“No.”
Her lips parted.
“Excuse me?”
“Anything you have to say about Rosalía or the boys can be said here.”
The twins looked between you both, scared but watching.
Paulina understood the danger.
Children remember.
She forced a smile so tight it looked painful.
“Boys, go upstairs.”
“No,” you said.
Paulina’s head snapped toward you.
“They stay,” you said. “They’ve seen enough adults making decisions around them.”
Her hands trembled slightly.
Then her phone rang.
She looked at the screen, and for the first time, real panic crossed her face.
You saw the name before she turned it away.
Rafa.
Not a friend you knew.
Not family.
Not a business associate.
Paulina rejected the call.
Five seconds later, a message appeared on her lock screen.
Did he find the trust documents? We need to move before he freezes everything.
You saw it.
She saw that you saw it.
The dining room became completely still.
Paulina grabbed the phone and put it in her bag.
“You’re invading my privacy.”
You stood slowly.
“Who is Rafa?”
“No one.”
“That’s an interesting message from no one.”
Her voice dropped.
“Not in front of the children.”
You looked at Santi and Mati.
Their faces were pale.
You called your housekeeper, Elena, who had arrived early and was standing frozen in the kitchen doorway.
“Elena, please take the boys to the playroom.”
Paulina exhaled with relief.
You added, “Stay with them. Do not let anyone else in.”
Elena nodded quickly.
The boys hesitated.
Santi whispered, “Are you bringing Nana back?”
You knelt.
“Yes.”
He searched your face.
This time, he believed you enough to go.
When the children were gone, Paulina’s mask shattered.
“You are making a mistake.”
“No,” you said. “I made one when I married someone I didn’t know.”
She laughed sharply.
“That’s rich. You didn’t want a wife. You wanted someone decorative while you built your empire.”
“I wanted a family.”
“You wanted heirs,” she snapped. “Everyone like you wants heirs.”
You stared at her.
The word hit the room strangely.
Because you remembered the trust documents.
The children’s trust.
Rafa’s message.
The false arrest.
The attempt to remove Rosalía.
This was bigger than jealousy.
“What were you planning to move?” you asked.
She looked away.
“What did Rafa mean?”
“Nothing.”
You stepped closer.
“Paulina.”
She lifted her chin.
“I’m entitled to security.”
“You have security.”
“Because you allow it,” she said. “Because your lawyers designed everything so that if you ever decide I’m inconvenient, I leave with scraps.”
There it was.
Not fear.
Greed wrapped as victimhood.
“You framed Rosalía over money?”
“I did not frame anyone.”
You walked to the dining room console, picked up the remote, and turned on the large wall screen connected to the security system.
Then you played the clip.
Paulina watched herself walk into the laundry room with the bracelet.
You watched her face.
At first, denial.
Then calculation.
