“I… I was told to help,” she said, almost breaking.
The woman in emerald quickly stepped forward.
“She insisted. Honestly, she likes staying busy. It keeps her out of trouble.”
A smile, perfectly controlled. A lie dressed as kindness.
Alejandro didn’t react immediately.
He stared at Lucia for a long moment, as if reading something no one else could see.
Then he spoke again—calmer, but colder.
“Who told you to bring her down here?”
Silence.
The woman’s smile tightened.
“Alejandro, this is really not necessary—”
“Answer me,” he interrupted.
The kitchen felt smaller now. The sound of the upstairs party faded completely in the distance, as if the world had moved away from this moment.
Lucia’s grip loosened slightly.
“I just… followed instructions,” she whispered.
Alejandro exhaled slowly.
Then he looked at the woman in green.
For the first time, his expression changed—not anger, but recognition. Something deeper.
“You crossed a line,” he said quietly.
The woman’s confidence flickered for a split second.
“I was protecting your household.”
Alejandro took one step closer.
“No,” he replied. “You were defining it.”
A heavy silence fell.
Lucia finally looked up.
Alejandro turned to her.
“Put it down,” he said gently.
She did.
The pot clanged softly against the sink.
Then Alejandro added, softer still:
“Lucia… come upstairs.”
The woman in emerald stiffened.
“That’s not appropriate,” she said quickly. “She belongs—”
Alejandro cut her off without raising his voice.
“Not anymore.”
Lucia froze.
For the first time, she didn’t feel invisible.
She felt seen.
And just as she took a small step forward…
The lights upstairs suddenly flickered.
The music stopped.
And from above, a single shocked scream echoed through the mansion.
