Chapter 3: The Price of One Rejected Call
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what Alejandro had said.
My son.
The baby I had barely spoken to, the child whose nursery I had shown off to business partners, the boy whose name I had planned to announce at a family celebration.
He might not survive.
I looked at Alejandro's bloodstained sleeves.
"Where is Camila?""
"At the hospital.""
"Which hospital?""
"The one you should have taken her to when she begged you to come home.""
I stepped toward him.
"Answer the question!""
Alejandro didn't move.
"Monterrey University Hospital. The emergency team is treating her now.""
I grabbed my phone from the couch and switched off airplane mode.
Seventeen missed calls appeared.
Beneath them were messages I hadn't seen.
*10:42 p.m. — Mateo, are you coming home soon?*
*10:51 p.m. — I feel dizzy. Can you please call me?*
*11:03 p.m. — I fell.*
*11:05 p.m. — There's blood. Please answer.*
*11:09 p.m. — The baby isn't moving normally.*
*11:14 p.m. — I'm scared.*
The final message had arrived at 11:19 p.m.
*I'm sorry I keep bothering you. Please just come home.*
I stared at the screen.
My fingers began to shake.
Valeria stood behind me.
"Mateo...""
I couldn't hear her.
I called Camila.
A nurse answered after several rings.
"Monterrey University Hospital, maternity emergency department.""
"This is Mateo Villarreal. I'm Camila's husband. Put her on the phone.""
"Sir, your wife is receiving emergency treatment. She cannot speak with you right now.""
"What kind of treatment? Is my baby okay?""
"I can't discuss the details over the phone. You need to come to the hospital.""
"I'm coming.""
I ended the call.
Alejandro was still standing in the doorway.
"Move," I snapped.
He tilted his head.
"Where are you going?""
"To my wife.""
"Now?""
The single word struck harder than a slap.
I grabbed my jacket.
"Get out of my way, Alejandro.""
He stepped aside, but as I passed him, he spoke quietly.
"Do you remember what you told me five years ago?""
I stopped.
"Not now.""
"You said a man who couldn't protect his own interests deserved to lose everything.""
I turned toward him.
"What does that have to do with anything?""
Alejandro looked at my phone.
"Tonight, you had seventeen chances to protect your wife and child. You chose not to answer a single one.""
I clenched my jaw.
"You don't know anything about my marriage.""
"I know she was lying on a cold floor, begging you to come home. I know she thought she was going to die alone. And I know she called me because she had nobody else.""
His voice cracked on the final sentence, just enough to reveal how deeply the night had affected him.
Then his expression hardened again.
"You should be ashamed.""
I wanted to hit him.
I wanted to tell him he had no right to judge me, that he had always hated me, that he had spent years waiting for an opportunity to humiliate me.
But the blood on his sleeves silenced every excuse.
"Did she say anything else?"" I asked.
Alejandro looked away for a moment.
"She asked why you weren't answering.""
I swallowed.
"What did you tell her?""
"That you weren't there, but I was.""
I left without another word.
Valeria followed me into the corridor.
"Mateo, wait!""
I turned.
"What?""
She looked frightened now, the confidence gone from her face.
"Do you want me to come with you?""
"No.""
"But—"
"I said no.""
She flinched.
For the first time that night, I noticed how several people in the club were watching me. The party had ended. My friends were suddenly interested in their drinks, their phones, and anything that kept them from meeting my eyes.
I had spent years cultivating the image of a man who controlled every room he entered.
Now, I couldn't even control my own hands.
I ran toward the parking garage.
My Mercedes roared to life.
The drive to the hospital took twenty-three minutes.
It felt like twenty-three years.
At every red light, I looked at Camila's messages again.
At every turn, I imagined her on the floor, trying to reach the security panel.
I remembered the night we had moved into the mansion. Camila had walked through the empty rooms barefoot, laughing as she imagined where we'd put the baby's crib.
She had pressed her hand against the nursery wall.
"Mateo, I want this house to be full of laughter.""
I had kissed her forehead.
"It will be.""
She had looked at me with complete trust.
"Promise me we'll never let money become more important than family.""
I had laughed.
"Of course, sweetheart.""
I remembered saying it.
I remembered believing it.
And then I remembered how easily I had dismissed her when she needed me most.
