PART 2

Before Regina could answer, the mansion’s main doors opened.

A man in his sixties walked calmly through the entrance. He had no bodyguards, did not raise his voice, and made no effort to attract attention. His dark gray suit was discreet but perfectly tailored. Still, his presence caused conversations to fade almost instantly.

Miguel, the head of security, recognized him first.

“Mr. Aranda…”

The entire garden seemed to stop breathing.

Esteban Salvatierra turned with shock and nervousness in his eyes. For eight months, he had tried to get a meeting with Julián Aranda. He had sent proposals, invitations, reports, and corporate gifts. All he had received were polite replies from assistants.

And now Julián Aranda was inside his home.

At the worst possible moment.

Esteban forced a smile and moved toward him.

“Don Julián, it is an honor to welcome you. I apologize that you have arrived during an uncomfortable family matter.”

Julián did not immediately shake his hand.

He looked at Regina’s open purse, her belongings spread across the table like evidence, her humiliated face, and Andrés holding her hand.

“This looks like more than discomfort,” Julián said calmly. “It looks like injustice.”

Beatriz went pale.

Esteban tried to regain control.

“It was a misunderstanding. A family heirloom disappeared, and I had to protect my wife.”

“Protect her from whom?” Julián asked.

No one replied.

Regina took a shaky breath. For the first time that night, relief appeared in her eyes.

“You’re late,” she whispered.

Julián looked at her gently.

“I arrived in time to see what mattered.”

The sentence made everyone curious.

Andrés stared at Regina, confused. He knew she came from a private family, but he had never imagined she personally knew the most sought-after investor in the country.

Esteban noticed too.

“You know each other?”

Julián walked to the table where Regina’s purse was still open. He picked up the wooden rosary, looked at it for a moment, then carefully placed it back.

“Before I answer,” he said, “I would like to know something. If the brooch was not in her purse, why has no one apologized?”

Beatriz opened her mouth, but no words came out.

At that moment, a housemaid hurried in from the hallway. It was Lupita, a woman who had worked for the Salvatierra family for fourteen years. She looked nervous and carried a small velvet box.

“Mrs. Beatriz,” she said, “I’m sorry, but I found this on your dressing table. You removed the brooch when you went upstairs to change your shawl. You asked me to put it away, and then I was called to the kitchen.”

She opened the box.

The golden hummingbird glittered under the lights.

The silence was merciless.

Some guests lowered their phones. Others kept recording with even greater interest. Beatriz covered her mouth. Esteban looked at the jewel as if it had betrayed him.

Andrés laughed bitterly.

“You accused my wife of stealing in front of everyone over something that was in your room the entire time.”

Regina did not cry, which somehow made the scene more painful.

“You were not looking for the brooch,” she said. “You were looking for an excuse.”

Julián closed his eyes briefly, as if confirming something he had long suspected.

Cornered by shame, Esteban chose pride once again.

“I admit there was a mistake,” he said. “But that does not change the main issue. This woman has hidden her origins for two years. In a family like ours, that matters.”

Julián looked directly at him.

“You are right. Origins matter. But not for the reasons you believe.”

A murmur moved through the garden.

Julián took a black envelope from his jacket. It carried the seal of Grupo Aranda Capital. He placed it on the table.

“I did not come tonight to celebrate your anniversary. I came to observe.”

Esteban stiffened.

“Observe?”

“Before I entrust a billion-peso project to any company, I need to see how it treats people when it thinks no one powerful is watching.”

Esteban’s face hardened.

“Salvatierra Desarrollos has thirty-five years of prestige.”

“Prestige means nothing when it is used to crush an innocent person.”

Then Julián turned to Andrés.

“And you, young man, chose to lose everything before you knew who was about to enter this house. That tells me a great deal.”

Andrés still did not understand. He looked at Regina.

“What is happening?”

Regina’s fingers tightened. For the first time, she looked afraid.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wanted your family to love me without my last name.”

Julián stood beside her. His voice was calm, clear, and impossible to ignore.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe you have heard enough lies tonight.”

Esteban took a step back.

Julián looked at Regina with pride.

“The woman you accused of stealing a jewel, the woman you called unworthy, the woman you tried to throw out of this house as if she were nothing…”

He paused.

The entire garden waited.

“She is my daughter.”

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