Gabriel. Julián’s younger brother. Quiet. Observant. The only one who had looked at me strangely during dinner whenever Teresa interrupted me.
I stepped back silently and returned to the guest room they had given me “to rest before the honeymoon.” I closed the door and stood there frozen. My wedding dress hung nearby. My suitcase sat untouched. My phone lay on the nightstand.
Just hours earlier, I had been a bride.
Now I felt like prey.
I thought about screaming. Running. Calling the police.
But something inside me told me to stay calm.
I picked up my phone and texted Gabriel:
“I heard everything. They want me to sign so they can take my house. Please help me. Don’t tell them.”
He replied almost instantly.
“Stay calm. Don’t open the front door. I’ll come through the patio.”
When he arrived, his face was pale, his eyes filled with anger.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I knew my mom and Julián had done questionable things before… but I never thought they’d go this far.”
My voice trembled.
—Before? What do you mean?
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