Her voice, though no longer shouting, was still a verbal whip. “Get out of here! I never want to see you again! You’re incompetent! You ruined my night, my dress, my purse! You don’t deserve to work in a place like this!” Her words were pure poison, uttered with a blood-curdling conviction.
Don Ricardo, soaked and humiliated to the core, could only murmur a “Yes, miss” and turned, head bowed, to leave the room. Each step was a stab to his heart.
He had expected a reaction, yes, perhaps some indignation over the handbag, but never this merciless cruelty. And what hurt him most, what burned in his soul, was his son’s silence.
Alejandro had remained seated, paralyzed with surprise, yes, but without intervening, without defending the “old doorman” who was being vilely humiliated.
His face showed a mixture of shame and bewilderment, but not the indignation Don Ricardo expected from a righteous man.
When Don Ricardo passed by him, their eyes met for an instant. Alejandro’s eyes, now filled with an uncomfortable plea, seemed to say, “Please, Father, don’t do this.” But it was too late. The damage had already been done.
Upon leaving the restaurant, Don Ricardo removed his soaked uniform in the restroom, wiped the sticky residue from his face, and changed into the elegant clothes he wore beneath his disguise.
The wig and glasses were thrown away. His heart was broken, but his mind—the mind of the ruthless businessman —was already plotting his next move. The test was over, and the verdict was devastating.
The next day, the Alarcón mansion, a monument to luxury and good taste, was thick with an almost unbearable tension.
Don Ricardo had returned home in the early hours of the morning, without saying a word to anyone. In the morning, he sent a message to Alejandro: “I need to talk to you. In my office. Now.” The tone left no room for doubt.
Alejandro arrived, his face pale and with dark circles under his eyes. He knew something terrible had happened, though he couldn’t imagine the magnitude. “Father, what’s wrong? Are you alright? Why the urgent call?” he asked, trying to sound normal.
Don Ricardo stared at him from behind his imposing mahogany desk. His gaze was cold and hard, unlike anything his son had ever seen. “Last night, I was at ‘El Dorado,’ Alejandro.”
Alejandro swallowed. “Yes, Father. I know. Sofia and I saw you leave. I mean, we saw you… from a distance. We thought you didn’t want to interrupt us.”
“That’s not what I mean, son,” said Don Ricardo, his voice low but sharp. “I mean that I was there.
But not as Don Ricardo Alarcón. I was there as the man Sofía humiliated, the one she poured a Coca-Cola on his head.”
Alejandro’s face fell. His eyes widened, disbelief and horror vying for control of his expression. “What?! You were… you were that goalkeeper?!”
“It was me,” Don Ricardo confirmed, without looking away. “And I witnessed the true face of the woman you plan to marry.
The woman who could inherit a portion of my fortune , of my legacy .” He leaned back in his chair, observing his son’s reaction.
Alejandro staggered, bracing himself against the desk to keep from falling. “Father, no… I can’t believe it. Why would you do something like this? Why such a cruel test?”
“Because my instinct told me that Sofia wasn’t the right woman for you, Alejandro.
That all she saw were the zeros in our bank account. I needed to see it with my own eyes, and I needed you to see it too,” Don Ricardo replied, his voice cracking slightly.
“And what I saw… what I saw was a cruel, ruthless woman, capable of publicly humiliating an old man without a shred of remorse.
And what’s worse, I saw my own son, my heir , remain silent, unable to defend a human being, simply so as not to upset his fiancée.”
The accusation hit Alejandro like a punch to the gut. “That’s not true! I was in shock, Dad. I didn’t know how to react. Sofia isn’t like that! She’ll apologize, I swear! I was under pressure, ashamed of the incident!”
“Ashamed of the incident or ashamed that some nobody stained her designer handbag?” Don Ricardo stood up, his imposing figure filling the office.
“Don’t fool yourself, son. A person’s true character is revealed in how they treat those they consider inferior, those who can’t give them anything in return.
Sofia loves you for your last name, for your status , for what my money can buy her. Not for you, Alejandro.”
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