"Get in." Val opened the door of Obrador's prized luxury car, gesturing for him to enter and sit in the driver's seat.
"Hm… what? Why…" Obrador laughed uncontrollably before suddenly slumping over. Drunk, of course.
Val had provided two bottles of high-quality whiskey—Obrador's usual favorite—and all of it had ended up in Obrador's stomach. Naturally, his brain wasn't functioning straight anymore.
It had taken some effort to persuade Obrador to consume the entire amount, as he was aware of the negative consequences that usually followed alcohol consumption. But in his current state, Obrador's brain couldn’t form any suspicions, so now he sat there without resistance.
"Asher, are you done?" Val asked Asher, whose face bore a striking resemblance to Ayala/Eren. He sat next to Obrador, altering all the travel data recorded by the car's navigation system, including replacing the dash cam footage. He erased anything that showed
Liz closed the door to the building that would soon become the boutique she would manage, smiling as she did so. After nearly a month of searching and preparing everything, she was almost ready to begin.Liz brushed her fingers over the name on the sign hanging on the door: Gemma's Boutique. She used that name intentionally because no one would ever call her that again. The name would be gone.By making it the name of her store, Gemma wouldn't disappear. The name would now be hers and spoken."Ah!" Liz gasped in surprise as she turned around and saw an unexpected person. Mendez had been standing behind her the whole time."Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you." Mendez bowed slightly."What are you doing here? You refused to meet me before, didn’t you? And now you're here?!" Liz was clearly frustrated because Mendez had refused to see her yesterday.Despite Ed's instruction, Mendez continued to refuse. Liz had been angry, but she d
“Your mouth is like garbage!” Liz shouted as she stood up and pointed at the man who had just insulted her.He had a handsome face—slightly long wavy hair, sharp, light brown eyes—but his mouth wasn't as pretty as his face.“Wait, Witch! Did you just insult me? You didn't apologize; instead, you became angry with me?" The man pointed to his damaged laptop.Liz glanced at it and actually felt guilty, but the man's rude attitude was too annoying.“Do you even know what's in there? Work and…”“Why should I care?” Liz brushed the dust off her coat and walked past the man. She didn’t care.“Hey!” The man grabbed Liz's arm.“Where do you think you’re going? Don’t you feel guilty? Shouldn't you be responsible?!” he shouted.“Guilty? You were walking in the street with your laptop open and coffee in hand! Even the wind could mak
“Sorry, who are you?” Ruby asked in confusion.“Who am I? How easily you forget your sins!” he hissed.“What did I forget? What are you talking about?” Ruby felt that this man was making no sense.“Hey! Is your memory that short? We just met this afternoon!” The man shouted again.“What afternoon? I haven't met anyone today!” Ruby protested loudly. She hadn’t left the house today.“Don’t pretend! I still have it!” The man reached into the backpack he had been carrying, pulling out a battered laptop.“Look at this! This! Are you still pretending to forget?!”“I don’t know what that is! Are you sure you’re okay?” Ruby questioned his sanity.“I’m fine! You’re the one who’s not okay! Seems like…”“ENOUGH!” A heavy shout made the living room fall silent. Ed ap
"What's wrong with you?! Why have you suddenly become like this?!"Lori released her grip on Liz's hand and pointed at her. She didn't want to get angry, but she had clearly seen Liz making out with a man in the corner of the bar. Lori initially didn’t want to forbid anything, but she couldn't stay silent after witnessing that fatal mistake."Don't act so righteous! You did the same thing! You don't even know that guy!" Liz pointed to the man waiting behind Lori. As she was half-drunk, her hand wobbled unsteadily.Lori sighed, because that was true. She didn’t even remember his name."But I'm not married—not married to Rosas, Liz! Are you looking for trouble?!" Lori grabbed Liz's hand again when she saw her waving at the man she had just left."Whether I get into trouble or not is none of your business! It's my decision! You don't need to interfere! Mind your own business! Shut up!" Liz waved her hand dismissively in front of Lori
“Senorita, please…”Otiz tried to resist, but Lori quickly moved onto his lap. Otiz froze, sitting on the bed's edge with Lori on top of him.“Hey… You said you’d stay with me, didn’t you? Why are you so confused?” Lori asked, her eyes heavy-lidded.“I… I didn’t mean this.” Otiz groaned, gently lowering Lori’s hands from his shoulders. He was trying desperately not to be rough. He had only brought Lori to the hotel because she was severely drunk, intending just to put her to bed, not to wrestle her off him.But getting Lori to the room was already a miracle. She could barely keep her eyes open, and what brought her back to her senses was accidentally hitting her head on the door. This brief awareness only made things worse, as Lori refused to let go of Otiz.“Senorita, I…”“Lori! Why are you acting so formal with me? I’m not Ed! I&
