Chapter 7
Chapter 7: A Maid’s Redemption
"Enough!" Valeria screamed, stepping forward again.
Her voice was so loud and piercing that the sound echoed out into the adjacent hallway. Out there, the faint sounds of footsteps paused. Someone had heard her.
Diego whipped his head toward the open door, paranoia flashing in his dark eyes.
"Close the door," he ordered Clara, his gun still trained on Don Ricardo.
Clara, paralyzed by fear on the floor, did not move a single muscle.
"Clara," Diego snapped, his tone dropping to a lethal octave. "Get up and close the damn door right now, or I swear to God..."
The young maid looked up. She looked at Valeria, standing brave and defiant in her ruined wedding dress. She looked at Don Ricardo, willing to die to protect his child. And she looked at the cold black gun in the hand of the man who had lied to her, used her, and treated her like disposable trash.
And for the first time in her life, instead of shrinking into the background, instead of bowing to the demands of a cruel man, Clara fought back.
She scrambled to her feet, bolted past Diego toward the open doorway, and screamed at the absolute top of her lungs: "Help! Help us! He has a gun! Call the police!"
Diego roared in fury. "You stupid bitch!"
In his blind panic, Diego shoved Don Ricardo aside and swung the weapon around, aiming directly at Clara’s retreating back.
But Valeria moved faster than thought. She grabbed a heavy, water-filled crystal vase from the center table. With a guttural cry, she swung it with all her might, smashing it violently into Diego’s extended arm.
Thick crystal shattered everywhere. The impact jerked Diego’s arm upward just as his finger pulled the trigger.
BANG.
The deafening explosion of the gunshot echoed violently in the small room, the bullet tearing harmlessly into the ornate plaster ceiling, raining white dust down upon them.
The sound carried through the open doors and rippled across the estate.
Outside, the string quartet stopped abruptly. A chorus of panicked screams erupted from the garden as hundreds of guests realized what that sound was. Chaos instantly descended upon the perfect afternoon.
Inside the room, Don Ricardo didn't waste a millisecond. Ignoring his age and his aching joints, he threw his entire body weight at Diego. The two men crashed heavily into the floral table, sending it collapsing to the floor. Hundreds of perfect white roses scattered across the marble like the fragmented pieces of Valeria’s shattered dream.
Diego fought like a wild animal, trying desperately to bring the gun back down to aim at the older man, but Don Ricardo gripped Diego’s wrist with both hands. The sheer, terrifying thought of his daughter being harmed flooded the father’s veins with an adrenaline and strength he hadn't possessed in decades.
"Valeria, run! Get out!" Don Ricardo commanded through gritted teeth as he wrestled with the younger man on a bed of crushed white petals.
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But Valeria did not run.
She dropped to her knees, sweeping the floor frantically with her hands until she found the heavy pistol that had been knocked loose from Diego’s grip. She picked it up, her hands shaking violently, and kicked it hard across the marble floor, sliding it far out into the hallway out of anyone’s reach.
