Chapter 6 - The New FoundationTwo months later, the spring sun was warm and golden, casting bright rays through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my new office downtown.
Elena’s Fresh Catch & Seafood Co.
The sign gleamed in crisp, modern lettering above the entrance of a gorgeous, fully modernized brick-and-mortar restaurant overlooking the city harbor. It wasn't just a food truck anymore. It was a thriving, high-end seafood establishment, 100% legally owned and operated under Valeria's Trust, with me sitting comfortably as the sole executive director.
I adjusted my grip on the small bundle sleeping peacefully against my chest.
Leo.
He had my eyes—just like Martina had mocked on that cold Christmas Eve—and he was healthy, strong, and completely safe. Born two weeks after the steakhouse showdown, he was the bright, untainted chapter of a life that finally belonged entirely to me and Valeria.
The bell above the front door chimed gently, and Valeria skipped in from the kitchen, holding a warm, freshly baked concha dusted with cinnamon sugar.
"Mommy! Chef Marco let me help stamp the takeout boxes!" she announced proudly, her dark eyes shining with joy.
"Did he now? You're becoming quite the businesswoman, aren't you?" I smiled, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
Outside the large glass window, life in the city bustled by. But every now and then, the echoes of the past drifted back.
What happened to Diego and the Morales family?
It didn't take long for the house of cards to completely collapse. Stripped of the restaurant, buried under tens of thousands of dollars in commercial debt from fraudulent loans, and facing an impending civil lawsuit from the commercial lenders, La Mesa Lupita had shuttered its doors by mid-February. Martina had suffered a mild stroke from the stress, forced to sell her family home to pay off a fraction of the mounting legal fees.
And Brenda?
True to form, the moment the money vanished and the grand illusion dissolved into bankruptcy notices, Brenda packed her bags, blocked Diego on every platform, and moved back in with her parents, leaving him alone in a rented, rundown studio apartment on the wrong side of town.
Diego had tried calling me twice last month—desperate, pathetic voicemails begging for a second chance, claiming he was a changed man, crying about how lonely he was.
I hadn't even listened to the second one. I simply forwarded the audio file straight to Marcus Vance with a note: “File for a permanent restraining order and final divorce decree on grounds of abandonment and financial fraud.”
The phone in my pocket buzzed softly, pulling me out of my thoughts.
It was an email notification from the bank—our quarterly profit report for the new restaurant. The numbers were staggering, far exceeding anything La Mesa Lupita had ever made in its best years.
I looked down at Leo, who stirred slightly in his sleep, letting out a soft, contented sigh.
May you like
They thought they could bury me. They thought a pregnant woman in the snow was a victim waiting to be slaughtered.
They had just built the foundation for my empire.
