CHAPTER 4

TWO MONTHS LATER

Seconds, minutes, hours, hours that made up days, days that were never going to return. The tears were gone from her, her soul seemed to be drying up as time went by.

As the days went by, as the hatred grew in her heart, Isela realized only one thing. She had married in love, she was willing to do anything for him, she was even willing to blame herself for everything that had happened only to have in her mind the name of two people who had hurt her. Stefan de la Barrera, who had accused her of murder by paying a lot of money and her husband, Enrique, who left her to her fate and not enough with that, he accused her of something she would never have dared to do.

It was too soon to think about the day it would all be over. It was too early to think about that morning and yet, she already had only one plan.

“In eight years my sentence is up," she said to the lawyer in front of her.

Now Antonio knew that Stefan de la Barrera, the most powerful man in that country, owner of thousands of luxury restaurants, had paid so much money for her to be in that jail.

“I swear I'm going to get you out of here before your time," said Antonio.

She smiled incredulously. “The truth is that I don't care, in eight years I will get out of here and I swear, I swear that I will take revenge on that man. I swear.”

Antonio understood those words. All he could do was to support her until the end, until she got out of there, that damned jail.

“You'll be another woman by the time you get out of here," said Antonio, calling Isela's attention.

“Isela will be dead and in her place, another Isela. I swear." A dry tear slipped from her cheeks.

She was returned to her cell, not living with anyone or talking to any of the women there, there were people bothering her from the moment she entered.

“Oh, back to the nun who claims she did nothing," said the blonde woman who had always bothered her.

Isela sighed without saying anything.

“ I'm talking to you, asshole!” The blonde pushed her away.

She had been living in that way for two months, and the more she put up with that woman's mistreatment, the more she realized that it was getting worse every day.

“Didn't you hear me, you idiot!” This time the blonde tried to slap her.

That was the extent of the woman's mistreatment of Isela, and she knew it when she stopped her hand in the air, preventing her from hitting her.

“Never again in your life will you dare to treat me like that... never!”

Still frightened, the blonde laughed. “What if I don't?”

Isela smiled malevolently. “Do you really want to know how far I'm capable of going?” Isela whipped her against the bars.

“What's wrong with you, asshole?!”

“You're right, I'm not a nun when I'm locked up here for a crime I didn't commit, I'm as guilty as you can be. We are guilty, what difference does it make?”

And having said that, Isela began to fight with the blonde, letting her know that she was not going to allow any other bad treatment from her or from the of no one.

The blood coming out of each one's nose, the blows going here and there, the kicks they gave each other, the screams of the other inmates until the guards arrived.

“Hey, hey, stop it, stop it!” They said at the same time as they separated them.

“Take them to the punishment room, there they will learn to live together by hook or by crook.”

And so, Isela and the blonde continued on their way to wherever they were going to take them.

“Here you will learn to live together.” With that said, the guard closed the door, leaving them alone.

Isela had nothing left to lose. While the blonde screamed to be taken out of there, Isela just sat on the floor of that dark room.

“Stupid, look what you've done, look where they've locked us up!”

“Why do you care when you're going to rot in jail the same way I am?”

“We're not the same!”

Isela smiled. “We're more equal than you think.”

“At least I didn't kill a bride in cold blood.”

“You're right, you're lucky you shoplifted and didn't murder like me," Isela said sarcastically.

The blonde laughed. “Only you dare to murder a bride on the most important day of her life.”

Isela lost her gaze in nothingness. “And only I dare to murder the girlfriend of Stefan de la Barrera, the most powerful man in this damn unfair country.”

And suddenly, the ground opened up beneath the blonde's feet. Had she heard right? She had murdered Stefan de la Barrera's girlfriend?

“ What?” She asked.

Isela laughed. “Just as you heard, I'm paying for the crime of Elisa Avila, the bride who didn't make it to the altar.”

Pacing back and forth in that dungeon, as if he could not believe the words she had told her, the blonde demanded over and over again that she tell her exactly what had happened.

It wasn't that she had anything against the man, the blonde simply couldn't believe that she was in front of the woman who had destroyed the life of a man as overbearing as Stefan. The same one who had made the people of the town poorer.

“I can't believe it, how dare you murder that woman?”

By that time tears were coming out of Isela's eyes, remembering all that was hurting her very much. And among all that, perhaps what hurt the most was that the man she had loved the most in her whole life had hurt her so damn much.

“Even if you don't believe me anymore right now. I'm paying for a murder I didn't commit, I'm paying for what my husband did. I only went there wanting to alert him to the police.”

And as if it were a miracle, the blonde believed her, believed from one moment to the next in her words. So being that way, she walked to Isela, sitting next to her.

“Isela... you didn't kill that woman, did you?”

For the first time those words brought Isela's soul back to life. The tears wanted to come out quickly.

“Do you believe me, do you believe me if I say I didn't do it?”

The blonde named Adamaris smiled, “I really believe you. I believe you and, even though I know God will punish me for what I'm about to say, with that accident I hope you have brought that man Stefan down to earth. He's not as perfect as he thinks he is.

“Was he a bad person?”

“Mmm, if I told you how bad that man has been. Always making the rich richer and the poor poorer. I'm glad a pain like this has come to him, so he knows he's not as untouchable as he thought.”

“I just want to be in front of him as soon as I get out of here. I want him to remember my face along with my name, I want him to regret paying so much money to have me locked up in this place.”

“Are you sure he did it?”

“My own lawyer told me. I don't care how long I'm here, I'm going to get revenge even if it's the last thing I do.”

At that moment an idea seemed to come to Adamaris' mind. Snapping her fingers, wide-eyed, she looked at Isela.

“I got it, I got it.”

“What?”

“Do you really want revenge on that man?”

“It's what I want most in this life.”

“Are you sure you won't take a step back?”

“I couldn't with a man who thinks he's untouchable," she said, referring to Adamaris' words. “The world of the poor will cease to be when the king of the rich falls, that I swear.”

“Well, then let's do it.”

“Do what?!”

“We plan your revenge.”

Isela couldn't help laughing. “Oh yeah? And how?”

“May the gossip I have about that man be of some use to me.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“I know how to get close to him. And all you need to do is study, study very well that man who recast you in this prison.”

“I don't understand.”

“Stefan de la Barrera, a man who owns thousands of restaurants around the country and more. If you want revenge, you have my support, Isela. I'll turn you into someone else, I swear. I swear. We can ask your lawyer to supply us with a lot of outside information so I can make you the best.”

A smile came to Isela's face. Without thinking about it, in the person she would have least expected, she found her support. She was going to take revenge on Stefan.

“Let's do it," said Isela.

“Promise.”

“Promise.”

And that being the promise that was to begin, Isela began to take that opportunity as the only one.

In that way the days began to pass, Adamaris being the only person by her side, helping her in everything she needed, helping her to become another woman, forcing her to study all the material Isela's lawyer gave them. Adamaris' plan was to make her a better woman who knew all the theory of cooking and wines.

Antonio was aware of the women's plan and, of course, supported their decision. As long as it was in his hands, he was going to do his best to make out of her, when she was released, another woman.