Rodrigo dropped to his knees without caring about his expensive clothes.
“Yes, my love. I’m here.”
She glanced nervously toward the terrace, where Beatriz still laughed on the phone, then looked down at her torn dress.
“Dad… please let me change first. I don’t want you to see me like this. And… please don’t tell Beatriz.”
The words cut deeper than any insult.
“Why?” Rodrigo asked, forcing calm into his voice.
Valentina stared at the ground.
“She says if I complain, it’s because I’m spoiled. And if I tell you anything… you’ll send me away to boarding school. She says you left because you needed a break from me.”
His eyes burned with tears—anger, guilt, heartbreak all colliding. He gently lifted her face.
“Listen to me, Valentina. I left for work. Never because of you. I will never send you away. You are the most important thing in my life. Do you understand?”
She nodded, but the fear remained, etched too deeply to disappear in seconds.
Beatriz’s voice rang out again.
“Valentina! What’s taking so long? Come up here now!”
Valentina flinched.
“Dad, I have to go. If she sees us talking before I finish, she’ll get angry…”
Something inside Rodrigo shattered—and reformed into resolve.
“No,” he said quietly. “Stay here. I’ll handle Beatriz.”
“She’ll say I’m causing trouble…”
“You’re not,” he replied, locking eyes with her. “She is.”
He climbed the exterior stairs slowly.
Beatriz was still laughing into her phone.
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