At the hospital entrance, I abandoned the car in the first available space and ran inside.
A nurse directed me to the maternity emergency department.
"Camila Villarreal?""
"Yes. I'm her husband.""
The nurse glanced at a chart.
"Please wait here. The doctors are working.""
"I need to see her.""
"Sir, you need to wait.""
"I'm Mateo Villarreal. My family donated to this hospital.""
The nurse's expression cooled.
"Your wife's condition is more important than your family's donations. Please sit down.""
Her words struck me harder than Alejandro's had.
I stood in the corridor, staring through the glass doors.
A doctor in blue scrubs emerged twenty minutes later.
"Mr. Villarreal?""
I rushed toward him.
"How is my wife?""
"Your wife suffered significant trauma from the fall. She lost a dangerous amount of blood, and the baby showed signs of distress when she arrived.""
"Is my son alive?""
The doctor paused.
"Your son was delivered by emergency cesarean section. He is alive, but he was born prematurely and is in the neonatal intensive care unit.""
My knees nearly gave way.
"And Camila?""
"She's in surgery. We are treating internal injuries and managing the blood loss.""
"Will she survive?""
"We're doing everything we can.""
I pressed both hands against my face.
"Doctor, please. Do whatever you need. Money isn't a problem.""
The doctor regarded me for a long moment.
"Mr. Villarreal, this isn't a problem money can solve on demand. Your wife needs time, skilled care, and a great deal of luck.""
Then he returned through the doors.
I sank into a chair.
For the first time in years, there was nothing I could buy to guarantee the outcome I wanted.
No contract to sign.
No executive to threaten.
No employee to order around.
Only a closed door and the knowledge that my wife had been terrified while I laughed with another woman.
A nurse eventually allowed me to see my son through the neonatal intensive care unit's viewing window.
He was impossibly small.
A transparent tube helped him breathe. Wires connected his tiny chest to monitors, and a knitted cap covered his head.
I placed my palm against the glass.
"Hey, little man," I whispered.
My voice broke.
"I'm your dad.""
The baby didn't move.
I stared at his tiny hand, resting beside his body.
"I should have been there.""
Behind me, a voice answered.
"Yes, you should have.""
I turned.
Alejandro stood at the end of the corridor.
He had changed his shirt, but his expression remained grim.
"Why are you still here?"" I asked.
"Because Camila has no family in the city who can make medical decisions if she can't speak for herself. Her parents are abroad, and I helped the hospital contact them.""
"You have no right to get involved in my family.""
Alejandro gave a short, humorless laugh.
"Your family? Where were you when she needed you?""
I stood.
"She's my wife.""
"Then act like her husband.""
I moved closer.
"Listen to me. Whatever happened tonight, you don't get to use it as an excuse to interfere in my marriage.""
Alejandro reached into his jacket and took out a folded piece of paper.
"What is that?"" I asked.
"The emergency call record.""
He unfolded it and held it between us.
"Your wife called you seventeen times. I want you to look at the times.""
I glanced down.
The calls began at 10:42 p.m.
The last one was at 11:19 p.m.
My phone had been in airplane mode for most of that period.
Alejandro continued.
"She called you before she fell, after she fell, and while she was lying on the floor unable to stand. She tried to reach you because she believed you'd come if you understood how serious it was.""
I looked away.
"And you?"" I asked bitterly.
"You answered because you're such a good person?""
"No.""
His answer surprised me.
"I answered because I heard a woman crying for help. I would have done the same for a stranger.""
He folded the paper.
"But I won't pretend I'm sorry I got there first.""
A nurse appeared at the far end of the corridor.
"Mr. Villarreal?""
I turned so quickly that my shoulder struck the wall.
"Yes?""
"Your wife is out of surgery. She's in intensive care. The next few hours are critical, but she's stable for now.""
I closed my eyes.
"Can I see her?""
"Briefly, once the team finishes settling her in.""
I exhaled shakily.
"Thank you.""
The nurse walked away.
For one moment, relief softened the pressure in my chest.
Then Alejandro spoke again.
"There's something else you need to know.""
I looked at him.
"What now?""
"Camila was conscious when the doctors first reached her. She asked them to call her lawyer.""
I frowned.
"Her lawyer? Why?""
