Cecilia's parents married — her father deeply in love, her mother in love with what he could give her.

Her father owned a restaurant chain and ran a successful business. Her mother came from a family that had fallen to ruin.

When Cecilia was three, they decided to separate. Her mother realized that little Cecilia was her father's greatest weakness and used her as leverage, knowing it was in her best interest to keep the girl. She set the rules. She set the conditions. And she enforced them with threats.

The father wouldn't be allowed near his daughter. The mother would send photographs. If he attempted contact in any form, he'd never hear from them again. He made sure his daughter would want for nothing — he signed over his restaurants, his entire chain. He'd be starting from zero, but none of that mattered. For a parent, nothing matters more than their child.

Left with no choice, he clung to those photographs, even as they kept moving from place to place.

What he didn't know was that barely a year after the separation, his ex-wife married a widower — a man who had a daughter the same age as Cecilia.

From that moment on, Cecilia's home became a living hell. Olivia, her stepsister, envied everything she had.

Cecilia's mother preferred Olivia. The girl reminded her of herself — ambitious, determined, always getting what she wanted.

In high school, Cecilia fell in love with a boy from the university. There was something about him that pulled her attention, and a few chance encounters had already brought them together. He was the kind of guy everyone noticed — a college athlete, a star player, popular without trying. But Cecilia made one mistake: she let it show that she cared. Once Olivia noticed, she made it her mission to steal him, just to watch Cecilia suffer. She'd been doing it since they were children — taking everything. In elementary school, she'd turned all of Cecilia's friends against her. In middle school, she'd made everyone hate her. And still, somehow, Cecilia kept going.

She had a plan. Wait until she turned eighteen and leave. But she never expected Olivia to do something that would tie her to the very boy she'd been in love with all along.

She went looking for Olivia one night — no one could find her — and ended up at a fraternity party on the university campus. Every so often, the college threw these events and invited high schoolers to celebrate.

Cecilia had just turned eighteen. As one final act of love, she decided to confess her feelings to him.

She would never forget that night — walking to Rodrigo's dorm room, her heart pounding so hard it ached. Then the sounds from inside the room. Moaning. She turned and ran.

For a while, she'd believed her life was like the romance novels she read — the kind where the boy falls for the shy, mistreated girl.

She was confused. The boy she loved already had someone who made him happy. She didn't know the girl, but she thought she must be very lucky.

Cecilia settled for catching glimpses of him when he came to play games at her high school.

Because the moment school ended, her suffering continued.

She had to work at her mother's restaurant — just another employee, sometimes pulling double shifts.

She'd come home exhausted, with nothing left to do but sleep.

Her mother had told her that her father abandoned them the day Cecilia turned three. So Cecilia believed she had no one in the world who loved her. She saved every penny she could, counting down to the day she'd move out on her own. That day was one week away.

She'd already found places to rent. She'd find another job — she'd been working since she was fifteen and had plenty of experience.

She came home that evening like any other and heard Olivia gushing about her new boyfriend — a multimillionaire, she said. For a moment, Cecilia hoped it was true. Maybe then she'd finally get some peace in her own house. Not that it mattered anymore. She already had an appointment to see the place where she'd be moving.

She went up to her room and lay down to sleep. She had no memories of her father.

Rodrigo's face drifted into her mind, and she smiled as she fell asleep, thinking that tomorrow her life would change forever.

It would. Just not the way she expected.

What Cecilia didn't know was that Olivia already had a plan in motion.

For Olivia, things seemed to be falling into place. One day, Rodrigo introduced her to his parents and his grandfather.

She noticed that Rodrigo was wealthy — but there was a problem. His grandfather planned to send him abroad to study, which threatened everything she'd been working toward. She needed a plan that would work in her favor.

Olivia was already Rodrigo's girlfriend, and she was waiting for the perfect moment to throw it in Cecilia's face.

She wanted to watch her stepsister's expression when she told her that the man Cecilia loved had chosen her instead. One more victory in a lifetime of taking everything.

She told Rodrigo they couldn't go out openly because her parents still didn't allow her to date — which confused him, since she was the one who kept showing up at his university, including the night they'd first been together.

But he let it go.

She told him everything that happened at home — her problems with Cecilia, the arguments. All of it carefully curated.

But there was one thing ruining Olivia's plans: Rodrigo's grandfather didn't like her. She tried to win him over, but the old man was the only person who saw right through her.

She was convinced that was why he wanted to send Rodrigo abroad.

Olivia devised something big — a plan that would force a marriage. What had started as a game had become real; she'd actually fallen for the man who could change her life. She'd become a multimillionaire, and the grandfather would have to accept her if she got pregnant with Rodrigo's child.

But there was a small problem. Rodrigo always used protection. So she planned to drug him at the party that night and have sex with him without a condom — as many times as possible. Her stepmother had advised her that the timing was right.

That night, she sent one of her friends to slip something into Rodrigo's drink. He drank it, and by the time the party was winding down, he was lying in bed in his fraternity room, drenched in sweat, burning up, the room spinning around him.

His door opened. He grabbed whoever walked in.

He threw her onto the bed and stripped her in seconds. He had her all night long, never realizing the woman beneath him wasn't Olivia — it was Cecilia, who couldn't believe Rodrigo was making love to her.

She'd gone looking for Olivia because they needed her at home urgently — their father had been in an accident. Nothing serious, but she'd gone to find her sister herself, not knowing that Olivia was already at the hospital, frantic about executing her plan with Rodrigo.

After that night, Cecilia's life only got worse. By the next morning, the entire school knew what had happened at the party.

