PART 1: THE PARKING GARAGE TRAP

I was eight months pregnant, and all I wanted was to buy a birthday gift for my stepson.

That was it.

A simple day.

A simple gift.

A simple return home.

But nothing about Leticia was ever simple.

“Stay away from my son,” her voice cut through the parking garage before I even saw her.

I froze.

Slowly turned.

And there she was.

Diego’s ex-wife.

Standing between the concrete pillars like she had been waiting there for me the entire time.

“Leticia… I’m just buying Mateo a gift,” I said carefully. “Please don’t do this here.”

She laughed.

Cold.

Sharp.

“You think I care where it is?”

She stepped forward.

One step.

Then another.

Her eyes dropped to my belly.

“And that?” she sneered. “That’s supposed to replace my child?”

My hand went instinctively to protect myself.

“No one is replacing anyone,” I said. “Mateo calls me Tía Ele because he wants to—”

“DON’T SAY HIS NAME!”

Her scream echoed through the garage.

A car alarm went off somewhere in the distance.

Then stopped.

Silence swallowed everything again.

Leticia’s voice dropped.

“You stole my life,” she said. “And now you’re stealing my bloodline too.”

I backed toward my car.

My breathing turned shallow.

“Diego knows where I am,” I warned. “If you touch me—”

She smiled.

That was the worst part.

She smiled.

“You think he’ll save you?” she whispered.

And then—

she moved.

Fast.

Too fast.

Her hand grabbed my arm and slammed me against the car door.

Metal hit my spine.

Pain exploded through my back.

I gasped.

“Let go of me!”

“You don’t belong here!” she screamed, raising her foot.

My blood ran cold.

I turned my body instinctively to protect my belly.

“No—please—”

Her foot lifted higher.

And in that exact moment—

a loud metallic sound echoed behind her.

A car door.

Then footsteps.

Running.

Fast.

Leticia paused.

Just one second.

She turned her head slightly.

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