Chapter 69: Clara's Confession

The atmosphere was charged with tension, not from grudges, but from the stillness that had settled between them. The warm, soft lights of the living room barely softened the intensity that hung in the air. Sofía and Clara remained in their respective places.

Shopia, sitting across from her, watched attentively, her eyes fixed on Clara, who seemed to be holding something important, something that could only be shared at that very moment. The room, though lit, seemed to envelop them in an unsettling calm, a stillness that left everything unspoken hanging in the air.

Finally, Shopia dropped her hands onto her baby, who was peacefully sleeping in her lap. The simple movement broke the silent tension that had filled the room. She, with calmness on her face, let the moment stretch out before allowing her eyes to lift, assessing the situation with subtlety and letting the silence return, but with a new weight, a new understanding, and finally Clara responded to her sister.

"Yes, Shopia… Alex and I met years ago when I was abroad."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Shopia leaned forward, her gaze now much more serious.

"Do you know who Alex Morán is?" she asked slowly, emphasizing each word. "He’s the son of our father’s worst enemy."

Clara lowered her gaze, feeling like a scolded child.

"I know now," she whispered, pressing her hands together on her lap, "but back then I had no idea. We never talked about our families…"

Shopia let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Clara, do you realize the danger you’ve put yourself in? And what’s worse, the danger you could’ve put our family in?"

Clara lifted her gaze, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

"I didn’t know, Shopia. To me, Alex was just… Alex. A guy with dreams, with ambitions, wanting to escape from that world just like I did."

"And what happened between you two?" Shopia insisted, still incredulous.

Clara twisted her hands before responding.

"We fell in love. It was something quick, intense, but…"

Clara took a deep breath, trying to find the words to confess what she had kept for so long. Shopia's concerned look encouraged her to continue.

"I stayed away from Alex because I saw his true face," she began, her voice barely audible.

Shopia frowned, confused.

"What do you mean by his true face?"

Clara looked up, her eyes filled with tears.

"One night, while we were together, a man tried to rob him. I thought Alex would just give him what he wanted to avoid trouble, but..." Her voice cracked, and she had to pause before continuing. "He pulled out a gun and shot him without even thinking."

Shopia covered her mouth, horrified.

"He shot him? Alex?"

Clara nodded, trembling as she recalled the scene.

"He did it cold-blooded, Shopia. It wasn’t in self-defense. It was... it was like he enjoyed having that power. I was frozen, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. After that, everything changed."

Shopia swallowed, trying to process what she had just heard.

"What did you do after that?"

"I tried to leave him," Clara confessed, her voice trembling. "But Alex didn’t let me. He followed me, found me when I tried to escape, and locked me up for months."

Shopia looked at her in disbelief.

"He locked you up?"

Clara nodded, her face filled with pain.

"He said it was because he loved me, that he couldn’t let me go. But I knew it was his way of controlling me. And not only that..." Her voice broke again as she pressed her hands tightly onto her lap. "At that time, I was pregnant."

Shopia's eyes widened in shock.

"Pregnant?"

Clara nodded slowly, tears falling down her cheeks.

"The stress, the confinement, the fear... I lost it, Shopia. I lost my baby, and he didn’t even flinch. He just told me we could 'try again' when things calmed down."

Shopia stood up from the sofa, her face a mix of fury and concern.

"That man is a monster, Clara! How could you keep all this to yourself?"

"Because I wanted to forget it, Shopia," Clara said, sobbing. "I wanted to leave all of that behind, but now that Alex is back, everything is coming back, and I don’t know how to handle it."

Shopia approached her and hugged her tightly.

"Clara, you're not alone. We’ll face it together. Alex won’t hurt you ever again, I promise."

Clara sank into her sister's arms, both of them knowing that Alex's return meant much bigger problems than they could imagine.

Shopia remained silent for a moment, as if processing all the information. Finally, she stood up and began pacing back and forth.

"This is much worse than you think, Clara. If dad finds out you have a past with Alex Morán, I don’t know what he might do. I already told you how he reacted when I got involved with Anthony; I don’t know how fate crossed us with our father’s enemies."

Clara nodded, pressing her lips together.

"I won’t get close to Alex, I promise. But he knows something, something I haven’t told you yet."