Chapter 5 Lies in the Light

The hotel lights flickered in the dimness, casting unsettling shadows on the walls. The soft sound of rain tapped against the windowpanes, but inside the room, the air was thick with tension. Sebastián stood near the window, staring into the void, his face tense as if he were trying to gather his thoughts. In front of him, Valeria stood firm, arms crossed, her gaze locked onto him, waiting for an answer she already knew would not come easily.

"How did Ana find out?" Valeria's question cut through the silence with sharp clarity. Her voice, though calm, carried an underlying threat that became more apparent with every word she spoke. The discomfort between them was palpable-a chasm of lies and secrets swallowing them whole.

Sebastián slowly turned to face her, a flicker of guilt crossing his eyes before he could suppress it. He didn't speak immediately, as if the words were stuck in his throat, as if he feared that any response would only make things worse.

"How did Ana find out?" Valeria repeated, this time with more urgency, more insistence. There was something in her eyes-not just frustration, but fear. As if Ana discovering the truth had put everything they had built in secret at risk.

Sebastián pressed his lips together, taking a step toward her. His mind felt like it was about to explode. What could he say? He couldn't admit to Valeria that it was his own fault-that he had fed this lie for too long. That he had let the fire of his deception grow until it had become uncontrollable.

"I don't know... I don't know how she found out." His voice came out more broken than he had intended. But it was clear that, even if he didn't understand all the details, he knew the damage was already done. And, worst of all, there was no way to fix it.

Valeria stared at him, a glimmer of disdain flashing across her face. She stepped closer, her words laced with cold fury.

"Really? After everything we've been through, you don't know how she found out?" Her voice dripped with venom, filled with restrained anger-rage at being put in such a compromising position. Valeria had never been a fool. She had always suspected that Sebastián's control over the situation was slipping, but she had never imagined that Ana-his wife-would actually uncover the truth.

A surge of frustration erupted inside Sebastián. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly agitated, as if searching for some miraculous solution that didn't exist.

"I don't know! But now everything is out of control... or out of my hands. I don't know what to do," he admitted, his words spilling out in desperation. The situation had spiraled beyond his control. His love for Ana, his desire for Valeria, and the web of lies he had spun for so long were tightening around him like a noose.

Valeria remained unimpressed. She stepped even closer, so close that their breaths mingled in the heavy air between them.

"Do you think she's going to forgive you, Sebastián?" The question was as sharp as a dagger. Her words hung in the air, filled with a brutal honesty that made Sebastián's heart stop for a moment. There was something in Valeria's gaze-a mix of arrogance and fear, as if she too was on the verge of losing everything.

"I don't know..." Sebastián sighed, defeated. The truth hit him like a crushing weight, and for the first time in a long while, he felt completely vulnerable. He had lied, he had betrayed, but he had never truly considered the consequences of his actions.

The sudden ringing of a phone shattered the silence, the sharp sound filling the room. Sebastián turned to look at it, as if the noise itself was a harbinger of his impending fate. He knew that the moment he answered, everything he had tried to keep hidden would crumble even further. Valeria tensed, noticing the growing unease in Sebastián. But she said nothing.

He walked over to the table where his phone lay. He glanced at the screen. Ana. A chill ran down his spine. He had no idea what she wanted, but he couldn't shake the feeling of being trapped, the weight of guilt pressing down on him.

What would he say? Would he be able to lie to her again?

He looked at Valeria, then back at the phone. His breathing grew heavier. Finally, he exhaled and answered the call.

"Ana?" he said, his voice tense, bracing for the worst.

On the other end of the line, Ana's voice came through-clear, steady, but with a coldness that sent ice through his veins. It wasn't the same voice he had known before.

"Sebastián, we need to talk." She barely paused before continuing. "I saw you this morning. I know what you've been doing. And I won't let you keep lying to me."

The call ended abruptly. Sebastián stared at the phone, frozen, as a wave of dread washed over him. Ana knew. The lie had come to an end. There was no turning back.

Valeria watched in silence, her eyes glinting with a mixture of anger and satisfaction, as if Sebastián's fate no longer mattered to her.

"This is just the beginning, Sebastián," she murmured, a dark smile curling her lips as she turned and walked out of the room.