TRADING MY EX FOR HIS BROTHER

LUNA I've been sitting on the couch for almost an hour, still with my makeup intact, waiting for Marco to come home. The dinner I prepared is getting cold on the table. Again. I pick up my phone. An unknown number sent me a message. “You deserve to know who you’re married to. Watch the video.” My fingers tremble. I open the video. It’s no longer than thirty seconds. Just enough to completely break my heart. It’s him. Marco. On his friend’s penthouse couch. Camila... on top of him. My best friend. Laughing while taking off her shirt. He holds her waist like it’s natural, intimate. Like she’s been his for a long time. There’s no denying it. No pretending. No doubting. They’re having s*x. He’s cheating on me. A wave of nausea hits like a punch to the stomach. I almost drop the phone. The door opens seconds later, like a cruel irony. Marco walks in, unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt, reeking of expensive cologne mixed with cigarette and whiskey. He doesn’t even look in my direction. "Marco." My voice falters. His name feels like poison. He raises an eyebrow. "What is it now?" I get up from the couch, phone trembling in my hand. "I got this." I press play and turn the screen toward him. He watches it. All of it. Without blinking. Without a trace of remorse. When the video ends, he just sighs, as if he’s watched a boring commercial. "Are you going to start with drama again, Luna?" "Drama?" I feel my voice rising, filled with disbelief. "This is you f*****g my best friend, Marco!" He crosses his arms, indifferent. "Maybe if you had taken better care of yourself… if you still had a bit of the glow you had when we got married, none of this would’ve happened." It’s like the air is ripped from my chest. "What does that mean?" "It means Camila is beautiful. Desirable. She still dresses like a woman. She doesn’t walk around looking like a depressed housewife." "I dressed for you. I got ready for you. I cooked dinners, I tried to talk… I tried to save this marriage!" The tears fall, hot, but I don’t hold back. "And all I got was coldness, contempt, and silence." "You should’ve tried a treadmill instead of another dinner." He chuckles lowly. "Didn’t you notice? You’re not the woman you were five years ago." I feel my heart shatter into pieces. The woman I used to be… died slowly while he ignored me. While he compared me to every woman who passed by. While he let the blame fall on me without even raising his voice. "You’re blaming me for you cheating on me with my best friend?" "I’m not attracted to you anymore, Luna." He says it like he’s commenting on the weather. "And honestly, it’s been that way for a long time. I stayed because I thought you’d change. That you’d at least give me an heir. But not even that you were capable of." I can’t have children. We found that out two years ago. I spent nights crying, trying to accept it. Thinking he’d be by my side. He said he loved me, that it wouldn’t change anything. Lying bastard. "You’re a son of a bitch..." my voice comes out shaky, but steady. He shrugs. "Maybe. But I’m honest. I won’t pretend anymore. I’m filing for divorce. This house is mine, and you’re only here because of my courtesy." I stay silent for a moment. My mind spins. The world spins. And then everything stops. "Fine. I’ll leave. And I’ll take everything that’s mine." "You have nothing here, Luna." "I have my dignity. And today, for the first time in years, I’m going to use it." I climb the stairs with firm steps, ignoring the tightness in my chest. Each step feels heavier than the last, but I won’t let myself fall apart until I leave this house. Our house. Which was never really mine. In the bedroom, I grab a suitcase. I start throwing into it what still belongs to me: clothes, photos, documents. My favorite books. The necklace my mother gave me. My hands tremble, but I keep going. I can’t stop. I can’t let this humiliation be my end. I need to get out before the little that’s left of me dies too. I wipe my face. Put away my phone. Zip the suitcase with force. Enough. Today, Marco Delgado lost me. Going back to my old apartment felt like opening a chest full of memories I fought to forget. The white walls, the simple furniture, the smell of old wood. Everything was the same... except me. I cried until there was no strength left in my eyes. The pillow is still damp when the sun starts to rise. The sky outside is gray, and so