CHAPTER 1

Radiant lights in a sky that only seemed to be made for her. The sun's rays could not shine any brighter for her as it was the happiest day of her life. Finally, after so much, having traveled that path of roses and thorns, dawn was breaking. Strong and clear rays of light.

“You look beautiful, Miss Elisa!” said one of the women who served her.

The white dress together with the veil fell like a beautiful white wave over her. The day of her life had arrived. And in less time than she thought, she was going to become Mrs. de la Barrera.

“We should leave now, Miss Elisa, the groom should already be waiting for you at the altar.” Pressed the same maid.

“I am nervous, I am very nervous, Maria.”

“You don't have to be, Miss Elisa, everything is going to be fine, Mr. de la Barrera is very much in love with you, nothing has to go wrong.”

Elisa finally sighed. It was true, the man who would be her husband was so in love with her that nothing could go wrong because even if they had a single problem on that special day, it was their love which was going to make them face all the problems that would come in the future.

“Good, good, then let's go now before I start crying," she said as she blew out a breath to keep the tears from coming.

“That's the way to talk, ma'am. Mr. de la Barrera is going to be very anxious.”

“Then let's go, what are we waiting for!” Elisa said, taking the dress from the bottom as she hurried down the stairs.

Being the most expensive salon Stefan had ever hired, he couldn't help but look around as he glanced at the watch on his wrist. He couldn't wait for his sweet Elisa to be in front of him.

“Easy, easy, Stefan," said his friend as he watched him walking back and forth.

“I just can't see myself already married to my wife.”

“Hey, she's not your wife yet.”

“For me she already is, for me she was from the moment my eyes knew she was the love of my life,” they laughed.

“I'm just saying you've lost your mind.”

“I've lost my mind for her, no one else but her.”

And Ricardo couldn't be happier for his friend. At last, he had managed to find his life, the woman he was not going to let go. The only thing left to do was to wait for the time when the bride would deign to arrive.

Outside one of the largest houses in the country and the same one where a man as respected as Stefan de la Barrera lived, the car that would take Elisa to her destination was already there.

In less than two minutes, everyone was serving her and helping her into the car. From that day on, she was going to be a different person.

With a huge smile on her face, her makeup being natural, the white dress being as white as it could be and the flowers being as fragrant as the life that awaited her, Elisa got into the car. She, like Stefan could not wait to be Stefan de la Barrera's wife. She would make him very happy, she would give him as many children as he wanted, they would be the perfect family.

Unfortunately, the happiest day of her life was about to end up being the saddest day of her entire existence. Something even she didn't know about. If only she had known earlier that the chauffeur was not exactly her chauffeur, maybe nothing bad would have happened.

“Shall we go, ma'am?” The man spoke in a different tone from the one Elisa knew.

“Of course, let's go, my future husband must already be waiting for me.”

The chauffeur smiled discreetly while he took his cell phone and sent a message without anyone noticing.

"All ready, the bride is wearing the diamond necklace we talked about. I'll be waiting for you on the way out of town."

And just like that, the car set off making Elisa say goodbye to the servants, who were left to arrange the tables for the arrival of the guests after the wedding.

In the comfort of her small apartment, having finished preparing the delicious food with which she wanted to surprise her husband as soon as he arrived to tell him the good news, Isela took off her apron along with her oven gloves. It was strange, her husband had not spoken to her yet.

"Where have you been, Enrique?" she thought as she realized what time it was.

She just hoped he wasn't going to take that long. The food couldn't get cold.

And just as she thought that, the doorbell rang. With a smile she went over thinking it might be her husband. Her heart pounded with happiness as she wanted to greet him with the news once and for all.

“I've already told you to take the keys, Enrique, it's always the same with you," she said, opening the door. She opened the door only to find that it was not her husband but two men in suits. “Yes? How can I help you?” She asked a bit puzzled.

“Mrs. Velar?” They asked.

“Yes, it's me, how can I help you?”

“It's about your husband, Mr. Enrique Bustamante, is he at home?”

“No, he is at a work meeting, how can I help you?”

The men looked at each other suspiciously. “Then it is true," said one of them.

“We have to go.”

“Is what true? What are you talking about?” Isela asked, frightened.