Alejandro's expression changed.
"Because she was afraid you would try to take control of everything if she didn't survive.""
The corridor seemed to tilt.
"That's ridiculous.""
"Is it?""
"Camila trusts me.""
Alejandro stared at me.
"Does she?""
I opened my mouth, but no answer came.
He slipped the folded paper back into his jacket.
"She told her lawyer to activate a document if anything happened to her or the baby.""
"What document?""
"I don't know every detail yet.""
"Then stop talking as if you do.""
Alejandro stepped closer.
"All I know is that she spent years protecting you, Mateo. And tonight, while she was fighting for her life, she finally decided to protect herself.""
A nurse called my name again.
I turned toward the intensive care unit.
But before I could move, Alejandro delivered one final sentence.
"Whatever is in that document, you should prepare yourself. Camila made sure you wouldn't be the one deciding what happens next.""
At 3:46 a.m., I was finally allowed into Camila's room.
She lay beneath a thin white blanket, surrounded by monitors and intravenous lines. Her face looked smaller than I remembered, and her wedding ring rested on a plastic tray beside the bed.
I approached slowly.
"Camila?""
Her eyelids fluttered.
For a moment, I thought she hadn't heard me.
Then she turned her head.
"Mateo?""
"I'm here.""
Tears gathered in her eyes.
I took her hand.
"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I should have answered. I should have come home.""
She looked at me for a long time.
Then she asked a question that I wasn't prepared to answer.
"Was she worth it?""
My throat tightened.
"Who?""
Camila's fingers trembled inside mine.
"The woman you chose over us.""
I looked down at the bed.
"Camila, please. Not now.""
"Not now?"" Her voice was weak, but the words were clear.
"When, Mateo? When I was calling you? When I was lying on the stairs? When I thought our baby was dying?""
I couldn't speak.
She turned her face away.
"I heard you laughing.""
My head snapped up.
"What?""
"On the phone. Before you hung up. I heard people laughing, and a woman asked if you were going to answer me.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Camila, I—"
"You told me to stop being dramatic.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was lying in our house, Mateo. I couldn't move. I thought I was going to die, and I was apologizing to you for bothering you.""
I gripped her hand.
"Please forgive me.""
She looked at me again.
"I used to think you were the safest person in the world.""
The words tore through me.
"I love you," I whispered.
Camila closed her eyes.
"No, Mateo. You loved the woman who believed you could do no wrong.""
I leaned forward, desperate to reach her.
"We can fix this. We'll go home, we'll raise our son, and I'll never—"
"Stop.""
Her voice was barely more than a breath.
I fell silent.
Camila swallowed painfully.
"Did Alejandro bring me here?""
"Yes.""
"Did he stay?""
"Yes.""
She gave a faint nod.
"Then he did what my husband wouldn't.""
I released her hand as if it had burned me.
She looked toward the window.
"I don't want to talk anymore.""
"Camila, please.""
"Go.""
I stood frozen beside the bed.
"I'm not leaving you.""
She turned her head back toward me.
For the first time since our wedding day, I saw no trust in her eyes.
Only exhaustion.
"Mateo, I don't have the strength to fight you anymore. Please just let me rest.""
I stepped back.
The nurse at the door gestured for me to leave.
I walked into the corridor and sank into the nearest chair.
Alejandro was waiting by the window.
He didn't ask what she had said.
He didn't need to.
He simply placed an envelope on the chair beside me.
"What is this?"" I asked.
"Something Camila's lawyer sent to the hospital.""
I stared at the envelope.
My name was written across the front.
Beneath it, in Camila's familiar handwriting, were six words.
*For Mateo, if I survive the night.*
My hands went cold.
I opened the envelope.
The first page contained a formal notice from a law firm.
The second page contained a list of assets.
The third page contained a signature I recognized immediately.
Camila's.
And at the bottom of the final page was a name that made my heart stop.
*Alejandro Serrano.*
I looked up at my former best friend.
"What the hell did my wife just give you?""
Alejandro glanced toward Camila's room.
Then he met my eyes.
"Nothing, Mateo.""
He paused.
"She gave herself a way out of your control.""
May you like
And as I looked down at the document again, I realized that the worst night of my life might not have ended when my wife survived surgery.
It might only have begun.
