Chapter - 1
562 Words
I had just arrived from an exhausting flight from Europe, but all my drowsiness vanished the moment I was greeted by news I never expected. I stood before the desk of Roberto, my father’s lawyer and best friend.
Laid out in the middle of the desk was my father's testament. The document felt like a massive insult.
"Wait... you're telling me Dad remarried? And he left the majority of the shares to that woman?" I asked sharply. I slammed my fist onto the table, barely able to contain my rage.
“There’s nothing I can do, Henry; he married Sol. Besides, your stepmother is a good person—”
"Even you, uncle? You fell for the act of that gold-digging maid my father married?!"
Uncle Roberto sighed and slowly adjusted his glasses, trying to calm me down.
"Henry, calm down. Solana is kind. Yes, she used to be a maid here, but she’s a good girl. She took care of your father, and—”
"Kind? You call her kind after she manipulated a dying man for his billions?"
A sarcastic, bitter laugh escaped my lips.
"Solana, come," Roberto called out softly toward the door, knowing she had been listening.
The door slowly opened. I expected a woman caked in makeup, dripping in jewelry, looking like a total fraud. But when the woman they called "Solana" finally stepped inside, my world seemed to stop spinning.
My jaw dropped as I looked over her from head to toe. She was wearing a simple white dress, her face was completely bare of makeup, and her eyes showed deep fear and embarrassment. She was young. I estimated I was at least a few years older than her.
"Her?" I pointed at the girl, filled with disdain and disbelief.
" Is this the one who went after my father for money?"
Solana kept her head bowed, her shoulders trembling as she avoided my piercing gaze. At that moment, a strange mix of anger and an unexplained spark of desire suddenly flared up in my chest—a feeling I knew was wrong and shouldn't be there.
"What's your name?"
She slowly raised her gaze, and in a very faint voice, she replied, "S-Solana... my name is Solana Alcaraz."
The moment I heard her voice, it felt as though some electricity crawled through me. Her voice... it was like the voice of an angel in its softness and gentleness. I stared at her face even more closely. She had a face that looked fragile and pristine in its sheer innocence, as if she were incapable of hurting anyone.
But I quickly shook my head to snap myself out of it. So that's why! That must be why it was so easy for this woman to manipulate and wrap my old father around her finger, because she seduced him. This woman must be good in bed.
At that exact moment, a strange mixture of anger and an inexplicable spark of desire suddenly flared up in my chest, a feeling that I knew was wrong.
My gaze darkened as I looked at Solana. If she thought her life as my father's wife would be easy, she was dead wrong.
I promised myself that I would make Solana pay for every single cent she took from my family. And above all... for taking the place of my late beloved mother.
- Writer
