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A lesson in Loyalty 2
Author: Llamanel
last update2025-04-22 18:09:57

Walter Velázquez’s villa was more of a monument than a home. Suspended on the hillside, its sleek glass walls and white marble floors shimmered in the dying sunlight. The place reeked of wealth and power—every edge too sharp, every corner too clean. Elena Hernández stood by the balcony, her posture stiff, eyes lost in the orange-pink haze of the horizon.

She barely registered the sound of expensive shoes clicking on the floor until Walter handed her a glass of red wine.

“You look stunning,” he said with a calculated smile. “That color… brings out your fire.”

Elena accepted the glass without a word, her fingers barely touching his. She didn’t drink. She hadn’t touched a drop since she arrived.

Walter chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “Still silent after all these years. Back in university, you used to talk my ears off.”

“That was a long time ago,” she murmured.

He stepped closer. “Not for me.”

Elena turned her gaze back to the skyline. “Why am I here, Walter? Just say what you want.”

Walter didn’t hesitate. “I want you.”

She blinked, once, slowly. “You want to buy me.”

“I’m offering you a future,” he said. “One with no debts. No humiliation. No Alejandro.”

At the sound of her husband’s name, Elena’s jaw tightened.

Walter continued, voice smooth like oil. “You’re drowning, Elena. Your family's collapsing. I’m giving you a way out.”

“You’re giving them a way out,” she said, her voice sharp. “You don’t care about me. You just want to win. You want to take back what you lost to Alejandro all those years ago.”

Walter laughed bitterly. “I lost you to a man who pretended to be someone he wasn’t. A construction worker playing prince. And now? He’s nothing. A discarded husband, humiliated in public. Even your mother sees it.”

Elena turned sharply. “Don’t talk about my mother.”

“I’m trying to help,” Walter said, stepping in. “Look at me, Elena. I’ve got influence. Wealth. I can make all of this go away. The debts, the shame, the failure. All you have to do is choose.”

His hand wrapped around hers, firm—possessive.

“Let go,” she whispered.

Walter held tighter. “Just say yes, and everything changes.”

“I said let go!” she shouted, yanking her hand free.

Just then—

The front doors slammed open.

Alejandro stepped into the villa like a storm on legs.

Wearing a tailored black suit, his hair slicked back, his eyes were dark and unreadable. Elena froze. Walter’s confident smile dropped.

“You’re not invited,” Walter growled, stepping forward.

Alejandro didn’t even blink. “I wasn’t asking for an invitation.”

“What are you doing here?” Elena asked, heart pounding.

“I came to take back what’s mine,” he said, voice calm, low.

Walter scoffed. “You don’t own anything anymore, Alejandro. Not even her.”

Alejandro’s gaze cut through him like ice. “Then let’s see if you still think that after tonight.”

Walter stepped in front of Elena, protective, arrogant. “You really don’t know when to quit.”

Alejandro looked past him at Elena. “You said you wouldn’t see him again.”

“I came here to talk,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You had a choice,” he said coldly. “You always had a choice.”

Walter rolled his eyes. “Spare us the romantic guilt. She made the right one.”

Alejandro turned slowly to him. “The right one?”

Walter smirked. “She left a broke loser who couldn’t pay his own bills for a man with a future.”

Alejandro reached into his coat, pulled out a folder, and tossed it onto the pristine white table.

Walter glanced down at it, confused. “What is this?”

“Your future,” Alejandro said.

Walter opened it and began flipping through the pages. At first, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. But as he read, his expression turned to horror.

Documents. Stock transfers. Corporate acquisitions. Memos tied to hidden accounts and board votes.

“You’re Luz Holdings,” Walter whispered. “No. That’s not possible.”

Alejandro took a step forward, voice sharp. “It’s not just possible. It’s done. I now own controlling shares in two of your parent companies and I’ve already started acquiring Cuatro Mares’ subsidiaries.”

Elena gasped. “You… what?”

“You think I was just a construction worker?” Alejandro said, turning to her. “You think I was poor because I had no ambition?”

She looked at him, stunned. “Then why… why did you live like that?”

“Because hiding was safer than fighting,” he answered. “Until you gave me a reason to fight again.”

Walter’s fists clenched. “You son of a—”

He lunged forward, trying to grab Alejandro, but Alejandro dodged and slammed him into the wall with brutal precision. The glass of wine flew across the room, shattering against the marble.

Elena screamed. “Stop it! Alejandro, stop!”

Walter groaned, blood leaking from his lip.

Alejandro stared down at him, unmoved. “I warned you. I told you I’d make you regret ever touching her.”

