Chapter 4 - The Arrogant Husband’s Knock

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While I was commanding the board meeting in Polanco, Mauricio Ortega was waking up in his parents' house in Santa Fe with a throbbing hangover and a smug grin on his face.
He walked into the kitchen wearing his silk bathrobe, expecting to see me standing over the stove cooking chilaquiles and scrubbing pots.
Instead, the kitchen was completely empty.
His mother, Doña Beatriz, was sitting at the table in her floral housecoat, sipping black coffee with an expression of bitter outrage.
“Has that insolent girl returned yet?” Beatriz snapped, slamming her porcelain cup onto the saucer. “I went to the guest room—she didn't sleep here! She actually had the audacity to leave the house on her wedding night!”
Mauricio laughed, pouring himself a glass of fresh orange juice. “Relax, Mom. She’s probably sitting on a bench outside her tiny rental apartment, crying her eyes out. She has no family, no savings, and no leverage. By lunchtime, she’ll be on her knees at our front door, begging me to let her come back.”
His father, Don Hector, walked into the kitchen holding the morning newspaper, his brow furrowed with mild concern. “Mauricio, you shouldn't have hit her on your wedding night. What if she goes to the police?”
“With what money, Dad?” Mauricio scoffed arrogantly. “The police don't care about a little domestic disagreement between newlyweds. Besides, Valeria is terrified of being alone. She spent two years buying me birthday gifts and cooking dinners just to keep me happy. She needs this family.”
Suddenly, the front doorbell rang with three sharp, heavy chimes.
Beatriz smiled triumphantly, adjusting her hair. “There she is! Let her stand in the hallway for fifteen minutes before you open the door, Mauricio. Teach her what happens when she disrespects my rules.”
Mauricio strutted down the front corridor, unlocking the deadbolt with a dramatic clatter. He pulled the heavy wooden door open, his face set in a practiced scowl of condescending authority.
“Well, Valeria,” Mauricio began, crossing his arms. “I hope you’re ready to apologize to my mother and start cleaning—”
He stopped dead.
Standing on the front porch was not a weeping, broken girl in a torn dress.
Standing on the porch was a process server in a dark suit, flanked by two armed municipal judicial bailiffs and an executive courier holding a gold-embossed leather folder.
“Mauricio Ortega?” the lead bailiff asked in a monotone voice.
“Yes...?” Mauricio stammered, his arms falling limp at his sides.
“You are formally served with a Petition for Marital Annulment, an Emergency Judicial Restraining Order, and a Notice of Civil Battery Litigation issued by the Superior Court of Justice of Mexico City.”
May you like
The bailiff shoved the thick stack of stamped legal documents directly against Mauricio’s chest.
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