Chapter 19: The Scandal
The morning sunlight streamed through the office windows, casting a pale glow across the room. Lía sat at her desk, her fingers absentmindedly tapping against the surface as she read through some reports. The calm of the morning was shattered when a sharp ping from her phone grabbed her attention.
It was a news alert, and her heart dropped as she read the headline: "Scandal Rocks Diego Salazar's Empire: Hidden Son Revealed." The article went on to describe the shocking discovery of Diego's secret child, Nicolás, from a past relationship. As the details unfolded, the revelation felt like a slap in the face to everyone who had respected Diego, painting him as a man who had kept such an important part of his life hidden from the public.
Lía felt a wave of disbelief wash over her. The world now knew the secret she and Diego had carefully guarded, and in a matter of hours, the scandal was being shared across all major news outlets. She knew this wasn't just a personal betrayal for Diego—it was a professional disaster for his company. A man in Diego's position could not afford to have his private life exposed in such a dramatic way.
Despite the rush of panic that hit her chest, Lía knew one thing for sure: she wouldn't let Diego face this alone. She quickly pushed herself out of her chair and walked toward his office, her mind racing with what to do. When she knocked and entered, she found him staring at his laptop, his face pale, his eyes fixed on the screen with an expression of disbelief.
"Diego," Lía said softly, her voice full of concern. "I know it's a lot to take in, but we can handle this together."
Diego's gaze slowly lifted to meet hers, and for a moment, he seemed to lose focus, as if her presence hadn't yet fully registered in the chaos of his thoughts. "Lía… I didn't know it would come to this. I thought I had more time to deal with it. Now it's out there. Everyone knows."
He looked lost, like a man who had been blindsided by a storm he couldn't control. Lía walked around his desk and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, her touch grounding him.
"You don't have to deal with this alone," she said, her voice unwavering. "We'll fix this. You have me on your side."
Diego didn't respond immediately, but Lía could see the tension in his posture begin to ease, even if just a little. For a brief moment, the sharp lines of worry in his face softened, and she allowed herself to hope that maybe, just maybe, they could weather the storm together.
Elsewhere, in a quiet apartment, Alejandro sat on the edge of his bed, his fingers trembling as he stared at his phone screen. He had seen the headline too, the one that had rocked Diego's world. The words cut deeper than he expected: "Scandal Rocks Diego Salazar's Empire: Hidden Son Revealed."
Alejandro had always been detached from the drama of the office, his cold, unbothered demeanor the perfect armor to protect him from the chaos around him. But now, as he read the article over again, he realized that something in him had shifted. He felt a pang of something—guilt? Regret? It was hard to tell—but he couldn't deny that his indifference toward Lía's situation had suddenly felt more like negligence.
Lía, who had always been in the background of his thoughts, was now in the forefront of his mind. He had kept his distance from her, always seeing her as a part of the machinery that ran his world—efficient, capable, but unworthy of his emotional investment. But now, as he absorbed the details of the scandal, he realized how wrong he had been.
Lía wasn't just a part of the office. She was someone who had been by Diego's side, helping him through this mess. She had been there for him when the world turned against him. The more Alejandro thought about it, the more he recognized his own failures—the failure to see what was in front of him, the failure to appreciate the strength that Lía had always shown.
Alejandro let out a frustrated sigh and threw his phone onto the bed. It wasn't just that he had ignored Lía's worth; it was that he had missed an opportunity to connect with someone who could have mattered. Instead, he had dismissed her, taken her for granted, assuming she was just another person who would fall in line with his world. But now, she was involved in something bigger than he had ever imagined. She was standing by Diego, supporting him through this scandal—and for the first time in a long while, Alejandro felt that old, familiar ache in his chest, the one that came with the weight of things left unsaid.
He stood up, pacing across the room as his mind churned. He didn't know what to do with this new realization. He had been distant with Lía for so long that even trying to repair their relationship now felt like an impossible task. But he couldn't deny that the way she had handled this situation, the way she had stepped up for Diego, had stirred something inside of him.
Could he even face her after everything that had happened? The thought of her, standing by Diego's side, helping him through the crisis, made him feel strangely small. He had always assumed that Lía would be there when he needed her, but now he saw how wrong he was. She wasn't waiting for him to notice her. She had found her own path, one that didn't involve him at all.
Back in the office, Lía was in full crisis mode. Diego was doing his best to stay composed, but she could see the exhaustion in his eyes. She knew how much this scandal was affecting him, how deeply the revelation of Nicolás' existence cut him. He wasn't just dealing with a public scandal—he was facing the breakdown of his carefully constructed image, the very foundation of everything he had built.
"We need to put together a statement," Lía said, already drafting ideas in her head. "Something that addresses the issue, but doesn't make it worse. We'll need to control the narrative, at least for now."
Diego nodded, his face weary. "But what about Nicolás? What if he's hurt by all of this?"
Lía paused. She hadn't considered that. Of course, Nicolás was the most innocent party in all of this. He hadn't asked for his father's secrets to be exposed to the world. But Lía knew they couldn't afford to be sentimental right now.
"We'll figure it out," she said softly, offering him a reassuring smile. "We'll protect Nicolás, and we'll protect you. But we need to stay ahead of this."
Just then, her phone buzzed with another message. She glanced at the screen and her heart skipped a beat when she saw it was from Diego's lawyer. Her breath caught in her throat as she read the message aloud: "Diego, we have a serious problem. We just received a legal threat from your ex-partner. It's more than a simple custody issue—this could bring the company down."
The words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of the trouble they were about to face. Lía's mind raced, her thoughts spinning as she tried to process what this meant for them. The legal threat was the final straw, the blow that could potentially destroy everything Diego had worked for.
"Diego," Lía said, her voice steady despite the chaos, "this is just the beginning. We need to act fast."
But Diego seemed lost in the gravity of the situation, unable to see beyond the immediate crisis. Lía knew this was going to be the hardest fight they had ever faced, and it was only going to get worse from here.
As Diego's face darkened with concern, the gravity of the legal threat sinking in, Lía knew this was only the beginning of the storm. They were about to face a battle unlike anything they had imagined. And this time, there would be no easy way out.