“Will you always be around when Ed is?” Lori asked, leaning on the balcony railing.Otiz was on the terrace, as usual, watching from a distance whenever Ed had an event.After the bar party, they found themselves at another, more formal gathering. Lori detested one of those events, yet she was compelled to attend due to her mother's close relationship with the host. Lori couldn’t even remember what the event was about, but it must have been important since Ed went through the trouble of attending.She hadn’t seen him yet, but if Otiz was around, it was likely Ed was too.“I don’t have to be. I’ll be here if Don Rosas needs me,” Otiz replied politely, lowering the wine glass in his hand.It would be better if he didn’t touch alcohol near Lori. Even now, Otiz wanted to snatch the glass from Lori’s hand and pour it out.“Why are you so loyal to him?” Lori asked curiously. S
"Hai!"Otiz jolted. Someone had just bumped into his back, clearly on purpose, because now a bright face was peeking out from behind his arm.Even the clear blue sky above couldn't match Lori's usual enthusiasm."I didn’t know you played golf, Otiz." Lori was accompanying her father today and found Otiz crouching near one of the holes, measuring the distance to make his next shot."I didn’t know you played golf either," Otiz replied."Not at all. This is… the first time I’ve ever held a club. I’m only here because my dad forced me," Lori complained, showing the golf club in her hand. She was wearing all the right gear, from the hat, clothes, and shoes to the gloves, but it was obvious everything was new."So you’re running away?" Otiz glanced around and didn’t see anyone. As usual, Lori didn’t like being told what to do."Well, if I can. My dad was a bit pushy today. I just hope he does
"Hi, Dad. I didn’t know you were here," Lori said, trying to act casual while assessing her father's face. Was he angry or just normal?He seemed normal; maybe he really hadn't heard her argument with Otiz."I’m here because you weren’t. Why did you disappear? You made Michael confused." Lori's father shifted his slightly stocky body, revealing a very neat man who did indeed look confused. Handsome, smooth, and clean. A typical rich kid."You suddenly disappeared." Michael smiled wryly."I… I went to greet someone. It's just impulsive, so..." Lori lied, of course. She had left Michael because he was boring. His conversation was uninteresting."Greet someone? Who?" Lori’s father looked at Otiz, not recognizing him."This is Otiz Montoya." Lori normally introduced him, but she added something daring."And we’re close." Lori grabbed Otiz's hand and held it, clearly indicating that he was more than jus
“Such chaos,” Liz lamented as she watched the crowd of rowdy children, who had become the main guests at her wedding.“Yeah, I didn’t expect it to get this wild either.” Ruby sat beside her, watching AJ hand out chocolate-covered strawberries to the other kids.He wasn’t alone—Claud, Val's second child, was helping him. They eventually grew close, even though their conversations were sometimes limited because Claud was more fluent in Italian than English. Still, they got along well enough.“How did it all start?” Ed frowned.“I don’t know.” Ruby was also unsure.“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed when AJ asked.” Liz deeply regretted it.Somehow, AJ had convinced Liz to provide a chocolate fountain for her wedding, and it had become the source of chaos. The younger children were enjoying it, but soon chocolate stains appeared on the white tablecloths, as wel
"Do I have to? I already checked that document yesterday. Can’t you do it instead?" When Ed saw another email from Otiz, he complained.It was a financial report. Since Matteo had spread his investments in every direction—across more or less thirty companies—the financial reports Otiz received came from all directions, across different types of businesses. Ed hadn't anticipated this.Being an investor wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed. He still had to work.“You’re the one who has to check it. I’m just the middleman,” Otiz firmly refused.He could refuse because the request was made over the phone. Perhaps if they were face-to-face, Otiz would be more compliant. He was no longer blindly following Ed's orders, carefully sorting out what should and should not be done. He was only responsible for delivering financial reports, not reviewing them.Ed grumbled. He was quite used to reviewing company pa
"‘What do you want to show me?’ As she approached Ed, Ruby inquired.She left AJ's side; he was busy reading a story to his two younger siblings. Elena and Elisa sat quietly, either really listening or getting sleepy. It was already time for their afternoon nap."Read this," Ed shifted, making room for Ruby to sit beside him, and handed her a phone displaying an article in Spanish. Less than two hours had passed since the publication of this hot news story.Ruby didn’t pay attention to that, though, because she was immediately stunned by the headline.‘DEA ARRESTS MAJOR MEXICAN CARTEL AND EXPOSES BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS NETWORK’"What... you...?" Ruby turned pale and panicked, of course."Read it to the end," Ed said, pointing to the rest of the text that she had not yet seen.Ruby read quickly and frowned. There was no mention of Ed or Rosas anywhere. Only Reyes. Marco Reyes. He was the story's
