Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Chapter 113
David’s POV
I could not breathe.
Not properly. Not deeply. Not enough to calm my chest that felt like it was collapsing from the inside.
My body was still on the floor of the cathedral, but my mind was no longer there. It was stuck on one thing.
The baby.
Our baby.
The words kept repeating in my head like a curse I could not escape.
A child.
Mine.
Dead.
Because of me.
Because of everything I did.
My hands trembled as I pressed them against the cold marble. I tried to push myself up, but my strength failed halfway. My arms shook. My chest felt tight. My throat burned.
I looked up.
Lucia stood above me.
White dress. Perfect posture. Calm face.
The same woman I had seen moments ago.
No.
Not the same.
That woman had looked like Isabella Valen.
Now I could see through it.
Or at least I thought I could.
Because now everything had changed.
Everything I believed had been torn apart and rebuilt in front of me in a way I could not understand.
She was looking at me like I was nothing.
Not hate.
Not anger.
Nothing.
That was worse.
"Lucia." My voice came out weak. Broken. "Lucia, please."
She did not move.
Did not soften.
Did not react.
Just watched me.
"Please what?" she asked.
Her voice was cold. Controlled. Calm in a way that felt sharper than shouting.
"Please forgive you? Please understand you? Please pretend none of this happened?"
I swallowed hard.
"I am sorry."
The words felt small compared to what I felt.
"I am so sorry."
I pushed myself up slightly, forcing my knees under me.
"I did not know about the baby. I swear I did not know."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Would it have changed anything?"
The question hit me.
I froze.
My mouth opened, but no answer came out.
She nodded slowly like she already knew.
"You see," she said, "it would not have changed anything. Because you never cared enough to know anything about me."
"I did care," I said quickly. Too quickly. "I love you."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
They sounded desperate.
Weak.
But they were true.
At least to me.
"I love you, Lucia. I always have."
She stared at me.
Silent.
Then she laughed.
It was not a warm laugh.
It was sharp. Cold. Empty of humor.
"You love me?"
The way she said it made it sound like something ridiculous.
"David Rodriguez loves Lucia Mendez?"
Her laughter faded slowly.
"You expect me to believe that now?"
I crawled forward on my knees without thinking.
The marble was cold against my legs.
"I am serious," I said. "I made mistakes. I did terrible things. I know that. But my feelings for you were never fake."
She watched me move closer.
No reaction.
No sympathy.
Nothing.
"I know I do not deserve anything from you," I continued. "But please. Just listen to me."
She folded her arms.
"Say it."
"I love you."
My voice broke slightly.
"I always have. Even when I left you. Even when I hurt you. Even when I married Yvonne. I never stopped loving you."
Silence filled the space between us.
Then she smiled.
Not a soft smile.
Not a kind one.
A small, controlled, final smile.
"You really believe that, don't you?"
"I do."
"You are wrong."
The words came out simple.
Clean.
Final.
They hit harder than shouting.
I felt something inside me drop.
"Every moment we shared," she continued, "was not love."
My heart began to beat faster.
"Every kiss. Every touch. Every word."
She took a step closer to me.
"All of it was performance."
My breathing slowed.
"What are you saying?"
"I am saying you were never loved."
The words were quiet.
But they landed like a strike to the chest.
"You were used."
I shook my head.
"No. No, that is not true. We had something real."
"You had something," she corrected.
"Not me."
Her eyes stayed locked on mine.
Cold.
Steady.
Empty of emotion.
"I created everything you experienced," she said.
"I studied you. Watched you. Learned what you liked. What made you trust. What made you feel safe. What made you fall."
My chest tightened.
"No."
"It is true."
She stepped even closer.
"So I became what you wanted. The perfect woman. The one who would understand you. Support you. Stand by you."
Her voice remained calm.
No anger.
No hesitation.
"All of it was constructed."
I shook my head again.
"You are lying."
"I am not."
She crouched down in front of me.
Now we were at the same level.
Face to face.
Close enough that I could see every detail in her expression.
Or Isabella’s expression.