“Alejandro, please,” Elena pleaded, running to him. “This isn’t the way—”

He turned on her. “You want to talk about ways? You left me for thirty million pesos. You watched your family humiliate me and said nothing. And now that the scales are tipping, you want me to be the bigger person?”

Her eyes welled up with tears. “You’re not like this. You’re not… cruel.”

“No,” he said. “But maybe I should be.”

Walter coughed, struggling to sit up. “This is far from over.”

Alejandro smirked. “No, Walter. For you, this is just the beginning.”

He turned to leave.

But just as he reached the door, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, expecting Carlos’s usual report.

Carlos [encrypted line]: “Alejandro… we’ve got a situation.”

Alejandro’s brow furrowed. “Talk.”

Carlos’s voice was tight. Urgent. “The Velázquez accounts have been frozen. We’ve destabilized their board. But…”

“But what?”

Carlos hesitated. “Someone else is buying into your family's debt. Fast. They’ve already taken over three of your holding companies.”

Alejandro’s grip on the phone tightened. “Who?”

There was static on the line. Then:

“It’s Joaquín Salgado. He’s making his move.”

Alejandro’s blood went cold.

The Cuatro Mares CEO. Ruthless. Strategic. And the man responsible for hiding the truth about his family’s attempted murder.

“Elena,” he said slowly, turning to her. “You’re not the only one who betrayed me.”

“What are you talking about?” she whispered.

But Alejandro didn’t answer.

He walked out into the night, the city lights flickering like stars beneath him. The game had just changed.

He wasn’t just fighting Walter now.

He was facing the one man who’d tried to erase him from existence.

And this time…

He wouldn’t be hiding.

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Latest Chapter

  • The Shadows Loom

    The tension between Alejandro and Joaquín was palpable. As each man prepared for the inevitable clash, their actions spoke louder than any words ever could. The unknown player’s cryptic messages had fueled Alejandro’s resolve, but they had also left him with more questions than answers. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something much larger than he could comprehend was unfolding, and he had no choice but to play his part in this dangerous game. But no one was truly untouchable, not even Joaquín Salgado.Alejandro sat in his apartment, the night stretching out before him like a battlefield. The weight of the unknown player’s words still pressed down on him—Trust no one. Every move, every decision, was now loaded with consequences. But in his gut, he knew what had to be done. Joaquin had to fall. The Velázquez family needed to crumble. And Alejandro would be the one to bring them down.He stood up and walked toward his desk, opening the drawer that contained a stack of confident

  • The unseen war

    Alejandro’s steps echoed through the silent streets as he walked back into his apartment, there was a faint fog of the night surrounding him. The conversation with the mysterious figure by the docks had left him unsettled, but also it had reignited a fire that had been smoldering inside of him for years. He had always fought for the control over his life, even when the cards were stacked right against him, but this new alliance had offered him something he had long desired—an edge, an upper hand in the game he was playing. And this time, he wasn’t fighting alone.But with that alliance came an undeniable sense of danger. The unknown player had his own agenda, and Alejandro couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being pulled into a much bigger web of manipulation and more power. Yet, for all the uncertainty, there was one thing that burned brightly in his chest: his resolve to take down the Velázquez family. And Joaquín Salgado was at the top of that list.The next day, as the sun r

  • The Puppet Master

    The message lingered in Alejandro’s mind as he stepped further into the night. Someone’s pulling the strings from the top. Those words felt like a spark igniting a fire in his gut. He had thought Joaquín Salgado was the ultimate enemy, the final obstacle between him and his vengeance. But now, the realization that there was something—or someone—greater than Joaquín came crashing down on him.Who could it be? A person so powerful, so elusive, that even Joaquín had to play by their rules? Alejandro clenched his fists, his pulse quickening with a mixture of curiosity and growing anger.The last few months had been a blur of planning, deception, and execution. Every action, every move, had been calculated. But if there was someone above Joaquín—someone who could pull the strings in the shadows, it changed everything.His mind raced as he walked through the empty streets, the cool air biting against his skin. The wind whispered in his ear like a secret, and for the first time in years, Ale

  • The Wolf Unleashed

    The night air was thick with tension as Alejandro walked briskly through the quiet streets, his mind a storm of calculations and fury. His grip on the phone tightened as Carlos’s warning echoed in his mind. Joaquín Salgado. The man who had tried to bury him and his family, the man who had hidden behind the veneer of corporate power, now playing the game from the shadows. And now he was meddling in the one thing Alejandro had left—his family’s legacy.The sleek black car came to a screeching halt in front of a building that once belonged to the Jiménez family, now left to rot under the weight of years of abandonment. The wind whipped through the broken windows, and the building stood in stark contrast to the glitzy towers of Cuatro Mares Corporation just across the river. Here, Alejandro had spent his early years learning the ropes of business, before everything had fallen apart.The dimly lit building now seemed like a monument to his past, and tonight, it would become the stage for h

