Chapter 6 - The Price of Trust
For two weeks, Alejandro and Victoria spoke only about business.
Their conversations were brief.
Professional.
Careful.
“Client retention is stable.”
“Good.”
“The Chicago project was approved.”
“I saw the report.”
“Elena wants an additional design team.”
“Send the budget.”
Neither mentioned the boardroom.
Neither mentioned Ricardo.
Neither mentioned the unfinished conversation between them.
Montgomery Design Group continued improving.
Herrera Continental’s stock recovered.
Ricardo was formally charged with fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. Investigators reopened questions surrounding the accident that killed Alejandro’s father, though no direct evidence had yet connected Ricardo to it.
The public scandal turned.
News outlets that had mocked Victoria began praising her turnaround.
She disliked the praise almost as much as she had once craved it.
One Friday afternoon, Elena entered Victoria’s office carrying a garment bag.
Victoria glanced up.
“What is that?”
“A dress.”
“No.”
“You haven’t even seen it.”
“I don’t need it.”
“The Herrera Foundation gala is tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“You are presenting the new scholarship program.”
“I have a suit.”
Elena placed the bag on the couch.
“You are not attending one of the largest charity events in the city wearing a gray boardroom suit.”
Victoria looked at her.
“Three months ago, you told me to stay away from cameras.”
“You listened. It was disturbing.”
“I’m trying to be responsible.”
“And now you are using responsibility to hide.”
Victoria closed her laptop.
“I am not hiding.”
“You have not attended a public event since the scandal.”
“I have been working.”
“You have also avoided Alejandro outside meetings.”
“That is none of your business.”
Elena sat across from her.
“It became my business when both of you started making everyone else uncomfortable.”
“We are professional.”
“You are miserable.”
“Thank you.”
“And he is worse.”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“He made his choice.”
“No. He became frightened.”
“That does not excuse keeping secrets.”
“I didn’t say it did.”
Elena leaned forward.
“But people who spend their lives controlling everything do not suddenly become brave because someone gives them a speech.”
Victoria frowned.
“Whose side are you on?”
“The company’s.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only safe answer.”
Elena stood.
“Wear the dress.”
She walked toward the door.
Victoria called after her.
“What does it look like?”
Elena smiled.
“Not white.”
The next evening, the Herrera estate glowed beneath hundreds of lights.
Luxury cars again lined the driveway.
Chauffeurs opened doors.
Cameras flashed.
Victoria sat in the back of a black sedan, looking at the familiar marble steps.
One year had almost passed since she first arrived there in white silk, wearing rented diamonds and borrowed confidence.
Tonight, she wore a deep blue gown designed by Elena’s team.
The jewelry was simple.
The car belonged to the company.
Her hands were empty.
The sedan stopped.
Before the chauffeur could leave the driver’s seat, Victoria opened her own door.
He looked back, surprised.
“I can get that for you, Miss Montgomery.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
“But thank you.”
As she stepped onto the carpet, reporters called her name.
“Victoria, are you and Alejandro Herrera together?”
“Has the investment become personal?”
“Do you believe Ricardo Salazar caused the accident?”
She stopped before the cameras.
A year ago, she would have posed.
Tonight, she faced them directly.
“The criminal investigation is ongoing, so I will not speculate.”
A reporter shouted, “What about Mr. Herrera?”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“Ask Mr. Herrera.”
She walked inside.
The ballroom was even more crowded than before.
But the atmosphere had changed.
People approached her carefully.
Some offered compliments.
Others offered apologies.
Cynthia Vale appeared near the staircase.
“Victoria.”
Victoria turned.
Cynthia wore a silver gown and an uncertain expression.
“You look beautiful,” Cynthia said.
“Thank you.”
“I wanted to call after the article.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
Cynthia looked embarrassed.
“I didn’t know what to say.”
“You could have asked whether it was true.”
“I suppose I was afraid of being associated with the scandal.”
Victoria nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Cynthia blinked.
“You’re not angry?”
“I understand fear better than I used to.”
“Can we start over?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Starting over requires more than a conversation at a gala.”
Cynthia lowered her eyes.
“But this can be the conversation that begins it.”
Victoria extended her hand.
Cynthia took it.
Across the ballroom, Alejandro watched.
He stood beside Julián, dressed in a black tuxedo.
Julián followed his gaze.
“You have been staring at her for six minutes.”
“I am observing the room.”
“Of course.”
“She is speaking with Cynthia Vale.”
“I can see that.”
Alejandro glanced at him.
“You have become unusually bold.”
“I am old. It creates freedom.”
Alejandro almost smiled.
Julián handed him a small envelope.
“What is this?”
“Your father’s letter.”
Alejandro’s expression changed.
“I know what it is.”
“You have carried it in your desk for fifteen years.”
