Chapter 3 An Unexpected Alliance

Clara and Dana had tried to spend the week away from the chaos that Mateo had left in their lives, but the calm was only an illusion. At night, each of them silently replayed the open wounds, imagining ways to confront him. Revenge was a recurring thought, though neither dared admit it. Until one afternoon, the silence broke.

As the sun began to tint the sky with shades of orange, Clara invited Dana to have coffee at her apartment. It was a simple, almost routine invitation, but both knew there was something more behind the meeting.

The gathering started like so many others. Clara served coffee on the small balcony of her apartment while Dana settled into one of the metal chairs. They talked about trivial things-the weather, shopping, the preparations for the babies. But the true reason for the encounter lingered in the air, unspoken.

They gazed out onto the street from the small balcony, holding cups of hot coffee in their hands. The fresh afternoon air caressed their faces until the unspoken began to emerge. Finally, it was Dana who broke the ice, placing her cup on the table with a sharp clatter.

"I can't keep pretending that everything is fine, Clara. Not after what we saw at the gala."

Clara looked up, surprised by the brusqueness in Dana's tone.

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously, though she already knew the answer.

Dana leaned forward, her eyes filled with contained fury.

"Mateo. That fake smile strutting among the guests while we watched him from the shadows. Doesn't your blood boil every time you think of him?"

Clara gripped the cup tightly, her body tense.

"Of course it does," she murmured. "But what can we do? Will ruining his life give us back what we lost? No, come on..."

"It's not about getting something back," Dana replied, her voice trembling with frustration. "It's about justice, Clara. It's about stopping him from walking around like he's untouchable while we deal with the consequences of his decisions. Can you imagine when the twins are born?"

Clara set her cup down on the table, her hands trembling. Her eyes filled with tears that she struggled to contain.

"And what do you suggest? Confront him? Yell the truth at Lucía in the middle of an elegant dinner? Deep down, she isn't to blame-she probably doesn't even know we exist."

Dana looked at her intently, with an intensity Clara had never seen before.

"Maybe. But not just any way, and we're not going to go against her either-like you say, she's probably been deceived all along. If we're going to do something, it has to be smart. Cold. Something that brings him down so he can't recover, leaving him no way to escape public humiliation."

Clara fell silent, biting her lower lip. The idea was as tempting as it was terrifying.

"How? Do you have something in mind?" she finally asked.

Dana offered a bitter smile, as if she had been waiting for that question.

"First, we need evidence. Something to expose him. We know about his lies, but we need the world to know too. Photos, messages, anything that unmasks him."

Clara shook her head, still hesitant.

"And what if Lucía doesn't believe us? What if he finds a way to twist everything around, as he always does? We both know how skillful he is with words."

Dana took her hands firmly.

"That's why we have to be meticulous. It's not just about Lucía. It's about everyone around him-his family, his partners, his friends. We have to destroy his façade from the inside."

Clara withdrew her hands, looking away.

"I don't know if I can do this, Dana. Thinking about all of this... it scares me. Look at me-soon I won't even be able to put my shoes on."

Dana sighed, but her voice softened.

"I'm scared too, Clara. But if we don't do something, he'll keep winning, and we'll keep losing. Do you really want your children to grow up knowing that their father is a liar who never took responsibility?"

Dana's words hit Clara like a slap. She closed her eyes, recalling all the times she had defended Mateo to her daughter Melina, all the nights she had cried in silence so no one would see. When she opened her eyes, there was a new determination in them.

"Alright," she said finally. "But if we're going to do this, we do it together. I'm not going to face this alone. Every day I'm going to need you more, you know that..."

Dana smiled, relieved.

"You were never alone, Clara. Not as long as I'm in this with you."

That afternoon, amid whispered plans scribbled on napkins, they began to build their strategy. They talked about the messages they still had, the photos taken at the gala, the lies that could be proven.

When the sun set and the balcony was enveloped in twilight, the two women looked at each other with a silent understanding. They had sealed a pact-an alliance that would change the course of their lives.

"Mateo doesn't know what's coming for him," Dana said with a cold smile, raising her cup as if to toast.

Clara took hers and gently clinked it against Dana's.

"For us," she murmured, and in her eyes shone something more than anger: the hope of reclaiming control of their destiny.