Whoever she was now.
"Every smile you saw," she said, "was intentional."
"Every touch you felt," she continued, "was calculated."
"Every word I spoke to you was designed to make you trust me."
My hands clenched into fists.
"No."
"It was not love," she said.
"It was manipulation."
The word hit harder than anything before.
Manipulation.
Not love.
Not real.
I felt my chest tighten again.
"Every time you thought we were connecting," she continued, "you were reacting to something I controlled."
I stared at her.
Searching her face.
Looking for any sign that this was not true.
There was none.
"Every moment was planned," she said.
"Every step you took toward me was because I guided you there."
I shook my head slowly.
"You cannot be serious."
"I am very serious."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"I made you fall in love with me."
The words did not feel real.
They could not be real.
"You gave me everything," she continued.
"Not because you were generous. Not because you trusted blindly. But because I made you feel safe enough to do it."
My breathing became uneven.
"Your money. Your company. Your assets. All of it was transferred because you believed you were protecting something real."
She paused.
"Something that never existed."
My mind struggled to process her words.
No.
This could not be true.
It could not.
"It is a lie," I said.
She did not react.
"Believe what you want," she replied.
"It does not change what happened."
I reached out and grabbed her hands.
Desperation took over me.
"Lucia, please. Stop this. Please."
She did not pull away immediately.
She let me hold her hands.
But her expression did not change.
"I am not Lucia to you anymore," she said.
"I am Isabella Valen."
The name sounded unfamiliar now.
Detached.
Separate from everything I knew.
"Please," I said again. "Give me a chance. Let me fix this. Let me prove that I can change."
She slowly removed her hands from mine.
Then stood up.
"No."
The word was final.
Clean.
No room for negotiation.
"You had your chance."
I felt something inside me break further.
"I will give you anything," I said quickly.
"Money. Everything left. My remaining assets. Whatever you want."
"You already gave me everything."
Her voice remained steady.
"All of it is already mine."
I froze.
"You have nothing left to offer."
The truth of that statement hit me slowly.
She was right.
I had already signed everything over.
Everything was gone.
"Then take what is left," I said.
"My life. My future. Anything."
She shook her head slightly.
"I do not want anything else from you."
Those words felt worse than rejection.
"I do not want you."
Complete.
Final.
Absolute.
I stared at her.
Searching her face.
Trying to find any crack.
Any hesitation.
Any sign of the woman I thought I knew.
There was none.
"You are serious," I whispered.
"Completely."
The room felt quieter now.
Even though people were still there.
Even though guards stood around.
Even though cameras recorded everything.
It all felt distant.
Unimportant.
"You never loved me," I said slowly.
She shook her head.
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Simple.
Direct.
That was when it truly hit me.
Everything I remembered.
Every moment.
Every conversation.
Every memory I had built around her.
All of it was built on something false.
I felt my breathing become shallow again.
My chest tightened.
My hands began to shake.
"So everything..." I said quietly.
"Yes," she replied.
"Everything was fake."
The words settled heavily.
No repetition this time.
No explanation needed.
Just truth.
Cold.
Final.
Real.
I looked down at the floor.
The medical documents were still there.
The proof.
The baby.
Our baby.
My chest tightened again.
That part was real.
That loss was real.
"At least that was not fake," I whispered.
She did not respond.
Because she knew.
That was the one thing that could not be undone.
The only truth in a sea of lies.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Everything felt heavy.
Too heavy.
When I opened them again, she was already turning away.
Walking toward the exit.
Not looking back.
Not hesitating.
Not slowing down.
"Lucia," I called weakly.
She stopped briefly at the doors.
Turned her head slightly.
"Goodbye, David."
Then she walked out.
And she was gone.
Just like that.
I stayed where I was.
On my knees.
In the middle of the cathedral.
Surrounded by silence.
Surrounded by witnesses.
Surrounded by the remains of everything I had built.
Everything I had lost.
Everything I had destroyed.
And now everything I had learned.
Everything was fake.
Except the consequences.
Those were real.
And they were permanent.