“Mr. Enrique has committed many crimes and today will be his last.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Mr. Enrique acts with cunning and today, the one in danger is Mr. de la Barrera's future wife. Let's go, we have to go!” And without further ado, the men left while calling for reinforcements.

Isela was left with one and a thousand more thoughts, tears lodged in her eyes at the thought of the worst. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she put her hands to her mouth. That couldn't be true, she refused to believe it.

A memory came to his mind. Not much had happened since that moment and now everything seemed to match.

“Will it be today?”

“Of course it will be today," said Enrique. “Today we'll get that fortune. Do you have the chauffeur's uniform I'll be wearing?”

“Yes, everything as you asked.”

“I'll see you later to plan everything. Nothing else can go wrong.” Enrique hung up and was overheard by his wife.

“Who were you talking to, love?” Isela asked.

“No one. I've just been told there's a meeting tomorrow and I'll have to stay later. Don't wait for me until six o'clock, love, it's a work thing.”

And that way, Isela knew how to stay calm. She trusted her husband, there was no one like him in the world.

Not believing what she had just discovered, still shaking her head as the words of the policemen and her own memories rattled in her mind, she went to her husband's room to find out if it was true or not.

She searched and searched the furniture, the bed, under her, her clothes, everywhere until she found what she expected. And that was a pile of jewelry under the bed. Very fine jewelry that he had already separated by size and material. And not only that, two types of gun in a box that was well hidden in one of his personal furniture.

It was true, her husband had always lied to her, he was a thief, but not just any thief, someone who acted with cunning. Someone who knew how to act with a team so as to hardly get caught.

“Enrique!” Isela shouted, rushing out.

She wasn't going to let her husband go to jail, not when she loved him like that. It was true that she was siding with a thief but, she couldn't help it, he was the love of her life.

Half an hour after the agreed time for the ceremony to begin and the car was unable to reach the place where their marriage was to take place.

“Sir, the road is not this way, what's wrong?” asked Elisa clearly frightened.

The man did not answer.

“Sir, I'm talking to you!”

Silence.

“Sir, where are you taking me? This is not the way to the church!”

Tired of hearing her talk, Enrique pulled out a gun and threatened her. “Shut up this damn moment!”

Elisa screamed when she saw the gun in front of her. “Who are you? You are not my driver.” Tears had already lodged in her eyes. Her heart was pounding with terror, for a moment she forgot about the wedding, thinking only of her life and the danger she was in.

“Shut up, I tell you! I'll take you as far as I want and you won't say anything, okay? If you don't want me to kill you right this damn minute.”

Now all that could be heard was Elisa's crying. It was no longer her desire to get to the place of her marriage, now she was just content to get out of there unharmed.

“Tell me, what do you want? I'll give you whatever you want, please...!”

“I tell you to shut up!”

And without further ado, the car continued on its way until it reached the outskirts of the city, there was no one who could save her, the place was deserted, a warehouse was all Elisa could see. No matter how much she screamed, no one was there to rescue her.

“Get out of the car," Enrique ordered her, pointing the gun at her.

“No, let me go, what do you want? Let me go!” She continued crying.

“I'm telling you to get out of the damn car!”

At that moment two more men came out of the warehouse. Completely covered in black.

“Who are you? No, don't hurt me!” Elisa begged. Her make-up was a mess.

“Get her out of the car!” ordered Enrique.

The men obeyed while one stayed talking to him.

Elisa in her white dress arrived at the place where they were going to do whatever they wanted with her. On her neck was the reason for everything that had led them to do all that. Elisa could not stop crying in terror.

When they entered the cellar, the men dropped her as they padlocked everything. Elisa cried inconsolably.

“Don't do anything to me, please!”

The men looked at each other.

“The necklace is not the only valuable thing she has," said one of the men. “We can ask for compensation.”

“No, I told you that would make it easier for them to find us," said another. “Take the necklace from her.

And with a single pull, they removed Elisa's necklace, making her neck bleed. Maybe things were about to get out of hand. That woman who was about to become the wife of the great Stefan de la Barrera represented money, lots of money, lots of comforts, a life of pleasures if they knew how to handle the situation correctly.

The man handed the necklace to Enrique. In his hands he already had a lot of money.

“What else should we do with the bride?”

“Let me think of a way to get more money out of her. After this, I'll go with Isela and enjoy life without having to worry about working.”