Chapter 7 - The Absurdity of the Plea
"A scene?" Valentina repeated, the word tasting like ash in her mouth.
She turned to look at him, stripping away the veil of desperate love that had shielded her from seeing his true nature. She saw the weakness in his jaw, the shallow, rapid breathing of a man worried only for his own reputation.
"Your mother just threw a glass of red wine on me in the middle of our wedding ceremony," she stated, emphasizing each word with chilling clarity. "In front of two hundred people. At the altar. And you are standing there, doing absolutely nothing, telling me not to make a scene?"
Rodrigo opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He looked helplessly at his mother, then back at Valentina, paralyzed.
May you like
He did not answer.
And that suffocating, pathetic silence told Valentina absolutely everything she would ever need to know. He would never choose her. He would never defend her. A sad smile tugged at the corner of Valentina's lips. The invisible chains that had bound her to this toxic family snapped. She didn't need to yell; his silence was the final punctuation mark on their relationship.
