The voice on the phone belonged to a man who knew the one truth Gabriel had spent three years hiding from me.
I didn’t answer immediately.
My hand remained frozen around the phone.
The rain outside the hotel window continued falling, but this time I didn’t feel cold.
Because after everything that happened the night before, I had learned something.
Pain was not the thing that scared me anymore.
The truth was.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
The man was silent for a few seconds.
Then he replied:
“My name is Mateo Rivas.”
My breath stopped.
Mateo.
The brand director from Fenix Group.
The man who had offered me the biggest opportunity of my career.
The man I had rejected because Gabriel said people would misunderstand.
“Why are you calling me?”
His voice became serious.
“Because yesterday I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.”
I sat on the edge of the bed.
“What?”
“Gabriel and Lucia.”
My fingers tightened.
“I already know they are close.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“You don’t know.”
A pause.
“You only know what Gabriel allowed you to see.”
I didn’t say anything.
Because that sentence hurt.
But it also felt strangely familiar.
For three years, Gabriel had controlled every explanation.
Every excuse.
Every reason why Lucia needed him.
Every reason why I needed to be patient.
“Mateo…”
“I know this is difficult.”
“Then tell me.”
Another silence.
“Before I tell you anything, I need you to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t contact Gabriel yet.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if he knows you are asking questions, he will have time to hide everything.”
The room became quiet.
Hide.
That word felt heavier than it should.
“Everything about what?”
Mateo took a breath.
“The reason your relationship was kept secret.”
I closed my eyes.
Three years.
Three years of being introduced as a friend.
Three years of hearing:
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
“My family is complicated.”
“The company has too many rumors.”
“I don’t want people interfering.”
I had believed him.
Because I loved him.
But suddenly, all those reasons sounded different.
Not like protection.
Like preparation.
“Meet me tomorrow,” Mateo said.
“Where?”
“Fenix Group headquarters.”
I hesitated.
“Why there?”
“Because there is something you need to see.”
“What?”
His answer came quietly.
“The original contract.”
The next morning, I arrived at Fenix Group.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t walking into an office where I had to pretend I was only Gabriel’s colleague.
Nobody whispered.
Nobody looked at me like I was the woman behind the CEO.
They looked at me like I belonged there.
Mateo was waiting near the entrance.
He looked exactly like he did in meetings.
Calm.
Professional.
But today there was something different in his eyes.
Concern.
“Clara.”
I nodded.
“Show me.”
He didn’t ask how I was.
He didn’t offer empty comfort.
And somehow, that made me trust him more.
Inside his office, Mateo opened a folder.
The first page was a business agreement.
My eyes moved across the document.
Then stopped.
Gabriel Luján.
Lucia Serrano.
Fenix Group.
My face changed.
“What is this?”
Mateo looked at me.
“This is from three years ago.”
The same time Gabriel and I started dating.
“Lucia was supposed to leave Madrid.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“She had accepted a position abroad.”
I stared at the paper.
“Then why didn’t she go?”
Mateo didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he opened another document.
An email.
From Gabriel.
My heart started beating faster.
I read the first line.
“Lucia cannot leave now. I need her here.”
I looked at Mateo.
“Why?”
He continued:
“Because at that time, Gabriel’s company was in trouble.”
The room became silent.
“He needed Lucia.”
I frowned.
“For what?”
Mateo’s expression became serious.
“Not because she was his best friend.”
A pause.
“Because she was the daughter of the investor who saved his company.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
Mateo pushed another file toward me.
Inside was information I had never seen.
Lucia Serrano’s family.
Her father’s company.
Investments.
Ownership.
I stared at the documents.
“You’re saying…”
“Lucia wasn’t just Gabriel’s childhood friend.”
Mateo nodded.
“She was the person who could decide the future of Luján Group.”
My hands became cold.
“So Gabriel…”
“Kept you hidden because?”
Mateo didn’t finish.
He didn’t need to.
I already understood.
My entire relationship flashed through my mind.
The secret dates.
The hidden anniversaries.
The excuses.
At first, I thought Gabriel was ashamed of me.
But maybe…
Maybe he wasn’t hiding me because I wasn’t important.
Maybe he was hiding me because someone else was.
“Why me?” I whispered.
Mateo looked at me.
“Because you were the only person who didn’t know what you had.”
I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated.
Then he said:
“Clara, there is something else.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
Mateo opened one final file.
“This was found yesterday after the company party.”
Inside was a photograph.
Gabriel.
Lucia.
And another person.
A man I recognized immediately.
Gabriel’s father.
The date was six months before Gabriel met me.
I looked closer.
There was a handwritten note underneath.
“The agreement must continue until Lucia transfers control.”
I stopped breathing.
Agreement.
Transfer.
Control.
“What agreement?”
Mateo looked at me.
“That’s what I wanted you to find out.”
That night, I returned to the hotel.
But I didn’t sleep.
Because for the first time, I wasn’t wondering:
“Does Gabriel love Lucia?”
I was asking a much worse question.
“Did Gabriel ever love me at all?”
At 2:17 in the morning, my phone lit up.
A message.
From Gabriel.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the words.
“We need to talk. I know you met Mateo.”
My heart stopped.
How did he know?
Another message arrived.
“Please don’t believe everything he tells you.”
Then another.
“Lucia has nothing to do with this.”
I stared at the screen.
Because that sentence revealed something.
He was defending her.
Again.
But before I could reply, another notification appeared.
Unknown number.
A photo.
This time not of Gabriel and Lucia.
It was a photo of me.
Taken from outside the hotel.
Under it was a message:
“Stop investigating, Clara. You don’t know what kind of people you are dealing with.”
My hands went cold.
Someone was watching me.
Someone knew exactly what I was doing.
And then my phone rang.
Not Gabriel.
Not Mateo.
A private number.
I answered.
A woman’s voice whispered:
“Clara, if you want to know the truth about Gabriel…”
A pause.
“…come alone.”
I stood frozen.
“Who are you?”
The woman replied:
“The person who knows why Gabriel chose you.”
Silence.
Then she added:
“And why he was never supposed to fall in love with you.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
