Chapter 3 - The Mask of Guadalajara’s Golden Boy Slips"Valeria, stop this madness!" Mauricio yelled, finally reaching the steps of the podium. He tried to grab her arm, but Valeria stepped back, her eyes flashing with a warning so fierce it made him freeze.
"Touch me, Mauricio, and I will have the security guards—whom I hired and paid for—throw you out of your own wedding," she warned him, her voice broadcasting loudly over the speakers.
The guests gasped. Some pulled out their phones, discreetly starting to record. The social scandal of the decade was unfolding right in front of them.
"Valeria, please, it was just a misunderstanding," Mauricio whispered frantically, trying to damage-control. "My mother thought your parents would feel more... comfortable... away from the loud music. We can fix it! We can move their chairs!"
"Comfortable? Next to the garbage bins?" Valeria laughed, a sound completely devoid of mirth. "Do not insult my intelligence, Mauricio. And do not lie to these people. Your mother told me exactly why she did it. She said my parents look 'pathetic' trying to fit into a world that doesn't belong to them."
The crowd erupted into whispers. Doña Leonor’s face went from pale to a deep, angry crimson. She looked at her wealthy friends, desperately trying to signal that Valeria was lying, but the evidence was sitting right there by the service door.
Don Arturo stood up, his voice shaking but filled with quiet pride. "Valeria, mija, please... let's just go home. We don't need to do this."
"No, Papa," Valeria said, her eyes softening as she looked at him, before hardening instantly as she turned back to the crowd. "You have spent your entire life bowing your head so that I could stand tall. Today, nobody is making you bow. Especially not people who are living on borrowed prestige."
She unfolded the document she had taken from her bouquet.
"Mauricio, you and your mother have spent the last two years treating me like a charity case. You let everyone in Guadalajara believe that the wealthy, noble Monterrey family was doing a middle-class girl a favor by allowing her into your dynasty."
She held up the paper.
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"This is the bank reconciliation statement for the wedding expenses. Total cost: 1.8 million pesos. Do you want to tell our guests who paid for 80% of this event?"
THE CLIFFHANGER HOOK: Doña Leonor lunged forward to grab the paper, but Valeria’s next words made the older woman drop to her knees in absolute horror.
