A Past No One Knew
Leaning casually against the wall, Mrs. Sandoval—Victoria, as she finally introduced herself—spoke as if recounting a minor inconvenience. Her phone remained steadily recording.
“Do you know what wealthy men can never escape from, Maria?” she asked coolly. “Their mothers.”
Maria’s gaze drifted back to the frail figure on the mattress. Beatriz. Ricardo Sandoval’s mother. Officially dead since 2021.
“When I married Ricardo,” Victoria continued, “I thought I’d found an equal. Intelligent. Successful. A partner. But every choice we made—every decision—she interfered.”
She stepped closer. Beatriz flinched.
“‘Victoria, that house is too extravagant.’ ‘Victoria, you waste money.’ ‘Victoria, when will you give me grandchildren?’” she mocked. “For two years, she poisoned my marriage. Whispered lies. Made him doubt me.”
Maria whispered, shaking, “But… you imprisoned her. That’s a crime.”
“A crime?” Victoria laughed softly. “Destroying a marriage from the inside—that’s a crime. Turning a husband against his wife—that’s a crime.”
Beatriz lifted her head, voice trembling but firm.
“I told my son the truth. That you wanted his money. That you were seeing other men. That your family was drowning in debt.”
Victoria screamed.
“IT WAS ALL LIES!”
Her voice rattled the walls.
“You fabricated everything,” Victoria shouted. “You hired someone to follow me. You planted evidence. You tried to make him believe I was unfaithful.”
Maria’s stomach turned. This wasn’t cruelty born overnight—it was war, long and calculated.
“When I realized what you were doing,” Victoria said coldly, locking eyes with Beatriz, “I had two choices. Let you destroy my life… or remove you from it.”