is my heart. I get out of bed like I’m carrying tons on my shoulders. I check my phone and there are no messages or calls from Marco. Good. I go into the bathroom and look at the mirror. The reflection staring back is harsh, tired. Dark circles, swollen and red eyes. Messy hair, dull face. But what bothers me the most... is my body. I’m not the same woman from five years ago. My hips seem wider. I feel so ugly and fat. Marco used to say I had “let myself go.” But no one says that when you’re just trying to survive. I close my eyes and hold back the tears. I’ve cried enough. When I go to the kitchen to make coffee, I hear three firm knocks on the door. I freeze. My heart races. Is it Marco? Did he come to humiliate me again? I walk to the door with a tight chest, still in my pajamas, barefoot, face wrinkled. I peek through the peephole... and the world stops for a second. It’s him. Leonardo Delgado. Marco’s older brother. The main heir to the family fortune. Cold, imposing, always distant. I never thought he even knew where I lived. I open the door slowly. "Leonardo?" My voice comes out weak, surprised. "What are you doing here?" He stares at me with those gray, piercing eyes. He’s impeccable, as always: dark suit, firm posture, serious expression. "Hello, Luna. I came for you." "What do you mean… came for me?" He takes a step forward, eyes never leaving mine. "I came to save you. And take you out of the hands of the failure of a man that is my brother." I’m speechless. He knows? How does he know? "You… know about the video?" A faint, almost cruel smile forms on the corner of his lips. "I was the one who got that video. I was the one who sent it to you." My stomach churns. The shock is so big I take a step back. He uses the moment to step into the apartment like it’s the most natural thing in the world. "You… you sent that video? Why?" He looks at me with the calmness of a lion before the pounce. "Because I wanted to open your eyes. You were stuck in a dead marriage, with a man who doesn’t deserve you. Someone had to show you the truth." I close the door slowly, still trying to understand. "Okay… but what do you want with this? Why are you here, Leonardo?" He stares at me for a few seconds before answering. "I want you to marry me." Time stops. Literally. I feel my heart stop for a second. Then it races like it wants to escape my chest. "What?" "Marry me." He says it again, like he’s offering coffee. "Marry me and I’ll protect you. I’ll show you how to destroy a man like Marco. I know exactly where to hit him." I laugh nervously, trying to figure out if this is some crazy dream or a prank. "You’re insane." "No. Insane is thinking you deserve to go through all this in silence." He steps closer, narrowing the distance between us. "You want revenge? I can give it to you. I can give you so much more, Luna. You just have to say yes…” "Why are you doing this? Is this just about revenge?" He comes close enough that I can feel the heat of his body. I blink, feeling his eyes analyzing my face. "Because I’ve always wanted you, Luna." I’m frozen. "Since the night you showed up with my brother, I wanted you." "Then… why didn’t you say anything?" "Because you chose the wrong brother. And now you have this chance." I swallow hard. There’s raw sincerity in his eyes. A strange pull that draws me in and pushes me away at the same time. The worst part is… I feel it. Some part of me feels it. "Leonardo… I’m still married." "A good lawyer can fix that in days." He lifts his chin. "Don’t give Marco the pleasure of destroying your life. He doesn’t deserve that power." "I can’t do this..." I whisper, shaking my head as he steps closer. "You can, Luna. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last time Marco cheats on you with that woman. Not just with her." I feel the pain in my heart again. Half of me wants to scream, tell him to leave. The other half… wants to believe this could be the beginning. I feel the tears returning to my eyes. "You don’t deserve to suffer because of him, Luna." His voice softens. "If you’re mine… you’ll have everything he never gave you. You’ll be happy again. Like you deserve." I take a step back, but he follows me with his gaze. "I’m not the woman you met that night five years ago, Leonardo." "Then let me show you who you can be now. Strong. Beautiful. Desired." He leans in. He’s so close I can feel his warm breath on my face. And then he whispers: "Marry me..."