Chapter 2: The Man I Tried to Destroy
At 11:47 p.m., Alejandro Serrano received a phone call from a number he hadn't seen in almost three years.
He was sitting in his office above a small architectural firm in Monterrey, reviewing construction drawings when his phone vibrated.
The name on the screen made him frown.
Rosa.
Camila's mother.
He answered immediately.
"Rosa?""
The woman's voice was trembling.
"Alejandro, please. I don't know who else to call.""
He pushed his chair back.
"What happened?""
"It's Camila.""
He stood.
"Is she all right?""
"I don't know. She called me a few minutes ago. She said she'd fallen. She said there was blood.""
Alejandro's expression changed.
"Where is Mateo?""
"At some nightclub, according to the housekeeper. I've called him seventeen times. He isn't answering.""
Alejandro grabbed his keys.
"Where is Camila now?""
"At the mansion. Rosa, I need you to listen to me. Has anyone called emergency services?""
"I tried. The security gate won't open. The guards aren't answering. The housekeeper says she's alone.""
Alejandro was already moving toward the elevator.
"Call emergency services again. Tell them it's a pregnant woman with severe bleeding after a fall. I'll be there.""
"Why would you help her after everything?""
He stopped for half a second.
Because he still loved her.
Not in the way people in romantic movies talked about love. Not with flowers or promises or dreams of replacing her husband.
He loved her because she had once stood beside him when nobody else would.
Because she had believed him when the most powerful man in Monterrey had called him a thief.
Because, even after Mateo destroyed his reputation, she had quietly sent him a message on his birthday.
I hope life is kinder to you than people have been.
He had kept that message.
He still had it.
"Because she's Camila," he said.
Then he hung up.
Three years earlier, Alejandro had been Mateo's closest friend.
Their fathers had known each other. They had grown up in the same neighborhood, attended the same private school, and spent their twenties dreaming about building something that would outlast them.
Alejandro was the talented one.
He could look at an empty plot of land and imagine a building standing there. He understood structural engineering, financing, and the delicate balance between beauty and practicality.
Mateo was better at selling dreams.
Together, they built Villarreal-Serrano Developments.
Alejandro designed the projects.
Mateo handled investors.
And when Mateo's father died unexpectedly, leaving behind enormous debts, Alejandro put his own inheritance into the company to keep it alive.
He never asked for his money back.
"Partners don't abandon each other," he had told Mateo.
For years, that sentence had meant everything.
Until the San Jerónimo project.
It was a multimillion-dollar development involving luxury apartments, commercial properties, and a private medical center.
Mateo had secretly redirected part of the investment capital to cover debts from his father's failed business ventures.
When the accounts were audited, Alejandro discovered the missing money.
He confronted Mateo in their shared office.
"Tell me you didn't do this.""
Mateo closed the office door.
"Keep your voice down.""
"Two million dollars is missing.""
"It was a temporary transfer.""
"You moved investor money into your personal accounts.""
"I was going to replace it.""
"With what?""
Mateo stared at him.
Alejandro shook his head.
"You used my signature.""
"Don't make this bigger than it is.""
"You forged my signature, Mateo.""
Mateo walked around his desk.
"You know what happens if the investors find out?""
"Then we tell them the truth.""
Mateo laughed without humor.
"You're going to destroy both of us over a bookkeeping problem?""
"It's fraud.""
"It's business.""
"No. It's fraud.""
Two days later, the company announced that Alejandro had been dismissed for financial misconduct.
Mateo presented altered documents to the board.
He claimed Alejandro had diverted money without authorization.
The newspapers published the story.
Investors withdrew.
Banks froze Alejandro's accounts.
His professional license was suspended pending investigation.
The man who had saved Mateo's company became the man accused of stealing from it.
And Mateo stood in front of reporters, wearing a dark suit and pretending to be devastated.
When Alejandro confronted him outside the courthouse, Mateo delivered the final blow.
"Stay away from my family.""
Alejandro looked at him for a long moment.
"Your family?""
"Camila. My father. Everyone.""
"Camila knows what happened.""
Mateo stepped closer.
"Camila knows what I tell her.""
Alejandro had wanted to hit him.
Instead, he turned and walked away.
He never forgot the look on Mateo's face.
It wasn't guilt.
It was satisfaction.
Now, three years later, Alejandro was driving through Monterrey with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding his phone.
He called the mansion.
No answer.
He called the housekeeper.
This time, someone picked up.
"Señor Serrano?""
"Elena, where is Camila?""
The housekeeper began crying.
"Downstairs. Near the staircase.""
"Is she conscious?""
