Chapter 4 - Claudia Reveals the Older Daughter
Claudia asked to meet.
I refused until my doctor cleared me.
Three days later, she came to my attorney’s office.
She looked nothing like the triumphant younger mistress Alejandro had
described.
She looked terrified.
The one-year-old boy existed.
His name was Mateo.
But Alejandro’s hospital confession had omitted something.
Claudia also had a nine-year-old daughter.
Sofia.
Alejandro was her father.
My stomach turned.
Nine years.
Not one year.
Nine.
The affair had not begun during my illness.
It had existed through more than half my marriage.
“Did he know?”
Claudia nodded.
“He’s always known.”
I remembered birthday dinners Claudia missed.
Work conferences Alejandro suddenly attended.
Weekends when both were unavailable.
The architecture of betrayal had been standing around me for years.
I had simply called it coincidence.
“Why tell me now?”
Claudia looked down.
“Because he lied to me too.”
Alejandro told Claudia he would divorce me years ago.
Then he claimed my father threatened to destroy him financially.
After my tumor diagnosis, he promised the divorce would finally happen.
Claudia believed the condo belonged to him.
She believed his investments funded their future.
She believed he owned a substantial share of my real estate portfolio.
Then his cards stopped working.
And Alejandro panicked.
“He told me you were confused after surgery,” Claudia said.
I laughed softly.
“That must have been disappointing.”
Then she handed Sarah a flash drive.
Alejandro had sent Claudia spreadsheets listing properties he expected
to control after my death.
One column was labeled:
POST-CAMILA OWNERSHIP.
May you like
I stared at those words.
My husband had prepared for my death like a corporate acquisition.
