Chapter 3: Taking Out the Trash
As the thirty-two members of the Mendoza family walked up the grand white steps, the atmosphere shifted from mocking amusement to stunned, suffocating silence.
Standing at the top of the staircase was Elena.
She looked radiant, completely unrecognizable from the quiet woman in the cream dress. She wore a breathtaking, floor-length crimson satin gown that flowed behind her like a river of blood. Her dark hair was slicked back flawlessly, and massive, tear-drop diamond earrings caught the afternoon sun. On either side of her stood two young boys in miniature tailored suits, holding her hands, and a security detail flanking the perimeter.
"Elena?" Alejandro gasped, stopping dead in his tracks at the bottom of the steps. His confident posture shattered in an instant. "What... what is this? Whose house is this?!"
"It’s mine, Alejandro. It always has been," I said, my voice carrying over the courtyard, calm and lethal. "The Varela family built this valley. But I suppose you never asked about my family, did you? You were too busy boasting about your own."
Doña Victoria's face turned completely pale, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "You... you were rich? This whole time?"
"I wanted a husband who loved me for me, not my family's net worth," I replied, looking down at them from the top of the stairs. "But all I found was a family of parasites who mistook humility for poverty."
Right at that moment, Alejandro’s phone began to ring violently in his pocket. Then Doña Victoria’s phone buzzed. Then Paola’s. Within seconds, multiple phones among the Mendoza family were chiming with urgent notifications.
Alejandro pulled out his phone, his eyes widening in pure horror as he read the screen. "What... No! This can't be happening!"
"Elena, what did you do?!" Doña Victoria screamed, looking at her screen. "Our corporate lines are being cut! The bank... the bank just froze our primary commercial accounts!"
I took a slow step down the marble stairs, the red train of my dress gliding gracefully behind me.
"I told you, Alejandro. A month is enough to find out who really depends on whom," I said, looking down at him. "Your family’s main distribution contract? It belongs to Varela Shipping. Your real estate loans? Held by Varela Trust. For five years, I quietly signed the renewals to keep your family afloat because I thought you loved me. Yesterday, I chose not to renew."
Alejandro dropped to his knees on the stone path, his face twisted in a mixture of panic, desperation, and sudden, agonizing regret. He reached his hands out toward me, begging, his voice cracking.
"Elena, please! Please, listen to me! They are freezing everything! Tell them this is a mistake! We can talk about this, please!"
Doña Victoria rushed forward, her pride entirely gone, tears streaming down her face. "Elena, my child, we are family! We were just joking outside the court! You can't do this to us, you'll ruin us!"
I stopped on the steps, looking down at the broken, pleading man who had humiliated me just three weeks ago, and the arrogant woman who had treated me like a servant for five years.
My expressions turned ice-cold. I turned my back to them, facing the grand entrance of my home.
"Trash gets taken out today," I said over my shoulder, my voice echoing off the limestone walls. "You can leave. My security will show you out."
May you like
"Elena! No! ELENA!" Alejandro screamed from the pavement, but the heavy black-suited guards instantly stepped into his line of sight, blocking him.
As I walked back into my mansion with my head held high, the heavy oak doors shut behind me, sealing out their screams. By tomorrow morning, the Mendoza empire would be nothing but history. And they would spend the rest of their lives remembering the day they threw away the woman who held their world together.
