Ashes of San Miguel

The Mask Falls

The hotel lobby buzzed with whispers as Alejandro stepped outside, the sting of Elena’s words still fresh in his chest. But his face showed nothing—just a stillness, a brewing storm under calm eyes.

Outside, the sky had darkened into a moody dusk, clouds tinged with red like open wounds. The Hernández family stood by the roadside, laughing, animated, as if they hadn’t just shattered a man’s world.

Elena stood apart, arms crossed, her face unreadable—until a sleek black sports car pulled up.

Walter Velázquez.

He stepped out like he owned the world, dressed in a navy-blue suit with sunglasses still perched on his arrogant face despite the fading light. He didn’t even glance at Alejandro. Instead, he opened the passenger door and gave Elena a smug smile.

“Ready to leave all this behind?” he asked her.

Her eyes flicked to Alejandro for a second. Just one.

“I’m ready,” she said.

Luis grinned wide. “You see, Alejandro? This is what ambition looks like.”

Jacobo clapped him on the shoulder. “Enjoy poverty, hermano. And thank you for letting Walter clean up your mess. Thirty million pesos? Elena’s worth every cent.”

Alejandro’s fists clenched. But still… he said nothing. Not yet.

Walter held out his hand. “Come on, beautiful.”

Elena hesitated. Her lip trembled, her eyes flickering again to Alejandro. She looked… conflicted.

“Elena,” Alejandro said quietly.

She turned to him, arms wrapping around herself. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”

He took one step closer. “Is it true? Thirty million pesos… for three days?”

She nodded, eyes shining with guilt. “We’re drowning, Alejandro. Papa left us nothing but debt. Walter offered a lifeline.”

“You’re selling yourself.”

“No,” she said. “I’m saving my family. Something you never could.”

Alejandro’s mouth opened—but he stopped himself. The words burned on his tongue: I’m a Jiménez. I could buy this hotel and fire every single one of you.

But not yet.

Instead, he reached into his wallet.

He pulled out a thin, jet-black credit card.

The laughter died. Luis’s smile froze.

“That’s funny,” Jacobo sneered. “You steal that from someone rich?”

Alejandro stepped forward and held the card out to Elena. “Thirty million pesos. Yours. No strings. Stay.”

The world seemed to pause.

Elena stared at the card like it was a snake. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

Walter’s smile faltered for the first time. “Where did you get that?”

Alejandro turned his eyes on him. Cold. Calculating. “From the vault of a family you don’t want to mess with.”

“Bullshit,” Luis barked. “You’re just a laborer.”

Jacobo laughed nervously. “Maybe it’s fake.”

Alejandro looked straight at Elena. “I would’ve given you the world, Elena. But you wanted someone who looked rich. Not someone who was.”

Silence.

Elena took a shaky step back. “Why… why did you hide this?”

“Because I wanted to live without bodyguards. Without lies. I wanted a life where someone would love me for me. Not for my name.”

She looked stricken. “And you thought I’d choose you even if we were starving?”

“You already did—once.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. She looked at Walter, then back at Alejandro.

“Is it real?” she whispered.

“Try it.”

Walter stepped forward, his jaw tight. “Enough games. You’re just trying to mess with her head.”

Alejandro looked at him with cool contempt. “Careful, Velázquez. You’re playing in waters deeper than you understand.”

Walter scoffed. “You think I’m scared of some construction worker pretending to be royalty?”

Alejandro’s smile was razor-sharp. “No. I think you’re scared because you know… you can’t buy what I have.”

Walter’s face twisted. “Get in the car, Elena.”

She didn’t move. She was conflicted, what if indeed she was making a mistake? But she knew Alejandro could to safe her family he had nothing and he was causing just another charade she didn't like too.

“Elena,” Alejandro said again, voice low. “Don’t do this. Not for money. Not for fear.”

Tears slipped from her eyes.

Luis snapped, “Get in the damn car, Elena! We’ve already talked to the bank. If we don’t get that money—”

“I’ll pay your debt,” Alejandro interrupted.

All heads turned.

“I’ll pay it,” he repeated. “Every peso. But she stays with me.”

Jacobo blinked. “You think we’ll believe—”

He held up his phone. “I’ll transfer ten million right now. The rest in the morning.”

And just like that, the mood shifted.

Greed crept into Luis’s eyes. Even Carmen, watching from the hotel entrance, took a step closer.

But Elena... she looked shattered.

“You can’t just… buy your way out of everything, Alejandro.”

“No,” he said softly. “But I can buy them off. So they stop controlling you.”

Walter growled, stepping between them. “This ends now.”

Alejandro didn’t flinch. “You’re right.”

Walter threw a punch. A whimsy one at that.

Alejandro caught his wrist in midair.

And squeezed.

Walter winced, stumbling back. “You’re making a mistake.”

“No,” Alejandro said, his voice low, dangerous. “You did—when you touched my wife.”

Elena gasped. “Alejandro—”

But before anyone could move again, tires screeched behind them.

Another car pulled up. A black SUV.

The doors flew open—and men in suits stepped out, sunglasses, earpieces, moving like shadows.

Everyone backed away in confusion.

One of them nodded at Alejandro.

“Sir. We’ve located your stepmother. She’s on the move again.”

Walter’s face paled. Luis went rigid. Jacobo stammered, “W-Who are these people?”

Alejandro looked at Elena—just once—before turning back to the men.

“I’ll be there. Take me now.”

The agent hesitated. “And the woman?”

Alejandro’s eyes lingered on Elena for a long, painful moment.

“Let her choose.”

Then he stepped into the SUV.

The door slammed shut.

The car roared away down the road, leaving a stunned silence in its wake.

Elena stood trembling, the black card still clutched in her fingers.

Walter touched her arm. “Come on.”

She pulled away.

“I don’t know what I want anymore.”

And then, her phone buzzed.

A message.

“He’s not who he says he is. But neither is Walter. I have proof. Meet me at the pier. Midnight. — A friend.”

Elena stared at it, her heart racing.

Her world was about to unravel.

And she had no idea who to trust anymore.