Chapter 31 The Offer

Chapter 31 The Offer
~Elena’s POV~

I watch the footage three times before my brain accepts what I’m seeing.

My father. Alive, healthy, months ago. Standing in Mateo’s office with David, positioning cameras with surgical precision.

“Higher. You need the angle to capture the desk.” Papa’s voice is clear, unmistakable. “And one more by the window for backup. Make sure the timestamp is visible.”

David follows instructions. “You are sure about this? If Elena finds out…”

“She won’t. She will think it was me acting alone.” David’s voice. “You are just the concerned father protecting his daughter.”

“I am protecting her.” Papa steps back, examines the camera placement. “From making the same mistakes her mother and I did. From throwing away her future for a man who collects broken women.”

The video ends.

I’m standing in the courtyard, phone trembling in my hands, when Sofia appears.

“Elena? What is wrong? You look…”

I show her the video without speaking.

She watches. Goes pale. “No. That is not possible. Your father would never…”

“He did, he worked with David. Planted cameras. Orchestrated the whole thing.”

“But why? He said in his letter…”

“His letter was guilt.” The pieces click into place with sickening clarity. “He knew he was dying. Knew what he had done. The letter was his confession disguised as support.”

Sofia grabs my arm. “Where are you going?”

“To see my mother. She has to know. She has to…”

My mother. Who sat through the hearing. Who brought Papa’s letter knowing what it said. Who looked me in the eye and said nothing about the cameras.

She knew.

I’m running before Sofia can stop me. To the parking lot, into my car, speeding toward Valencia with no memory of the drive between.

I’m in my mother’s apartment. I don’t knock, use my key.

She is in the living room, surrounded by Papa’s things. Photo albums open, his clothes folded in boxes. Packing up a life.

“Elena.” She doesn’t look surprised. “I wondered when you’d figure it out.”

“You knew the whole time. Papa worked with David and you knew.”

She closes the photo album carefully. “Your father told me three days before he died. After the first heart attack. He said he couldn’t go to his grave with the secret.”

“So you let me believe, let everyone believe that Carlos Sandoval was behind everything?”

“Carlos was behind plenty. The studio cameras, the financial surveillance, working with David initially, but the office cameras?” My mother finally meets my eyes. “That was your father.”

I sink onto the couch. “Why?”

“Because he saw you falling, you were making his mistakes but worse, at least we waited until I graduated. You couldn’t even do that.” Her voice is bitter. “He thought if there was evidence, if you were forced to face consequences, you’d wake up. Choose your degree over the affair.”

“So he destroyed my life to save it?”

“He tried to protect you the only way he knew how. With proof. With documentation. With the truth captured on camera.”

“The truth?” I’m shaking. “The truth is you both manipulated me. Used David’s obsession and Carlos’s resources and my trust to control my choices.”

“Yes.” She doesn’t deny it. “And it didn’t work. You chose Mateo anyway. So your father changed tactics. Wrote those letters. Painted himself as the reformed sinner who understood forbidden love.” She laughs bitterly. “The truth is, he regretted me. Regretted losing his career. He spent forty years telling himself the sacrifice was worth it, but deep down? He wished he had walked away.”

“You are lying…”

“Am I? Why do you think he worked so hard to sabotage you and Mateo? Because he saw himself in that relationship and hated it.” She stands, starts packing Papa’s books. “He loved me, he loved you but he never stopped resenting what our relationship cost him, and he didn’t want that for you.”

I can’t breathe, I cant process.

“The letter he wrote about fighting for love, about mistakes not defining you…”

“It was guilt, regret. A dying man’s attempt to rewrite history.” My mother’s voice cracks. “He told me to give you that letter because he knew he would be gone. Knew you’d never be able to confront him with the cameras, he could die looking like the supportive father instead of the manipulative one.”

“But you brought the letter to the hearing. You testified…”

“Because it is what he wanted and because despite everything, despite forty years of him resenting our choice, I still loved him enough to honor his last request.” She turns away. “Even if it meant lying for him one more time.”

I stand on shaking legs. “Does Mateo know? That it was Papa who installed the office cameras?”

“I don’t know. The police have the footage. They are probably questioning him now.”

“I need to go…”

“Elena.” My mother’s voice stops me. “Whatever you decide about Mateo, make sure it’s really your choice. Not your father’s manipulation, not my bitterness, not guilt or obligation or proving something to a dead man.”

“How can I know? How can I know what is real when everyone I trust has been lying?”

She has no answer.

I leave. I drive back to Barcelona in a fugue state.

My phone rings constantly from Sofia, Marina, Rebecca. Even Carmen, I ignore them all.

Until Mateo calls.

I answer. “Tell me you didn’t know.”

“About your father?” His voice is raw. “The police just showed me the footage. Elena I swear I had no idea…”

“That my father was working with David? That the office cameras were his idea?”

“I thought it was all my father. I never suspected…” He breaks off. “I’m so sorry. I know what it’s like to have a parent betray you like this.”

“Do you? Because my father did it while dying. While writing me letters about fighting for love. While lying to my face about supporting us.”

“Elena…”

“I can’t do this right now. I can’t talk to you or think about you or…”

“Then don’t but there is something you need to know first.” He takes a shaky breath. “Isabella confessed. To framing me, to sending the emails from my account. The Attorney General arrested her an hour ago.”

“Good.”

“And my father’s lawyers offered me a deal. Testify against him, and they will drop any investigation into whether I was involved. I will be clear. Free.”

“So take it.”

“There is a catch. The deal requires me to leave Spain permanently. No teaching, no university positions, no contact with anyone from Barcelona. He pauses. “Including you.”