Chapter 4 - THE BILLIONAIRE’S REAL MOTIVEThe heavy oak doors of the private dining room closed, cutting off Héctor’s muffled curses echoing down the hotel corridor. The sudden silence in the room felt heavy, almost surreal.
I stood by the mahogany table, my hands resting lightly on the back of my chair. The adrenaline that had sustained me through the confrontation was rapidly ebbing away, leaving a hollow, trembling fatigue in its wake.
"You handled that with absolute clinical precision," Alejandro said, his voice soft, breaking the quiet. He walked over to the sideboard, poured two glasses of sparkling mineral water with a slice of lemon, and handed one to me. "I knew hiring you as an interpreter was a stroke of genius, Mariana, but watching you dismantle a corporate predator in under five minutes? That exceeded even my highest expectations."
I took the glass, my fingers brushing against his. The slight electric spark caught my attention, and I looked up to meet his intense, dark gaze.
"Thank you, Alejandro," I said sincerely, taking a cool sip of the water. "Without your financial backing and legal muscle, those court orders would have taken months to secure. Héctor would have had time to liquidate his offshore accounts and flee to the Cayman Islands."
Alejandro leaned back against the edge of the table, crossing his arms over his broad chest. His expression shifted from the sharp, ruthless corporate strategist into something much more contemplative—and vulnerable.
"Months?" Alejandro gave a low, quiet chuckle. "Mariana, do you really think I only got involved with Villaseñor Tech because of a routine business acquisition?"
I frowned, lowering my glass slightly. "What do you mean? You said you needed an interpreter for the Beijing investors because your usual Mandarin specialist fell ill."
"My Mandarin specialist didn't fall ill," Alejandro confessed, a faint, self-deprecating smile touching the corners of his lips. "She was never scheduled to fly in at all. I arranged this entire dinner. I engineered the meeting with the Chinese investors. I even tipped off Héctor about the $4.8 million venture capital round so he would rush here tonight desperate for cash."
A cold spike of wariness shot through my chest. I stepped back, my defensive instincts flaring up instantly. "You used me as bait? You set up a trap for my ex-husband using my trauma?"
"Not bait, Mariana—an opportunity," Alejandro corrected quickly, his expression turning serious as he pushed off the table and took a step toward me, closing the distance. His eyes were completely steady, burning with an unwavering intensity. "I’ve known who you were for over a year. I watched Héctor systematically steal your algorithms, push you out of your own startup, and reduce you to working night shifts in a restaurant just to pay for your mother’s medicine."
I stared at him, completely stunned. "You... you knew who I was before today?"
"I tried to invest in your original startup three years ago," Alejandro said quietly. "Before Héctor bought out the minor shareholders behind your back and forced you out. I watched from the sidelines, furious that a brilliant architect of decentralized AI systems was buried under the thumb of a mediocre parasite."
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He reached out, his warm fingertips gently grazing my jawline, tilting my chin up so I was forced to look directly into his eyes. There was no mockery there, no billionaire arrogance—only a deep, burning reverence.
"I didn't bring you here tonight to play my fake wife, Mariana," Alejandro whispered, his voice dropping to a low, intimate hum that sent shivers down my spine. "I brought you here so you could finally take back everything he stole from you. And now that he’s gone... I want to offer you something permanent."