  • A lesson in Loyalty 2

    Walter Velázquez’s villa was more of a monument than a home. Suspended on the hillside, its sleek glass walls and white marble floors shimmered in the dying sunlight. The place reeked of wealth and power—every edge too sharp, every corner too clean. Elena Hernández stood by the balcony, her posture stiff, eyes lost in the orange-pink haze of the horizon.She barely registered the sound of expensive shoes clicking on the floor until Walter handed her a glass of red wine.“You look stunning,” he said with a calculated smile. “That color… brings out your fire.”Elena accepted the glass without a word, her fingers barely touching his. She didn’t drink. She hadn’t touched a drop since she arrived.Walter chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “Still silent after all these years. Back in university, you used to talk my ears off.”“That was a long time ago,” she murmured.He stepped closer. “Not for me.”Elena turned her gaze back to the skyline. “Why am I here, Walter? Just say what you want

  • A Lesson in Loyalty

    Walter Velázquez’s private villa stood like a blade against the hillside, sleek and angular, its sharp lines cutting through the twilight. All glass and white marble, it was the sort of place that whispered power and screamed vanity. The city below glittered like a promise just out of reach, but here, high above it all, everything was clean, sterile—perfect. And false.Elena stood at the balcony, framed by the blood-orange sky. Her emerald dress fluttered softly in the breeze, but her expression was as still as carved stone. Arms crossed tightly over her chest, she didn’t bother to look at Walter as he approached from behind.Inside, the hum of jazz music played on low, underscoring the silence between them.Walter poured two glasses of red wine, the decanter’s neck catching the last rays of the sun like a dagger tip. His Rolex glinted with every movement, catching her eye just long enough to remind her exactly where she was—and who she was dealing with.“You look beautiful,” he said,

  • The Mask Comes Off

    The gates of the Jiménez ancestral estate groaned open under the moonlit sky, revealing a mansion veiled in shadows—timeless, cold, and untouched by time. Alejandro stood at the threshold, the same place he had once bled as a teenager when his stepmother tried to kill him. That night, he had left behind a name, a family, and a legacy.Now, he was ready to take it back.Carlos stepped out of the car behind him. “You’re sure about this? Once your name resurfaces, there’s no hiding anymore.”Alejandro didn’t answer right away. His eyes stayed on the iron gates, his voice low and firm. “They took everything from me. My name. My dignity. Now I’m going to take everything from them.”He turned, eyes burning with purpose.“And Elena... I loved her. I would’ve given her the world. But if she chose money over loyalty, she’s going to learn what it feels like to lose everything she thought she gained.”Carlos gave a grim nod. “The lawyers are ready. Within 72 hours, you’ll legally reclaim your se

  • Blood in the Basement

    Alejandro’s boots echoed against the cold concrete floor of the basement as the two masked attackers closed in. The dim light above flickered, casting their shadows like ghosts along the wall.“You should’ve stayed dead, Jiménez,” the voice repeated—raspy, cruel, and all too familiar.From behind a column stepped a third man. Taller. Unmasked.Jaime López.Alejandro’s eyes narrowed. “I should’ve known you’d show your rat face eventually.”Jaime smirked, brandishing a knife. “You embarrassed me in front of Salgado. Got me demoted. Now you’re playing with fire, poking around in Velázquez business.”“Funny,” Alejandro said coolly, wiping the blood from his arm with his sleeve, “I was just about to burn everything down anyway.”Jaime lunged.Alejandro sidestepped, slamming his shoulder into the first masked attacker and sending the man crashing into a metal cabinet. Sparks flew as a pipe burst overhead, hissing steam clouding the room. The second man grabbed Alejandro from behind, pinning

  • Hidden Blade

    The Hidden BladeThat night, Alejandro stood on the balcony of a modest hotel room—not the grand estate he once called home, but something simple, quiet. The city below sparkled like a bed of stars. But behind those lights were shadows… and he had lived among them long enough to know how cruel they could be.Carlos leaned against the wall behind him, arms crossed, watching his old friend with a wary eye.“You sure you want to go this far?” he asked.Alejandro exhaled a long trail of smoke into the cool air. “They took everything from me, Carlos. My name. My future. Even my love.”Carlos hesitated. “You still love her, don’t you?”Alejandro’s jaw clenched. “I hate what she did. But love like that… it doesn’t die. It burns.”Carlos stepped forward and handed him another document.“Here’s what we’ve got on the Hernández family's debt,” he said. “Turns out, they owe nearly twenty-two million pesos to a cartel-connected lender—El León del Norte. Dangerous people. The loan defaulted two wee

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