“There’s a risk.”
“I know.”
“If Rodrigo and Camila are connected, this could become a public scandal.”
Lucía looked at the city lights outside the hospital window.
“Let it become public.”
A pause.
“For three years, they built their image by standing on my back.”
Her voice became stronger.
“Now they can stand in front of the truth.”
The next morning, Grupo Altavista exploded.
News spread internally:
EXECUTIVE FRAUD INVESTIGATION BEGINS
Employees gathered around computer screens.
Managers whispered.
Board members demanded explanations.
And then…
Something unexpected happened.
Another file appeared.
A file that nobody expected.
A file containing years of private messages between Rodrigo and Camila.
Including one message sent just days before Lucía’s wedding.
Rodrigo:
“Once I marry her, everything will be easier.”
Camila:
“Good. She will never suspect her husband.”
Rodrigo:
“And after we get access?”
Camila:
“We remove her from the company.”
Lucía read the messages in silence.
Her hands trembled.
Not because she was surprised.
But because she finally understood.
Her marriage had never been a love story.
It had been an investment plan.
And she was the asset they wanted to steal.
That afternoon, Rodrigo came to the hospital one last time.
But this time…
He was not alone.
Behind him stood Camila.
The woman who had once called Lucía her sister.
Camila smiled.
Not with guilt.
With confidence.
“Hello, Lucía.”
Lucía looked at her.
“Why?”
Camila tilted her head.
“Why what?”
“Why did you do it?”
For a moment, Camila said nothing.
Then she laughed softly.
“Because everything you had should have been mine.”
Rodrigo looked uncomfortable.
“Camila…”
“No.”
She looked at Lucía.
“You always had everything.”
“Talent.”
“Money.”
“Respect.”
“Even Rodrigo.”
Lucía’s eyes narrowed.
“You never wanted my friendship.”
Camila smiled.
“I wanted your life.”
The room went silent.
Then Camila leaned closer.
“But there’s something you still don’t know.”
Lucía stared at her.
“What?”
Camila whispered:
“The money we took from Aurora Capital…”
A pause.
“It was not the real goal.”
Lucía felt a chill.
“What are you talking about?”
Camila smiled.
“The company was only the beginning.”
She placed a document on the bed.
Lucía looked down.
And the moment she saw the signature…
Her blood ran cold.
Because the document was not a financial agreement.
It was a marriage document.
And at the bottom…
Was Rodrigo’s signature.
A secret agreement created before their wedding.
An agreement that would change everything.
Because according to that document…
Rodrigo never planned to be Lucía’s husband.
May you like
He planned to become the owner of her entire empire.
TO BE CONTINUED… ❤️📖