“It was addressed to me.”
“And unread.”
Alejandro looked at him sharply.
Julián remained calm.
“You read Victoria’s father’s instructions about trust. Perhaps it is time to read your own.”
Alejandro looked across the ballroom again.
Victoria was laughing with Elena.
Not performing.
Not calculating.
Simply laughing.
He opened the envelope.
His father’s handwriting covered one page.
Alejandro,
You will inherit more power than any young man should trust himself to hold.
It will tempt you to believe that caution is wisdom and distance is strength.
Sometimes they are.
But if you test every person before loving them, you may only discover how they behave under suspicion.
Alejandro stopped reading.
His hand tightened around the page.
He continued.
Choose carefully, but understand that trust is not proof. It is risk.
You will be betrayed in your life. Do not let that betrayal become the most important relationship you ever have.
Ricardo taught me to fear appearances. Do not let him teach you to fear people.
Your father.
Alejandro lowered the letter.
Julián quietly asked, “Was he wrong?”
“No.”
“Then what will you do?”
Before Alejandro could answer, the orchestra stopped.
A foundation director stepped onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chief executive of Montgomery Design Group, Victoria Montgomery.”
Applause filled the ballroom.
Victoria stepped behind the microphone.
Alejandro watched her place a small stack of cards on the podium.
Then she moved them aside.
“I prepared a speech,” she said. “It was polished, inspiring, and approved by three lawyers.”
The audience laughed.
“I’m not going to use it.”
She looked around the ballroom.
“Last year, I entered this house believing that dignity came from being invited into important rooms.”
The room became quieter.
“I was wrong.”
She glanced toward the staff standing near the walls.
“Dignity is how you treat people who cannot offer you access, money, or attention.”
Alejandro did not move.
Victoria continued.
“The Herrera Foundation and Montgomery Design Group are creating a scholarship for students whose families work in service industries—drivers, servers, hotel staff, cleaners, caregivers, and maintenance workers.”
Applause rose.
She waited for it to fade.
“The scholarship will be named after Thomas and Gabriel Herrera, two men who built companies but believed character mattered more than ownership.”
Alejandro looked at Julián.
He had not known about the name.
Victoria turned toward him.
“This program would not exist without Alejandro Herrera.”
The audience followed her gaze.
Alejandro expected praise.
Instead, Victoria said, “He taught me an important lesson.”
A few guests smiled.
“He also had to learn one.”
The smiles vanished.
Alejandro raised an eyebrow.
Victoria continued.
“Respect without trust creates distance. Trust without honesty creates fear. Real partnership requires both.”
The ballroom remained completely silent.
“We are all unfinished people. Wealth does not change that. Neither does failure.”
She looked directly at Alejandro.
“What changes us is whether we are brave enough to admit what we still need to learn.”
Then she stepped away from the microphone.
The applause began slowly.
Within seconds, the entire room stood.
Alejandro remained seated for one moment longer.
Then he stood too.
After the presentation, Victoria escaped onto the terrace.
Cool air moved through the garden.
She placed both hands on the stone railing and exhaled.
Behind her, the doors opened.
Alejandro stepped outside.
“I thought we agreed on no public lessons.”
She did not turn.
“That was not a lesson.”
“What was it?”
“A warning.”
“To whom?”
“Both of us.”
He moved beside her.
For several seconds, they watched the lights reflected in the fountain.
Alejandro held out his father’s letter.
Victoria read it silently.
When she finished, she handed it back.
“He knew you too.”
“Yes.”
“Did it help?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
He continued.
“It made everything more frightening.”
“That sounds encouraging.”
“I am trying to be honest.”
“Then continue.”
Alejandro faced her.
“I investigated you before the gala because I did not trust your image.”
“I know.”
“I tested you because I needed control.”
“I know.”
“I offered the investment because of our fathers.”
“I know.”
“And because I was curious whether you could become the woman he believed you might be.”
Victoria’s expression softened.
Alejandro took a breath.
“But I continued watching because I fell in love with the woman you chose to become.”
She stared at him.
He did not look away.
“I should have told you about Ricardo.”
“Yes.”
“I should have trusted you with the danger.”
“Yes.”
“I cannot promise never to be afraid.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“I can promise not to disguise fear as protection.”
Victoria’s eyes glistened, but her voice remained steady.
“That is a better promise.”
Alejandro stepped closer.
“Is it enough?”
“Not yet.”
His face fell slightly.
She continued.
“But it is a beginning.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Coffee?”
Victoria pretended to consider it.
“Are you asking as a billionaire or a chauffeur?”
“As a man who has been waiting almost a year.”
She smiled.
“Then yes.”
He extended his hand.
May you like
Victoria took it.
For the first time, neither of them was testing the other.
