CHAPTER 2 — "The Maid He Had Been Searching for for Ten Years"
The ballroom heard only silence.
But Carmen heard the words that had haunted her dreams for an entire decade.
"I never stopped looking for you."
Her fingers trembled.
For one terrifying moment, she almost reached for Roberto's hand.
Instead, she stepped backward.
"No..."
Her voice was barely audible.
"You shouldn't have said that."
Roberto looked at her as though the years between them had disappeared.
"Carmen..."
She shook her head.
"Please."
There was panic in her eyes.
Not because she didn't recognize him.
Because she did.
Perfectly.
The wealthy guests exchanged confused glances.
Victoria leaned toward Sebastián.
"Do they know each other?"
"I have no idea."
Don Alberto's smile disappeared.
He hated surprises.
Especially inside his own house.
"Roberto," he interrupted loudly, "I believe you've mistaken one of my employees for someone else."
Roberto never looked away from Carmen.
"I haven't mistaken anything."
His answer landed like a stone in still water.
"I know exactly who she is."
The whispers spread instantly.
"What does he mean?"
"Has the maid met him before?"
"Impossible."
"A publicity stunt?"
"No... look at his face."
For the first time that evening, the famous tango legend wasn't acting.
He looked like a man standing before the love he thought had died.
Carmen swallowed hard.
Her heartbeat echoed inside her ears.
She had promised herself this day would never come.
Ten years earlier she had buried her past together with her dreams.
She had accepted that some stories were never meant to have endings.
Yet Roberto was standing only inches away.
Exactly the way he used to stand before every performance.
Waiting for her.
Only now there was an entire ballroom watching.
Don Alberto cleared his throat impatiently.
"This has gone far enough."
He turned toward Carmen.
"Go back to the kitchen."
His tone wasn't a request.
It was an order.
Carmen instinctively lowered her head.
Years of serving wealthy families had trained her body before her mind.
She took one step backward.
Then Roberto spoke.
"No."
Everyone froze again.
"No one is sending her anywhere."
Don Alberto's expression darkened.
"This is my house."
"And she's not your property."
The room filled with nervous murmurs.
No one had spoken to Alberto Montero like that in years.
Victoria rolled her eyes.
"Oh, this is ridiculous."
She walked toward Carmen in her expensive ivory gown.
"So tell us..."
She smiled sweetly.
"Did you clean Roberto's apartment once?"
A few guests laughed.
Another woman added,
"Maybe she ironed his shirts."
Laughter spread again.
Victoria wasn't finished.
"Or perhaps she imagines herself as Cinderella."
More laughter.
Carmen stared silently at the marble floor.
She had heard insults worse than these.
But tonight...
With Roberto standing beside her...
Each word hurt differently.
Roberto's jaw tightened.
"You should apologize."
Victoria blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
The room fell silent again.
"I said..."
"You should apologize."
Victoria laughed in disbelief.
"To a maid?"
"To Carmen."
Before she could answer, Don Alberto stepped between them.
"This conversation is over."
He turned toward the security guards stationed near the entrance.
"Escort the employee back downstairs."
Two large guards immediately walked forward.
Carmen's breathing quickened.
Not again...
Please...
Not like this.
She remembered another night.
Another group of men.
Another ballroom.
Another humiliation.
The guards stopped.
Not because Alberto changed his mind.
Because Roberto stepped directly in front of Carmen.
"If anyone touches her..."
His voice remained calm.
"I leave."
The orchestra members exchanged nervous looks.
One television producer whispered,
"We're broadcasting tonight."
A journalist quietly lowered her camera.
This was no longer an engagement party.
This was becoming something else.
Alberto folded his arms.
"You would insult my family..."
"For a servant?"
Roberto answered without hesitation.
"I would leave this ballroom..."
"For the greatest tango dancer I have ever known."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Someone dropped a champagne bottle.
It shattered loudly across the marble floor.
The guests stared at Roberto as though he had lost his mind.
Did he just call...
The maid...
The greatest tango dancer?
Victoria laughed first.
Then Sebastián.
Soon several others joined them.
"The maid?"
"A champion?"
"This is embarrassing."
"She's limping."
"She can barely walk."
The laughter echoed beneath the chandeliers.
Carmen slowly closed her eyes.
Limping.
That word had followed her for years.
People assumed the damaged ankle had always been there.
None of them knew how it happened.
None of them knew why she stopped dancing forever.
Roberto did.
Because he had been there.
Ten Years Earlier...
Buenos Aires.
National Tango Championship.
Backstage.
Twenty-two-year-old Carmen adjusted the red flower in her hair.
Roberto nervously tied his shoes.
"We're going to win," he smiled.
She laughed.
"We already have."
"How?"
"We're dancing together."
He kissed her forehead.
"When we win..."
"I'm taking you to Paris."
She smiled.
"And after Paris?"
"I'll marry you."
Before she could answer...
A stage assistant burst into the dressing room.
"Carmen!"
"Your father collapsed!"
Everything after that became a blur.
Hospital lights.
Doctors shouting.
Bills.
Debt.
Her father's surgery.
She never made it back to the competition.
Roberto searched everywhere.
But Carmen had disappeared overnight.
Not because she wanted to leave him.
Because someone had convinced her she had no choice.
Back in the present...
Roberto looked directly at Don Alberto.
"You asked if anyone here could dance with me."
"I already have my answer."
He extended his hand once again.
"Carmen..."
"This time..."
"Will you dance?"
She stared at his hand.
The same hand that had held hers through hundreds of rehearsals.
The same hand she had dreamed about every night.
Tears blurred her vision.
"I can't."
"You can."
"My ankle..."
"I know."
"I'll fall."
"I won't let you."
She looked away.
"You don't understand."
"No."
Roberto whispered.
"You don't understand."
"I searched hospitals."
"I searched dance schools."
"I searched every theater in Argentina."
"I even hired private investigators."
"They all told me you had vanished."
His voice cracked.
"I thought you were dead."
A collective gasp swept across the ballroom.
Even Victoria stopped smiling.
Before Carmen could answer...
A sharp female voice interrupted them.
"He's lying."
Everyone turned.
An elegant woman wearing a diamond necklace had stepped forward from the crowd.
She looked directly at Roberto.
Then at Carmen.
Hatred burned in her eyes.
"You didn't disappear, Carmen."
"You ran away."
The ballroom went completely still.
The woman smiled coldly.
May you like
"And I know exactly why."
To Be Continued in Chapter 3...
