Chapter 2 - The Wrath from Above
"Diego!" Paulina shrieked, her voice echoing off the high marble ceilings as she descended the stairs with furious speed. "Have you completely lost your mind? You are standing there, humiliating yourself and me, over a common domestic worker and her illegitimate brat!"
Diego didn't even turn his head to look at her. His eyes remained locked on Marisol and the little girl holding onto her.
"Keep your voice down, Paulina," Diego said, his tone shifting instantly from raw emotion to an arctic chill that made the security guards step back.
"Keep my voice down?" Paulina reached the bottom of the stairs, her face flushed with humiliation. She pointed a manicured finger directly at Marisol. "That woman lied to you! She sneaked into your house under false pretenses, hiding a child like a thief, and you're just standing there looking at them like... like they mean something to you?"
"They do," Diego said quietly.
The words dropped into the room like a lead weight.
Paulina froze, her mouth slightly open as she stared at her fiancé. "What did you just say?"
Diego finally turned around, facing her with a coldness that eclipsed anything Paulina had ever seen in him. The billionaire who routinely crushed corporate competitors in boardrooms was now looking at the woman he was supposed to marry as if she were a stranger who had overstayed her welcome.
"You heard me," Diego said, taking a slow step toward her. "For six months, you’ve treated the staff like garbage. You’ve screamed at cooks, demeaned the gardeners, and this morning, you tried to throw a three-year-old child out onto the street into the freezing rain."
"She doesn't belong here!" Paulina snarled, her mask of elegant composure completely shattering. "This is a luxury estate, not a charity ward! If you care so much about them, give them some severance pay and throw them out the back gate where they belong!"
"This house belongs to me," Diego replied, his voice rising just enough to vibrate through the grand hall. "And every square inch of it—every marble tile, every crystal chandelier, every brick—matters less to me than the little girl standing right there."
He turned back to Marisol, softening his expression instantly. He crouched down once more, ignoring Paulina's gasps of outrage.
"Valentina," Diego said softly, extending his hand. The little girl looked up at her mother, seeking permission. Marisol, trembling, gave a tiny, tearful nod. Valentina slowly placed her small, warm hand into Diego's large palm. "You're safe here. I promise you, no one is ever going to make you leave."
Paulina let out a harsh, bitter laugh, stepping back and pulling her phone from her robe pocket.
"You think you can humiliate me in front of my friends, in front of high society?" Paulina hissed, her eyes wild with fury. "My father funded your first major development in Santa Fe, Diego! The Robles family made you who you are! If you choose a maid over me, I will make sure you lose everything—your contracts, your status, your entire empire!"
Diego slowly stood up, letting go of Valentina's hand for just a moment. He pulled his own phone from his pocket, unlocked it with a single glance, and dialed a number on speakerphone.
"Put it on speaker, let everyone hear!" Paulina sneered, crossing her arms. "Let’s see how brave you are when my father pulls his capital out of your accounts by noon."
The phone rang twice before a gruff, tired voice answered on the other end.
"Diego? It’s six in the morning. This better be important," Senator Armando Robles' voice boomed through the quiet hall.
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"It is, Senator," Diego said smoothly, his eyes never leaving Paulina’s pale face. "I am calling to officially terminate my engagement to your daughter, effective immediately."
Silence echoed on the line. Then, absolute explosion.
