I saw it in the way Father’e eyes narrowed and the way his jaw tightened. His hands curled at his sides with his fingers flexing as if he was restraining himself from doing sothing violent.
What the hell could Axel have ever done to this man to hate his presence so much?
I felt myself tense. Axel’s effort had just gone to a waste. My father disliked people he didn’t respect. And guess who he’d never listen to? People who he disliked.
Dammit. I had just stepped on a Cobra’s tail. Facing the wrath of its fangs was inevitable now.
Don Diego’s greeting was stiff and reluctant "Beta."
The title ca off his tongue like it was sothing bitter. He nodded once like Axel was worth nothing more than a glance before shifting his glare back to .
"You didn’t answer ," he snarled.
His tone had changed. It was quieter now, colder.
It made my knees want to fail.
"Why did you disobey ?"
My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, and my mind scrambled for sothing—anything—to say.
"I... I was just... "
Camilla flicked her nails against each other, her mouth twitching with glee, as though her day couldn’t have turned out any better.
And then, in true Camilla fashion, she dropped the nuclear bomb.
"She was out busy trying to get in the butcher’s pants."
I choked. Axel flinched beside . Rosa gasped as if she had just witnessed commit high treason.
Don Diego’s head jerked to so fast I worried he might get whiplash. His nostrils flared, his lips curled in that way that always preceded a storm.
His dark eyes bored into mine, demanding an explanation I wasn’t ready to give.
"What?" He barked, eyes lit up in stupefaction.
Oh, I was going to kill Camilla. Strangle her with her own hair. Bury her in the pigsty.
"I wasn’t... I didn’t—" Ifumbled, my hands flapping uselessly in front of as if I could physically swat away the accusation. "That’s not what happened!"
iAy caramba! I was being absurd right now, wasn’t I?
Don Diego’s eyes dimd further. "Then explain."
Camilla pouted and crossed her arms, feigning disappointnt. "Co on, papá. You know she’s always been desperate for attention. It’s not surprising she’d go after a man... any man."
My mouth fell open. "Oh, you—"
"I heard she was throwing herself at him!" Camilla continued and I could picture Axel’s mouth falling open in shock as he never ntioned such.
"I bet she..."
"Will you please?" Axel’s voice countered.
The authority in his tone had everyone freezing, even Camilla, who for once looked like she’d bitten off more than she could chew.
He took a step forward and turned to Don Diego with kind of calm authority that contrasted my father’s urgent one.
"Señor Diego. That’s not what happened."
Father’s glare darted between him and , suspicion still in his expression. "Then what did happen?"
Axel heaved deeply before launching into an explanation. "María José lost the money ant for the butchery. It was taken from her evens She had no choice but to strike a deal with the butcher to repay it."
Hold up. How did Axel know the money was taken from ?
Don Diego’s nostrils flared again, and he turned his full fury onto . "You what?"
Oh, now I was dead.
I glanced at Axel, still trying to process how he knew all the details before finally sighing in defeat. "It’s... true."
My father’s eyes darkened. "You lost my money?"
Before I could explain, Axel continued, once again, saving . "The agreent was that she would work at the butchery to pay off the debt. But the butcher..." his jaw tightened, "... he tried to take advantage of her."
A heavy silence descended upon the porch.
My father’s face went from disbelief to sheer fury. Father was pissed on my behalf?
I knew it. That lovely man who loved to carry on his shoulder back when Mom was alive was still in there... sowhere.
"The butcher tried to what?" His voice was fearfully calm, but I knew that was the kind of calm before the earth cracked open and swallowed villages whole.
"I handled it," Axel interjected.
My father huffed and puffed, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. I knew his first instinct was never to be concerned for ... it was always about the family na. And sure enough...
"That disgraceful excuse of a man dared to dean the De la Vega na?" His voice roared with outrage. "I’ll have him thrown behind bars. I’ll make sure he never sets foot in this town again."
Of course. Not María José suffered but how dare he sha my family.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Scratch what I said earlier about the man who carried on his shoulders. Pfft.
Don Diego turned his burning gaze back to . "And you," he seethed, "how is it that you always manage to bring disgrace to this household?"
There it was.
The reprimand. The sha. The deep-seated disappointnt that no matter how hard I tried, I was never enough.
But before I could lower my head and take it like I always did, Axel spoke up again.
"It wasn’t her fault."
Axel’s voice ca out like a shield to my father’s fury, but I was Don Diego’s daughter and I knew that with him, things didn’t work that way.
Don Diego turned to him. "Excuse ?"
Axel straightened his shoulders. "She didn’t put herself in this situation. Soone stole from her. And instead of seeking help, she thought the only way to fix it was to endure punishnt that wasn’t hers to bear." His ivory eyes locked onto Don Diego’s, unafraid. "And that speaks volus about how she’s been treated."
My jaw went slack.
Was he...?
Was Axel standing up for ? In front of my father?
Nobody ever did that.
Nobody.
Don Diego’s deanor turned gloomily dark, his jaw tightening. "You’re implying this is my fault?"
"I’m saying," Axel continued, "that if you had been closer to your children—if you actually listened—then María José would have felt comfortable coming to you instead of believing this was her only option." His tone was sharp, biting. "Why would she rather work in a butcher’s shop to pay off money that was stolen from her, instead of telling you? Why did she think suffering alone was the better choice?"
The only befitting na for his words was: the bitter truth.
And for the first ti, I saw my father hesitate.
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