Olivia screamed at Cecilia until she ran out of breath. Cecilia felt guilty the moment she learned Rodrigo's girlfriend was Olivia. She tried to forget it, to let it go. She begged Olivia's forgiveness every time she saw her.

She hadn't heard from Rodrigo since that night.

But a month later, everything changed.

She was pregnant. She couldn't believe it. Olivia's hatred multiplied. Their mother stopped speaking to Cecilia entirely, pretending she didn't exist.

Then one day, out of nowhere, the inevitable happened. Cecilia was summoned to Rodrigo's mansion.

The grandfather received her warmly. His parents did not.

Rodrigo's grandfather was a powerful man, and he forced them to marry. Like it or not, there was a baby involved.

Olivia cried. Not just because the love of her life was marrying her stepsister — she cried because her own plan had backfired. She cursed the moment she'd ordered her friend to drug Rodrigo.

Her plan had been simple: she would climb into bed with him that night, claim she was drunk, and tell him they'd forgotten to use protection.

That was the scheme she'd put together when she learned he'd be sent abroad — a way to chain him to her. She never imagined it would be Cecilia who ended up chained to Rodrigo instead.

But she wouldn't make it easy. Rodrigo loved her, not Cecilia, and she'd keep making her stepsister's life a living hell.

All she had to do was wait for the grandfather to die. Then Rodrigo would divorce Cecilia, and Olivia could enjoy the fortune she'd been planning for since the day she found out who his family was. It wasn't a sacrifice — Rodrigo had everything a woman could want in a man, and the best part was that he loved her.

She'd show up at Rodrigo's place at any hour with any excuse, knowing that between her stepsister and herself, he would always choose her.

She was absolutely certain of it.

And she was right.

But fate has a way of watching people make the wrong choices.

I watched Mati standing in front of the candles on his birthday cake.

We were at Rodrigo's grandfather's house.

It was his fourth birthday, and the grandfather had insisted on throwing him a party.

There was a mountain of gifts. My mother and her husband stood in a corner.

The look on my mother's face said everything, and I avoided her.

"Grandpa, where's my daddy?"

The old man walked over with his cane.

"Who needs that grouch? You've got your grandpa and your mom right here. You know your father has a lot of business to take care of."

He ruffled Mati's hair.

My son nodded and blew out the candles.

The door opened and Rodrigo's assistant walked in.

Behind him, staff members carried in more gifts — toy cars in every size and color, a bicycle, and more things I couldn't bring myself to look at. Every year it was the same. The first time, Mati had jumped up and down with excitement, but now he knew what the gifts meant. His father wasn't coming.

He took a bite of cake, climbed down from the chair, and walked to me.

"Mommy, I'm sleepy. I wanna go home."

I went to say goodbye to the grandfather, who hugged me and leaned down to talk to his great-grandson.

"My driver will take you."

I carried my son out, but before we could reach the car, I heard footsteps behind me. My mother.

I buckled Matias into the car, shut the door, and walked over to where she stood waiting. Conversations with my mother never ended well.

"You know it's your fault that boy suffers, right?"

"What?"

She grabbed my arm.

"You crawled into your brother-in-law's bed and thought you'd trap him with a baby. He loves Olivia. Do the boy a favor — talk to the old man, convince him to let Rodrigo divorce you."

"I already tried. Don't think I haven't."

I had. I'd begged the grandfather just today.

"Not hard enough. If you manage to get the divorce, I'll give you thirty percent of everything I have."

She always said the same thing, but the percentage kept shrinking. That wasn't what I wanted anyway. All I wanted was my son's happiness. As for love, as for men — I'd stopped thinking about that a long time ago.

"Mrs. Cecilia, Mr. Rodrigo returns from his business trip tomorrow. Please go back to the property. It's too late to be out."

My mother let go of my arm. I walked back to the car, where my son was already half asleep.

I unbuckled his seatbelt and lifted him into my arms. Through the window, I caught my mother's face breaking into a smile as the assistant handed her a message.

I went back to Rodrigo's house. There were days I wanted to run — to escape with the only thing that mattered to me.

My son.

But I had no money. When I found out I was pregnant, I had to stop working, and every plan I'd made for independence went up in smoke.

I carried Mati up to his room, decorated in bright colors. That was another thing I tried not to think about — he was used to luxury. Every week, designer clothes arrived for him, the latest brands, the newest styles. He had everything except a father.

I took off his shoes and kissed his forehead.

I walked to the master bedroom and found my pajamas.

I took a quick shower without wetting my hair, dried off, and slipped on my robe.

I lay down to sleep. Then the door slammed open, and I shot upright, my heart hammering. Rodrigo stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

No tie. Hair disheveled. Serious, as always.

"It'd be so easy for you to just leave. Then my grandfather would have to accept the divorce."

I nodded, a flicker of hope sparking in my chest.

"Okay. I can do it right now—"

He cut me off.

"You leave alone. With nothing."

"I don't care about anything here." I made that clear, but he interrupted me again.

"Without Matias."

"What?"

"That's right. You think I'm going to let you take him so you can use him to threaten me?"

"That won't happen. I can sign something that—"

"He doesn't leave this house. And if you dare try to take him, I'll get full custody — which is what I should've done a long time ago."

He slammed the door shut.

I sat on the bed, hands trembling, tears streaming down my face.

I tried the door. Locked. He'd locked me in.

I pounded on it, over and over.

"Ma'am, Mr. Rodrigo made it clear the door stays locked until morning."

"I just want to see my son."

"Your son is in his room. Please calm down, ma'am, or you'll wake him."

I heard Rodrigo's voice downstairs, calling for the housekeeper.

I went back to the bed. I didn't know what to do, but I knew one thing — I had to get out of here.

And I was taking my son with me.