Chapter 14: The Confrontation
Lía sat behind her desk, the steady hum of the office filling the otherwise tense silence. Her fingers rested lightly on the surface of the polished wood, betraying the anxiety she tried to keep in check. Alejandro's presence in the lobby had stirred a chaos within her that she couldn't quite control, but now that he was here, standing just a few feet from her, everything seemed to freeze.
She had known this moment would come—she had expected it, feared it even—but the reality of it was still overwhelming. He was here, not as her husband, not as the man who had once promised to love her, but as an intruder, a person who still held power over her emotions, but no longer over her actions.
Alejandro's gaze was cold, his face a mask of frustration and accusation. The moment he stepped into the room, his eyes locked onto hers, as though he could physically break through the walls she had carefully constructed around herself.
"You think this is some kind of revenge, don't you?" Alejandro's voice was low, clipped, each word sharp like a knife. He stepped closer, his presence suffocating. "Taking this job with Diego, making a name for yourself, pretending you're moving on—do you honestly think I won't notice?"
Lía stood up slowly, her posture straight, her heart pounding, but her voice steady. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't afraid to speak her truth.
"It's not revenge, Alejandro," she said, her eyes never leaving his. "It's survival."
Alejandro's eyes flickered with a mix of anger and confusion, as if her words had hit him harder than expected. He took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Survival?" he repeated, as if the word tasted foreign on his tongue. "You think this job—this little game you're playing—is going to fix everything? You think it'll make you feel better?"
Lía took a deep breath. This was it—the moment she had been avoiding. The moment she finally had the courage to say the things that had been eating away at her for years.
"Yes, it's a game," she said, her voice finally breaking through the years of silence and restraint. "But not for the reasons you think. I didn't take this job to hurt you. I took it because for once, I want something for myself. Something that doesn't involve you, or your expectations, or your neglect."
Alejandro flinched, the words landing like a blow. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lía didn't let him.
"You think you know me?" she continued, her voice growing stronger with each word. "You think you understand everything I've done, every decision I've made? You never once bothered to ask. You were too busy with your work, too busy with Sofía, to even notice when I was struggling."
Alejandro's eyes darkened, and for the first time, a crack appeared in his usually impassive facade. His jaw clenched, his fists tightening at his sides. "This again?" he muttered, his voice shaking slightly. "We're doing this now?"
Lía's chest tightened as she held her ground. "Yes, Alejandro. We are. I've spent years making excuses for you, covering up your mistakes, pretending I was fine. But I wasn't. I wasn't fine."
He looked at her for a long moment, the anger on his face replaced by something else—something that almost looked like guilt, or maybe regret. But it was fleeting, vanishing as quickly as it had come.
"I didn't have time for you," he said quietly, his voice unsteady. "I thought… I thought you understood."
"Understood what?" Lía asked, her voice soft but firm. "That I was supposed to live in your shadow? That I should always be the perfect wife, the perfect accessory, while you chased your own dreams?"
Alejandro opened his mouth to argue, but the words seemed to die in his throat. He had no defense, no excuse left. There was nothing he could say that would make this right.
Lía continued, her heart heavy but resolute. "I gave you everything, Alejandro. I gave you my time, my energy, my love. And what did I get in return? A man who was too busy with his own life to notice when I was falling apart. A man who turned his back when I needed him most."
There was a long silence, the weight of her words hanging in the air between them. For a brief moment, Alejandro's walls seemed to crack, but then, just as quickly, they were back up again. He looked at her with cold eyes, the defensive mask settling back into place.
"Do you think this job will fix all of that?" he asked, his voice a little more controlled now. "Do you think Diego—whoever he is—will make it all better?"
Lía stood tall, meeting his gaze with a calmness that surprised even herself. "I'm not looking for someone else to fix me, Alejandro. I'm fixing myself."
The words seemed to hit him harder than she expected. He took a step back, his eyes clouded with something she couldn't quite read. "So, this is it, then? You're really done with me?" he asked, the finality in his voice unmistakable.
Lía didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked at him one last time, her heart filled with a strange mixture of relief and sorrow. The man she had once loved was still standing in front of her, but he was a stranger now—someone she no longer recognized.
"Yes," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm done."
Alejandro stood still for a moment, as if the weight of her words was sinking in. But before he could respond, Lía turned her back on him and walked toward the door. She needed to leave this chapter behind, to finally put the past to rest.
As she reached for the door, Alejandro's voice stopped her.
"Lía…" he said, his voice unsteady. "Are you seeing him?"
Lía froze. She hadn't expected him to ask that, and for a moment, the question caught her off guard. She turned to face him, her eyes narrowing.
"Who?" she asked, her voice sharp.
"Diego," Alejandro said, his eyes darkening with something that looked suspiciously like jealousy. "Are you involved with him?"
Lía's heart skipped a beat at the implication. "That's none of your business," she said coldly, the words sharp as daggers.
Alejandro didn't answer right away. Instead, he stared at her with a look of disbelief, his thoughts running wild. He didn't want to admit it, but the thought of Lía being with someone else, especially Diego, struck a nerve in him. His jaw clenched, and he took a deep breath, trying to push down the wave of emotions that threatened to overtake him.
As Lía stepped out of the office, she felt a strange sense of calm wash over her. She had said everything she needed to say, and now it was time to move on.
But as she walked through the lobby, her eyes were drawn to a familiar figure standing by the elevator. It was Nicolás, the boy she had met only days before, his arms wrapped tightly around Diego's waist. Diego smiled down at him affectionately, his hand resting on the boy's head.
Lía's stomach churned as she watched them. Something about the way Diego held Nicolás felt too intimate, too personal, and in that moment, she realized that there was far more to their relationship than she had initially thought.
And as Alejandro watched from a distance, the suspicion began to fester. His gaze narrowed, his mind racing with questions he wasn't ready to confront. Could it be that Lía was already moving on—this time, for real?