Chapter 16 - The Gala of AngelsSanta Aurelia’s charity gala glittered like a lie.
Crystal chandeliers. White roses. Champagne towers. Photographs of sick children arranged beside donation cards. Wealthy guests murmured about compassion while wearing diamonds large enough to fund entire hospital wards.
Sofía hated every inch of it.
She wore a simple black dress Valeria had chosen and Sofía had protested until Valeria said, “Please let me do one normal female friendship thing before someone else tries to poison us.”
So Sofía wore the dress.
Nicolás noticed.
He said nothing for nearly ten seconds.
Then, quietly, “You look beautiful.”
Sofía’s pulse betrayed her.
“This is not the time.”
“I know.”
“You said it anyway.”
“Yes.”
Valeria, standing nearby in deep green silk, muttered, “Finally.”
Sofía shot her a look.
Valeria smiled sweetly.
Their plan was simple enough to be dangerous.
Bianca loved admiration. She also hated losing control. If confronted publicly, she would retreat behind grace. If cornered privately, she might reveal something. The police liaison assigned after the court threats had agreed to monitor communications if Bianca approached.
Nicolás hated the plan.
He hated it silently, which Sofía considered progress.
Bianca appeared at nine.
White dress.
Diamond cross.
Soft curls.
Perfect grief.
She embraced donors, kissed cheeks, and spoke about vulnerable children with such tenderness Sofía felt her stomach turn.
When Bianca saw them, she paused only briefly.
Then she smiled.
“Nicolás. Valeria. How brave of you to come.”
Valeria answered with equal sweetness.
“How brave of you to keep pretending.”
Bianca’s smile tightened.
Her gaze moved to Sofía.
“And Nurse Reyes. Recovered so quickly?”
“Clean air helps.”
“Does it?”
“For most people.”
Bianca’s eyes cooled.
Nicolás stepped slightly closer to Sofía, but did not speak.
Bianca noticed.
Of course she did.
“Well,” she said softly, “this explains so much.”
Sofía tilted her head.
“What does?”
“The devotion. The way everyone suddenly trusts a woman with no background, no family, no status.”
“I have a background. You simply don’t value work unless it comes with a surname.”
Bianca’s mouth flickered.
Valeria coughed into her champagne to hide a laugh.
Bianca leaned closer.
“You think you won because a judge gave temporary orders? Rafael is not finished.”
“Neither is the investigation,” Sofía said.
Something flashed in Bianca’s eyes.
Fear.
Small but real.
Good, Sofía thought.
Bianca stepped back.
“Enjoy the evening.”
But twenty minutes later, a waiter approached Sofía.
“Señora Mondragón requests a word in the east gallery.”
Nicolás’s face darkened.
“No.”
Sofía looked at him.
He closed his mouth.
Progress again.
“I’ll be within sight,” she said.
Valeria touched her arm.
“Be careful.”
The east gallery was lined with portraits of Santa Aurelia’s founders. Bianca stood beneath one, holding a glass of water.
“No guards?” she asked.
“Close enough.”
Bianca laughed softly.
“You have changed him.”
“No. Mateo has.”
At the baby’s name, Bianca’s expression shifted.
“You say his name like you own a piece of him.”
“I say his name like someone who heard him suffer.”
Bianca’s hand tightened around the glass.
“I would have loved him better.”
There it was.
Not money.
Not control.
Hunger.
“You tried to hurt him,” Sofía said.
“No,” Bianca hissed. “I tried to save him from that house. From Valeria’s weakness. From Nicolás’s violence. From Leonor’s madness. From being raised among criminals and cowards.”
“With chemicals? Hidden cameras? Fake petitions?”
Bianca’s face twisted.
“Rafael handled the ugly parts.”
“And you handled the beautiful lie.”
Bianca stepped closer.
“You do not deserve to stand beside them.”
“I stand where Mateo is safe.”
“He would have been mine.”
The words landed.
Sofía kept her face still.
“Yours?”
Bianca’s eyes filled with furious tears.
“Valeria never wanted Nicolás. She never wanted that family. She got pregnant and complained about loneliness while I smiled through another failed procedure, another doctor, another empty nursery. Then Mateo was born, and everyone called him destiny.”
Her voice shook.
“I would have given him everything.”
“You wanted to take him from his mother.”
“I wanted to become his mother.”
Behind Bianca, a shadow moved.
Police liaison.
Recording.
Sofía breathed carefully.
“Did Rafael promise you that?”
Bianca froze.
Sofía continued softly, “Temporary guardianship first. Then medical custody. Then permanent placement once Valeria and Nicolás were declared unfit.”
Bianca’s face went white.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Bianca whispered, “Rafael said no one would believe a nurse.”
Sofía’s voice hardened.
“He was wrong.”
The police stepped forward.
Bianca turned.
For one second, her polished world shattered.
Then she screamed.
Not from fear.
From rage.
Guests rushed toward the gallery as officers escorted her out. Cameras flashed. Diamonds turned. The charity gala became the scandal it had always deserved to be.
Across the room, Nicolás found Sofía.
He did not touch her.
Not there.
Not with cameras watching.
But his eyes said everything his hands did not.
Valeria stood beside him, crying without shame.
May you like
By midnight, Bianca’s confession was already with investigators.
By dawn, Rafael would have no wife, no public shield, and nowhere left to hide.