"Yes, but she's very weak.""
"Have you called an ambulance?""
"I tried, señor. The main gate is locked. The guards aren't answering their phones.""
"Listen to me. Don't move her unless there's immediate danger. Keep her warm.
Stay with her. I'm five minutes away.""
"Please hurry.""
Alejandro pressed harder on the accelerator.
The rain had started falling.
When he reached the mansion, he found the enormous iron gates closed.
Two security guards were sitting inside their booth.
One was eating from a plastic container.
The other was watching a football match on his phone.
Alejandro sounded his horn.
Neither moved.
He called the gate.
No answer.
He got out of the car and approached the booth.
"Open the gate.""
The guard looked up.
"Who are you?""
"Alejandro Serrano. Camila Villarreal is inside.""
The guard shrugged.
"We have instructions not to let anyone in.""
Alejandro stared at him.
"She's pregnant. She's bleeding. Open the gate.""
"Señor Villarreal told us not to admit visitors.""
Alejandro's jaw tightened.
"Then call him.""
"I don't have to explain our security procedures.""
Alejandro took out his phone.
He called emergency services again, gave them the address, and explained the situation.
Then he looked through the bars toward the mansion.
The lights on the ground floor were on.
A shadow moved behind one of the windows.
He knew the house.
He had helped design parts of it when he and Mateo were still friends.
He knew there was a secondary service entrance along the eastern wall.
"Stay here," he told the guards.
He returned to his car and drove around the property.
The service entrance was secured with an electronic lock.
Alejandro remembered the emergency access panel near the utility room.
He found it behind a row of decorative shrubs.
The cover was locked.
He struck it with the metal end of his car key until the plastic casing cracked.
After several minutes, the emergency release clicked.
The gate opened.
He ran.
The first thing Alejandro noticed when he entered the mansion was the silence.
There was no television.
No music.
No footsteps.
Only the distant ticking of the grandfather clock in the entrance hall.
Then he heard someone crying.
"Elena?""
"In here!""
He followed the sound into the main hallway.
And there she was.
Camila lay on the marble floor at the bottom of the staircase.
Her cream-colored maternity dress was stained with blood.
One hand rested against her stomach.
Her hair was tangled across her face.
A small decorative table had been knocked over beside her, and a glass vase lay shattered across the floor.
Alejandro stopped breathing.
"Camila.""
Her eyelids fluttered.
For a moment, she seemed unable to recognize him.
Then her lips moved.
"Alejandro?""
He dropped to his knees.
"I'm here.""
She tried to raise her head.
"Where's Mateo?""
Alejandro looked toward the staircase.
"He's coming.""
It was a lie.
He didn't know whether Mateo was coming.
He only knew that Camila didn't need another reason to panic.
Elena hurried forward with a blanket.
"She fell about forty minutes ago. I heard the noise from the kitchen. When I came out, she was already on the floor.""
Alejandro gently placed his hand near Camila's shoulder.
"Don't try to move. The ambulance is coming.""
She caught his wrist.
"Please...""
"I'm listening.""
"My baby.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He hasn't moved.""
Alejandro swallowed.
"Help is coming, Camila.""
"Can you make him move?""
He looked at her.
There were things even he couldn't fix.
He could design hospitals, repair buildings, and spend every cent he had trying to save someone.
But he couldn't promise her that her baby would survive.
He squeezed her hand.
"Stay with me. Just stay with me.""
Camila began crying.
"Mateo didn't answer.""
Alejandro's eyes moved to her phone, lying several feet away.
The screen was cracked.
There were seventeen missed calls to the same contact.
MATEO.
Alejandro stared at the screen.
Then he looked at her.
"He didn't come?""
She shook her head.
"He said he was busy.""
Something changed in Alejandro's expression.
He didn't shout.
He didn't curse.
He simply lowered his head for a moment, as if he needed to gather every remaining piece of patience he possessed.
Then he took off his jacket and placed it over her.
"You're not alone anymore.""
The ambulance arrived six minutes later.
The paramedics entered with a stretcher and medical equipment.
One of them knelt beside Camila.
"Ma'am, can you tell me your name?""
"Camila Villarreal.""
"How far along are you?""
"Thirty-four weeks.""
"Do you remember what happened?""
"I fell.""
"Did you hit your abdomen?""
She nodded weakly.
The paramedic exchanged a glance with his colleague.
"Let's get her transported immediately.""
Alejandro stepped back as they prepared her.
Camila reached for his hand.
"Don't leave.""
He leaned closer.
"I won't.""
The paramedic looked at him.
"Are you her husband?""
Alejandro hesitated.