Two black vans speed down a deserted road. It was already nighttime, and they were the only ones there. The end of the road was in sight—a black iron gate.“Ram it!”A shout rang out, and the vans didn’t slow down. The passengers inside, all dressed in black, held on tight as a deafening crash echoed.The gate fell, bent, but opened. The two vans barged through and stopped right in front of the brightly lit house.“Get in and kill everyone!”Another shout, and the people inside the vans scrambled out, storming into the beachside house. Some were carrying firearms; others were wielding clubs.However, as they entered, everyone froze. No one came to greet them. The house was supposed to be full of guards, which was why they had come in numbers—ready for a confrontation.In reality, what greeted them was silence. Not a single person appeared, even though the house was brightly lit.“
"AJ, don't make Abuela tired!" Ruby reprimanded AJ for running away with something, while Mia pursued him.But it was impossible to make AJ stop, especially since his younger siblings were laughing joyfully at his antics. Elisa and Elena had just learned to walk, and they happily followed him around.AJ couldn't stop when he had such an audience. Mia seemed to be scolding him, but everyone knew Mia could never really be upset at AJ.Ruby had to step in, followed by Ed to watch over Elisa and Elena. Although falling on the sand wouldn't hurt, the beach had sharp rocks that could scrape them."Mommy! They should chase me! Don't pick them up!" AJ didn’t want his little sisters to be carried away and stop the fun."Alright," Ruby said, intending to supervise them closely."How about we take a vacation?" Ed abruptly proposed the idea, having just finished reading a message on his phone."Hm?" Ruby was surprised. There had been no suc
"Here."Ed gave Otiz a handkerchief to wipe away his tears. If it had been just a few, he would have let Otiz cry—and wiped the tears with the sleeve of his jacket.The problem was that Otiz couldn’t stop crying. He had already been emotional when Ed stood beside him at the altar, and it got worse when he saw Lori walking down the aisle, escorted by flowers. It was all too beautiful and dazzling for his eyes.“Sorry,” Otiz stammered, wiping the remaining tears from his face.“What are you apologizing for? At a wedding, shedding tears is not considered inappropriate. You're just too happy. No one will blame you.” Ed gently patted Otiz’s shoulder and then turned his gaze forward.Of course, Lori was the focus of the event. Her choice of dress was perfect, blending seamlessly with the entire garden decor. Flowers, ribbons, music, and all the other elements were carefully and precisely chosen—now showcasi
Ed tapped his finger on the glass in his hand. His eyes were fixed on a single point—Marco Reyes.The man was speaking with Otiz. Nothing important. Marco was just making small talk, and Otiz was doing the same—being polite, answering Marco's questions about his law firm's progress. Ed actually needed to speak to both of them, but he chose to start with Marco first.Ed just needed to gesture with his chin, and Otiz understood immediately. He excused himself, making up a reason, and left Marco alone."I need to talk to you," Ed said as he approached."Oh? What is it?" Marco immediately followed Ed, moving to the quiet side yard. The other guests filled the living room."I want you to handle the shipment to Ecuador and Brazil next week."Marco looked as if he had choked. This was incredibly surprising. Ed had never let him touch the South American market before. Ed had always handled it himself. Marco had only been managing North A
"Mommy, I want to try! You be Elena, and I'll be Elisa."AJ reached out his hand, asking for the milk bottle from Ruby. He wanted to try feeding the babies—and he chose Elisa.Usually, Tita was around to help Ruby, but today Tita was busy, so Ruby had been on her own since earlier."You can, but please be careful, okay? Don’t let her choke, and don’t squeeze." Ruby guided AJ's hand to hold the bottle filled with pre-warmed breast milk, helping him apply just the right pressure so it wouldn't press too hard against Elisa's lips."Wow! Look, Mommy! She's drinking!" AJ exclaimed happily, eyes sparkling with joy. This was the first time he was directly involved—doing something for his little sister. AJ usually watched, but at first he was afraid to hold the babies. He would look in awe but wouldn’t dare touch them.“See? It’s not a big deal, right? You don’t have to be scared anymore.”&l
From their disheveled appearance, it was clear that Liz and Asher had either just rushed out of a room or possibly run over here. One thing was certain: as soon as they heard the news about Ruby, they had hurried over."Where? Ruby... You're pale. Why... It shouldn't be happening now."Just like Lori, Liz was out of breath as she approached Ruby, panicking. The news had shocked everyone. Liz had already planned to stay in Puerto Vallarta next week to be there for Ruby when she gave birth.Of course, Liz no longer lived at Ed’s house. She had managed to buy her own apartment.“I’m fine, and they’re fine too. But the nurse hasn’t brought them here yet. Calm down… breathe.”Ruby was already able to speak clearly and now had to calm Liz down. She was the one lying down, barely conscious, yet had to reassure everyone else."Are you really okay? No problems? Any complications?" Liz touched Ruby’s bo