Chapter 8%
Kevin felt like the life had been drained out of him–helpless, panicked, but above all, terrified. For the first time, with absolute clarity, he realized–he truly loved me. But it was all too late. “Ria must be angry at me. S–she must’ve been hiding somewhere. I’ll find her!“# Staggering, he rushed out of the police station, only to run straight into his grieving assistant
“Mr. Nores, we just received confirmation–Ms. Valeria Cortez fell off a cliff. Her body… was never found.” Kevin froze. His body swayed and then his legs gave
gave out beneath him. He collapsed onto the ground.
His father’s brow furrowed in disbelief. “What did you just say?!”
His mother’s purse slipped from her hands. Her lips trembled, but no words came out. She fainted on the spot.!!
The room instantly brewed into chaos.
When Kevin woke up, he lay in bed for a long time, staring at the ceiling.
In the brief time he had been unconscious, he had a dream. A dream that flashed through countless memories of Valeria–beautiful, warm moments that once felt so real.
When did everything start to change? Was it after Valentina came back? Always playing the victim, always whispering about how much she envied and resented Ria?
Kevin felt like he owed her, like he was under some kind of spell–desperate to make up for her suffering, willing to give her everything she wanted.
So, he chose to hurt Valeria, to destroy her, all while obsessively trying to please Valentina in some twisted, misguided atonement.
It wasn’t until the news of Valeria’s death reached him that reality crashed down on him–his heart had never changed. The person he loved had always been the same.
A single tear, heavy with regret, fell onto the pillow. Kevin shut his eyes, consumed by remorse.
He hired a private investigator. “Look into Damian Moya. Get proof of his domestic abuse.”
Then, he called a doctor. “Ria is dead. Her body was never found. The organs she had removed before…”
He hesitated, then forced himself to ask, “Did you keep any of them? I want to freeze them… make a memorial.“N
The doctor’s breathing turned heavy. After a long pause, he let out a sharp, bitter laugh.
“She’s gone and now you want to play the grieving lover?” Something in him seemed to snap. His voice rose, raw with fury. “You’re a piece of shit, you know that? We checked the surveillance footage later–Ms. Cortez’s anesthesia didn’t fully kick in that day. She heard everything we said!“}
“Of course, I’m no saint either. Sooner or later, karma will catch up to me.” With that, the doctor angrily hung up. Kevin felt like he had been struck by lightning.
What did he just say? Ria knew everything? But… she acted so calmly, so obedient. She even agreed to marry him.
No. Something wasn’t right. Something was terribly wrong.
Without a second thought, Kevin jumped into his car and sped to the Cortez Family estate. Ignoring all attempts to stop him, he stormed in and forcibly pulled up the security footage. He needed to see how Valeria had spent her last days after leaving the hospital.
Halfway through, his hands started shaking. His stomach churned. He couldn’t watch anymore.
Rage consumed him. He shot to his feet, stormed over to Valentina and wrapped his fingers around her throat.
“Why did you frame Ria?! What did she ever do to you?!” Valentina gasped, clawing at his hands, her desperate struggle drawing the attention of her parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Cortez rushed in, their faces filled with alarm. They looked like they had aged ten years overnight.
“Ria is gone,” Mr. Cortez said hoarsely. “We’re grieving too. But you can’t take it out on Tina–she’s the only daughter we have left!” Kevin’s eyes burned with fury as he threw the extracted footage in front of them.
At first, they brushed it off. But as they watched, their expressions slowly changed. The color drained
turned red.
“This… This can’t be real!”
At that moment, Kevin’s phone buzzed. The private investigator had called back.
om their faces. Their eyes
“Mr. Nores, the reports of Damian Moya’s domestic abuse were falsified. Based on the evidence we found, it was actually his wife, Valentina, who fabricated the entire story. As for her motives… we’ll need to dig deeper.”
