THE DESPISED WIFE IS LOVED BY THE BILLIONAIRE

The cemetery was a sea of gray headstones. The storm showed no mercy. Valentina felt the icy water seeping into her very soul; her dark clothes now weighed on her like a suit of lead armor.

Before her lay Luz’s small white coffin. An insultingly pure blotch amid the mud. Her daughter, her only reason to breathe, was being lowered into the earth at just six years old. Valentina wasn’t crying. She let out an animal moan, a broken sound rising from a chest that no longer beat but bled.

Cristina held her tightly, gripping her to keep her from collapsing into the mud. It was just the two of them against the world. Valentina closed her eyes, and Luz’s final words pierced her like thorns: “Don’t be sad, Mommy. Don’t cry anymore. Daddy is bad; he doesn’t deserve your tears. Smile—your little eyes are prettier that way. Promise me you won’t be sad. Soon I’ll be a little angel, and I’ll take good care of you. You’re the best mommy in the world.”

A clap of thunder dissolved the memory. The present returned with the force of a physical blow.

The coffin began to descend. Valentina lunged toward the edge of the grave, her hands sinking into the mud, her fingers clawing at the damp earth.

“Take me instead!” The scream tore through her throat. “God damn it, take me instead! Don’t leave me here without her!”

Cristina grabbed her around the waist, desperately pulling her backward. Valentina fought and kicked, wanting to throw herself into the hole, wanting the earth to cover her too.

“Let me go! Luz needs me! She’s afraid of the dark, Cris! Let me go with her!”

“Vale, look at me! Please, stop!” Cristina sobbed, her face drenched in rain and snot as she pressed Valentina against her chest.

Valentina collapsed to her knees. The mud stained her face, her clothes, her entire life. She no longer screamed. Now there was only a muffled wail, the rhythmic rocking of someone who no longer inhabited her own body.

“It’s over, Cris,” she whispered. Her voice was a thread of ash. “My life is being buried today.”

“Don’t say that, Vale. You have to be strong. For her...” Cristina was trembling. Her arms could barely support the dead weight of her friend.

Valentina shook her head, her eyes fixed on the void.

“There is no ‘for her.’ She’s in the ground. And I... I’m just a corpse someone forgot to stop breathing.”

Valentina didn’t answer. There was nothing left.

She looked at her hands. They were empty, rough with cold. Those hands would never brush Luz’s hair again. They would never soothe another nightmare. The emptiness wasn’t an absence; it was a monster. It had claws and devoured her from the inside, leaving her a hollow shell beneath the storm.

The sky kept weeping. But there was no rain in the world that could wash away her agony. She had just given her heart to the earth. And the earth, cold and deaf, would never give it back.

***

The drive back to the Echeverry mansion was a tunnel of shadows. Valentina shuffled inside, leaving a trail of water across the luxurious marble entrance. All she wanted was to reach her daughter’s room, lie down on her bed, and search the sheets for the scent of her perfume.

But as she climbed the stairs, a sound stopped her dead. Laughter mingled with panting and moans of pleasure, filling the hallway. They were coming from the master bedroom, the one she shared with her husband.

Valentina pushed the door open with agonizing slowness. What she saw turned her stomach. Héctor and Sandra, her adoptive sister, were lost in passion in their own bed.

“More!” Sandra moaned; her voice broken with pleasure. “Tell me you love only me. Now that Luz is gone, we can be together without anyone coming between us.”

“I love you, only you,” he replied between gasps, without stopping. “Valentina is just another piece of furniture, but that girl was the anchor tying me to her. What a relief that problem took care of itself.”

Valentina felt her blood turn to fire. She burst into the room.

“Damn you!” Valentina screamed as her fists struck him. “While I was burying my daughter, you were screwing this whore! Was this the important business deal you had to close? Not even your daughter’s pleas moved you!”

Héctor pulled away from Sandra with an irritated growl. He seized Valentina by the wrists and, with brute force, slapped her back so hard that she staggered.

“I’m sick of pretending!” he roared, standing in front of her. “Do you think I married you for love? I did it because your grandfather Lorenzo had stipulated it so I could inherit his share. That’s the only reason I put up with you!”

“She’s your daughter, Héctor!” she sobbed, dazed by the blow. “Our little Luz!”

“I never wanted to be a father!” he spat contemptuously. “The night we were together, I was drunk and wanted to forget Sandra. I would never sleep with a repulsive fat woman like you while sober. You disgust me.”

Sandra, still in bed and barely covering herself with the sheet, let out a venomous laugh.

“Look at yourself, Valentina. You’re pathetic. Did you really think a man like him would ever love you? You were just a formality on the way to our fortune.”

“Your monsters,” Valentina whispered, her eyes bloodshot. “But your game is over. As soon as Leónidas gets back from Spain, I’ll tell him everything. I’ll bring you both down!”

The name Leónidas transformed Héctor’s face into a mask of pure hatred. He grabbed her arm violently and dragged her out of the room toward the stair landing.

“You’re not telling anyone anything,” he growled.

“Let go of me! Murderer!” she screamed, fighting for her life.

Héctor looked at her with utter contempt and shoved her over the edge of the stairs. “Go keep your daughter company!”

The shove was abrupt and final. Valentina felt the emptiness beneath her feet. She tumbled down the stairs, feeling every edge strike her ribs, legs, and head. The world became a whirlwind of pain until the final impact against the ground floor robbed her of consciousness.