Chapter 8 Seeing Him Again

Monday dawned strangely calm, as if the air itself held an omen. Emilia arrived at the office early, determined to focus on the project adjustments, but an undefined anxiety settled in her stomach, like a disturbing intuition she couldn't dispel.

The day passed normally until, just after eleven in the morning, an internal email from the public relations department arrived in her inbox. The subject: "Informative Meeting - Strategic Alliance Event with Ortega Consulting." Emilia froze for a moment. Her heart skipped a beat. She read the name again: Ortega.

"It can't be..." she murmured, her throat tight.

The name was strange. And if it was who she thought it was... the past was returning to her life, dragging old wounds with it. With trembling hands, she opened the attachment. There it was. Mateo Ortega, founding CEO of Ortega Consulting, was returning to the country after five years of international expansion. The man who had been her husband. The same man who had stolen more than love: trust, self-esteem, and time. And the worst part, which she remembered more clearly now, was that he had also had dealings with Adrián. Business deals that ended abruptly.

As she closed the document, her cell phone vibrated. It was a message from Adrián.

Adrián Vega:

"I need to see you. Can you come to my office in 15 minutes?"

Emilia stood up from her seat, still in shock. Crossing the hallway to Adrián's office was like walking through a minefield of memories. When she entered, he was already there, facing away, by the window. She didn't need to say anything to know that he had also read the email.

"Do you know?" Emilia asked, closing the door behind her, a shadow of uncertainty falling over her.

Adrián slowly turned toward her. His eyes, usually cold and calculating, now displayed a different hardness. Not toward her, but toward something deeper: the memory.

"Yes. Ortega has returned." His voice sounded tense and controlled. "And I don't think it's just for business."

"Did you know he would return?" Emilia asked, her tone brimming with distrust.

"No. I would have mentioned it. Believe me, I'm not interested in keeping secrets from you." She paused, sighed. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Emilia admitted, letting her voice tremble slightly as she sat down in a chair. "Five years ago, I promised not to let his shadow reach me again. But now... it seems like he never left at all."

Adrián walked to his desk, crossing his arms as if preparing for the inevitable.

"We must be careful. Ortega isn't one to take steps without a strategy. If he's back, it's because he's planning something." And, knowing him, it won't be a small thing.

Emilia was silent for a moment, processing Adrián's words, and then asked a question that had been on her mind for some time.

"What really happened between you two? I always knew you worked together, but you never told me why you parted ways."

Adrián lowered his gaze, as if weighing what to say. Finally, he spoke in a deep voice.

"Mateo was brilliant. And dangerous. He liked to control everything, even things that weren't his. He made decisions without consulting anyone, he manipulated reports. When I tried to expose some irregularities in an international proposal, he betrayed me. He allied himself with other investors and left me out. I lost that entire year, saving my name. It wasn't just a professional betrayal... it was personal."

Emilia looked at him in surprise, noticing for the first time a chink in Adrián's armor. For a moment, she no longer saw the calculating man, but someone wounded.

"And you knew I was married to him?" Emilia asked, cautiously observing her reaction.

Adrian nodded.

"I found out a while after I hired you. At first, I thought it was a coincidence... But I don't care about your past, Emilia. I care about what you're doing now."

The atmosphere between them suddenly changed. The tension that once existed due to mutual attraction was now mixed with an unexpected complicity. They both shared a common enemy. A past intertwined by the same man: Mateo Ortega.

"He's attending the event this Thursday. Will you come with me?" Adrian broke the silence, looking at Emilia seriously.

Emilia hesitated for a moment, the desire to flee clashing with her growing determination to face what she feared. Her mind told her she must resist the shadows of the past.

"Yes," she finally said firmly. "I'm not going to hide anymore."

Thursday arrived, and with it a mix of expectations and nerves. The event was a corporate gala to celebrate a new investment alliance between several firms. Emilia chose a sober, dark blue dress and tied her hair back with an elegant touch. When she arrived at the hotel, Adrián was already waiting for her.

"You look beautiful," he said effortlessly as he saw her approach.

Emilia smiled, but in her mind there was only room for one person: Mateo.

And it wasn't long before see him. As soon as they crossed the main hall, Mateo Ortega appeared on the other side of the room, surrounded by people. His demeanor remained the same: the same charming smile, the same air of self-sufficiency. When his eyes met Emilia's, time seemed to stand still. Mateo's expression tensed for just a second, but soon returned to its mask of cordiality. He approached them, glass in hand.

"Emilia... it's been a while," he said, with that ambiguous smile that was so familiar to him.

"Mateo," she replied firmly, maintaining her composure.

"I see you've continued to climb the ladder..." she commented, looking at Adrián with a raised eyebrow. "Even in familiar company."

"The past is behind us," Adrián intervened, his gaze icy. "At least, for some of us."

Mateo smiled again, but his gaze grew colder. Then he turned to Emilia.

"Not everything buried stays dead." Sometimes, he comes back for something that belongs to him.

The threat was there, hidden beneath the kind words. And Emilia knew for sure: her life was about to get even more complicated. The pressure of the past hadn't disappeared, and now, the struggle to maintain control of her present was beginning to be much more difficult than she had imagined.

But she was no longer willing to give in.