The process lasted several months.
Valeria made a statement only once.
He entered the courtroom with a faint scar on his left cheek and a serenity that Alejandro did not recognize.
He watched her from across the room.
She had lost weight.
He was wearing a cheap suit.
He no longer seemed like the charming man who used to win over entire rooms with his smile.
He looked small.
When Valeria finished her statement, Alejandro asked to speak with her.
"Just five minutes," he pleaded through his lawyer. "I need to ask for forgiveness."
Valeria rejected the request.
She had no need to hear an apology born of fear.
The judge ordered financial restitution, permanent no-contact orders, and a prison sentence for Alejandro for the combination of proven offenses.
Rebeca
“…until the day I realized that you never saw me as a wife, but rather as something you could use.”
She folded the sheet of paper.
But she did not send it.
