Alejandro refused to leave my apartment.

—You’re not marrying Gabriel Téllez.

I looked at him calmly.

—You married Claudia yesterday.

—That was different.

I almost laughed.

Of course it was.

Everything Alejandro did was always “different.”

I picked up my phone.

—Leave now, or security removes you.

His expression hardened.

—Gabriel won’t marry you. Everyone knows why.

—Then that is between Gabriel and me.

For the first time, Alejandro looked uncertain.

He finally left.

The next morning, I met Gabriel.

I expected arrogance.

Instead, he arrived alone, placed the marriage agreement in front of me and said:

—Before you sign, there are things you should know.

I studied him.

—Such as?

—The rumors about me were encouraged by my family.

That surprised me.

Gabriel continued:

—They wanted certain people to stop arranging marriages for business purposes.

—Then why accept me?

He pushed another folder across the table.

Inside was the Villalba defense project.

My family’s project.

But several pages carried Alejandro Santamaría’s name.

—Alejandro has been trying to gain control of your family’s contracts for almost two years.

My fingers tightened around the folder.

—How?

—Through you.

Gabriel showed me emails.

Alejandro had repeatedly presented himself to investors as my future husband and therefore the future representative of Villalba interests.

He had even promised that after our marriage, several contracts would be consolidated under his management.

Suddenly my previous life made terrible sense.

He hadn’t merely wanted me nearby.

He had needed me dependent.

Gabriel leaned back.

—The three hundred million isn’t payment for marrying me.

I frowned.

—Then what is it?

—Protection.

His family wanted to invest before Alejandro could move the project into military-controlled partnerships.

I stared at him.

—Why didn’t anyone tell me?

—Your father tried.

My heart stopped.

Gabriel slid one final document toward me.

It was dated before my original wedding.

My father had requested an investigation into Alejandro.

But the report had disappeared.

Someone had intercepted it.

Someone inside my father’s company.

Two weeks later, Gabriel and I registered our marriage privately.

No enormous ceremony.

No white dress.

Just signatures.

When I walked outside, Alejandro was waiting.

Claudia stood beside him.

He looked at the marriage certificate in my hand.

—You actually did it?

—Yes.

—To punish me?

Gabriel answered before I could.

—You still think everything she does is about you.

Alejandro’s face darkened.

Then my father called.

His voice was urgent.

—Estrella, come to the office immediately.

When we arrived, the entire executive board was waiting.

The Téllez investment had cleared that morning.

Three hundred million.

But that wasn’t why everyone looked frightened.

My father placed an old investigation report in front of me.

—We found the missing copy.

I opened it.

There were financial transfers.

Internal correspondence.

And Claudia Núñez’s name.

I looked at my father.

—Claudia?

He nodded.

—She was assigned to Alejandro’s unit months before anyone officially introduced them.

Gabriel turned another page.

There was an authorization connecting her to a private contractor competing against our family.

Suddenly Alejandro’s story about Claudia simply “saving” him looked very different.

Then I reached the final page.

My hands stopped.

There was a photograph.

Alejandro.

Claudia.

And a third person.

My father whispered:

—This was taken months before the incident Alejandro claimed brought them together.

So Claudia hadn’t suddenly entered his life.

They had known each other already.

But Gabriel was staring at something else.

A signature beneath the photograph.

His expression changed.

—Estrella…

—What?

He turned the page toward me.

—This investigation wasn’t ordered by your father.

I looked at the authorization.

Someone else had been investigating Alejandro long before my wedding.

The signature belonged to Gabriel Téllez.

I slowly raised my eyes toward my new husband.

—Why were you investigating my fiancé?

Gabriel remained silent for several seconds.

Then he said:

—Because Alejandro wasn’t the first person who knew your death was coming.