"No.""
"Then who are you?""
He looked at Camila.
"I'm someone who cares about her.""
The paramedic nodded.
"Fine. You can follow us, but we need to move.""
As they lifted Camila, she cried out.
Alejandro felt the sound travel straight through his chest.
"Easy," he whispered.
"You're going to be all right.""
The ambulance doors closed.
He climbed into his car and followed.
At the entrance to the hospital, he called Rosa.
"She's on her way to San José Hospital. Meet us there.""
"Is the baby alive?""
Alejandro gripped the steering wheel.
"I don't know yet.""
Rosa began sobbing.
"Please, Alejandro. Please save my daughter.""
He closed his eyes briefly.
"I'll do everything I can.""
Then he ended the call.
As he drove into the hospital parking area, his phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
He answered.
"Hello?""
A man's voice spoke sharply.
"Who gave you permission to enter my property?""
Alejandro recognized the voice immediately.
Mateo.
For three years, he had imagined what he would say if he ever heard that voice again.
He had imagined anger.
He had imagined revenge.
He had imagined finally telling Mateo exactly what he thought of him.
Instead, he looked through the windshield at the ambulance doors.
"Your wife is in an ambulance.""
Silence.
Then Mateo laughed nervously.
"What?""
"Camila. She's bleeding. She's being taken into emergency care.""
"What are you doing at my house?""
Alejandro's grip tightened.
"Your housekeeper called for help.""
"You had no right to enter my property.""
Alejandro's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Your pregnant wife was lying on the floor, Mateo. She couldn't stand. She was begging for someone to help her.""
"Where is she?""
"At San José Hospital.""
"Why were you there?""
Alejandro looked at the hospital entrance.
"Because you weren't.""
He ended the call.
Then he ran toward the emergency department.
But before he reached the doors, a nurse came rushing out.
"Are you with Camila Villarreal?""
"Yes.""
"Her condition is critical. We need the obstetric team immediately.""
Alejandro felt his stomach drop.
The nurse continued.
"And there's something else.""
"What?""
She looked toward the emergency entrance.
"Her baby's heartbeat is dangerously slow.""
At 12:26 a.m., Mateo finally arrived at the hospital.
He was still wearing the same expensive suit.
His shirt was unbuttoned at the collar.
Valeria had driven him there after Diego convinced him that ignoring eighteen calls from a pregnant wife might create a problem he couldn't buy his way out of.
Mateo rushed through the emergency department.
"Camila Villarreal! I'm her husband!""
A receptionist looked up.
"Please wait.""
"I said I'm her husband. Where is she?""
"She's being treated.""
"Then take me to her.""
"Sir, the medical team is working.""
Mateo slapped his palm against the counter.
"Do you know who I am?""
The receptionist didn't blink.
"Yes. You're the man who needs to step away from the desk.""
Then Mateo saw Alejandro.
He was standing near the double doors leading to the obstetric emergency unit.
His jacket was missing.
His white shirt was stained with blood near the cuff.
Mateo froze.
"What the hell are you doing here?""
Alejandro turned.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Mateo walked toward him.
"You broke into my house?""
Alejandro stared at him.
"Your wife was dying.""
"That's not what I asked.""
"I don't care what you asked.""
Mateo grabbed his arm.
"Stay away from my family.""
Alejandro looked down at Mateo's hand.
Then back into his eyes.
"Your family?""
He gently removed Mateo's fingers.
"Where were you when she called?""
Mateo said nothing.
"Where were you when she was lying on that floor?""
"I was handling something.""
Alejandro's face hardened.
"She called you eighteen times.""
Mateo looked away.
"She was panicking.""
"She was bleeding.""
"She's always dramatic.""
Alejandro stepped closer.
"Then explain why the paramedics had to carry her out of your house.""
Mateo opened his mouth.
No words came.
Before he could answer, the double doors swung open.
A female doctor stepped into the hallway.
She looked directly at Mateo.
"Are you Camila Villarreal's husband?""
Mateo rushed forward.
"Yes. How is she?""
The doctor glanced at Alejandro, then back at Mateo.
"Your wife is in critical condition. We've managed to stabilize her temporarily, but the baby is in serious distress.""
Mateo's face went pale.
"Can you save him?""
The doctor took a breath.
"We're doing everything we can.""
Then she added something that made both men go completely still.
"Mr. Villarreal, we need your consent for an emergency procedure. But before we proceed, there's something you need to understand.""
Mateo swallowed.
"What?""
May you like
The doctor looked at him with an expression that was neither sympathy nor anger.
"Your wife may not survive the night.""
