All Chapters of He Stole My Love, Heart and My Future—But I’m Taking It Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The mansion is quiet when I hear Carlos packing is Mercedes-Maybach Exelero at the garage, the front door creak open at 2 AM.Click. The lock turns. I’ve been sitting in the dark living room for hours. My tea is cold, untouched on the table beside me. I’ve been going over the questions in my head again and again.Thump. Thump. Carlos's heavy footsteps echo in the hall. They stop when he sees my shape sitting in the shadows.“Emily? Why are you still awake?” His voice is a little slurred, he’s been drinking, expensive whiskey by the smell of it.I reach out and turn on the lamp. Click. The warm light fills the room. I stare at him. My eyes are puffy, I cried, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t.“We need to talk,” I say.He sighs loudly and tugs at his silk tie, annoyed. “It’s late, Emily. Can’t this wait until morning?”“Like our anniversary dinner waited?” My voice comes out sharper than I expected. I’ve gotten good at hiding how I feel, playing the perfect wife. But tonight...

As I drove home, my head was full of mixed thoughts. What Alejandro told me about the money problems confirmed my worst fears about Carlos. And then there was Alejandro himself. I didn’t expect to feel a connection with him, but I did. He made me feel noticed and respected, something I hadn’t felt in years.When I got home that afternoon, the house was unusually quiet. I didn’t hear Mateo playing video games or Daniela talking on the phone like usual. It was so quiet it made the big house feel more like a museum than a home. I put my Louis Vuitton Petite Malle purse on the table, still thinking about my lunch with Sofia and meeting Alejandro Vega for the first time.I went straight upstairs. I needed a hot shower to relax. The water hit my back hard, Just the way I liked it. For a little while, it helped me forget about Carlos’s lies. After drying off, I remembered I still had errands to run for the fundraiser tonight. I had to pick up name cards from the printer and gift bags for our

The roses Carlos had tossed carelessly on my bed were making it hard to breathe with their strong sweet smell. Or maybe it was him being there, the way he acted like a loving husband now felt like ropes around my neck."The doctors said you had a bad head injury," Carlos told everyone in the room, speaking loud enough for the nurse checking my IV to hear. "And bleeding inside your body. My love, I was so scared when they called."His fingers touched mine gently, but it made my skin feel creepy. Every touch felt dirty now that I knew where those hands had been, what they had done. I kept my face calm, thankful that years of dealing with his sneaky mind games had taught me how to hide my feelings."Carlos," I said quietly, "you didn't need to leave your important meeting."His eyes flashed, a tiny look of annoyance quickly hidden by fake worry. We both knew there was no meeting. I wondered if the sheets on Daniela's bed still showed where he had been lying."Nothing is more important th

The Reyes Mansion stood in front of us. Its grand front looked more scary than welcoming after my days in the hospital. Carlos drove the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class car through the iron gates with one hand. His other hand held my knee tight. Next to me in the back seat, Daniela hummed softly, looking at her phone like we hadn't just had the most painful quiet car ride of my life."Home sweet home," Carlos said loudly through the car. "The workers have set up everything for you to get better, my love."I looked at the house, all twelve thousand square feet of shiny marble and high ceilings that never felt like mine even though I'd lived there for five years. Five years of empty loneliness hidden behind luxury."I can walk on my own," I said when Carlos came to open my door."Don't be silly." His smile stayed fixed as he put his arm around my waist, holding me up with too much force. "You're still weak."Daniela walked ahead of us, her expensive Christian Louboutin red-bottomed shoes clicki

I held my cane tighter, feeling the cool metal in my hand as I stood outside the ReyCorp Foundation meeting room. Through the partly open door, I could hear Alejandro Vega talking confidently about the children's hospital, my hospital. My dream. My legacy."As you can see, the children's hospital east wing is almost done," he was saying. The sound of his voice carried clearly through the gap. "We've fixed the building problems from the first check, and I think we'll finish three weeks early."The soft sounds of approval from the board members floated through the doorway. I took a deep breath, fixing my Alexander McQueen cream top and smoothing down my gray skirt. The doctors had been clear—avoid stress, stay away from arguments, rest. But I'd rested enough in that cold hospital room and at home, looking at blank walls while my husband and his lover thought they were taking apart my life's work bit by bit.I heard Daniela's voice, sounding fake-worried. "Great timing, Mr. Vega. Though