Episode 2

Zulema was a woman with a beautiful face, tan skin, brown eyes, and black hair with slight waves; she came from an honorable family, whose members worked hard to obtain a small fortune that allowed them a fairly comfortable life. She was intelligent, creative, responsible, dedicated, and deeply loved Javier.

That's why, for him, Zulema was the perfect material for his wife and greatly improved his image to dispute his grandfather's inheritance, which his family urgently needed lately. However, Zulema's family situation affected his image, and Javier desperately needed someone to help him with that; he couldn't miss the opportunity to take control of the family fortune.

Soon Javier found the solution, Grecia Lujan, a rich and capricious girl, who had always been in love with him, and although she lacked many of Zulema's virtues, she belonged to an important family of construction input producers; Javier Belmonte needed support to guarantee his grandfather that he had what it takes to manage the family businesses, and for the family patriarch, marriage to a woman of his same category who contributes to investments was a significant endorsement.

"Maybe my clothes are cheap, but I don't go around buying boyfriends like others. Enjoy my leftovers, if that's what you aspire to," Zulema expressed, with a smile; maybe she had descended from the pedestal where she lived, but she would never allow herself to be humiliated; she was convinced that the value of a person was not measured by what they possessed but by who they really were inside.

"Says the daughter of a criminal, being a slut didn't help you to stay with Javier, women like you are never an option for important men, they are only good for a good time," Grecia Lujan stated, surrounded by an army of flatterers; otherwise, she would not have dared to insult Zulema, who has always been a woman of strong character.

"Someone thinks they're a queen bee, when they're just a poisonous wasp, you think so little of yourself to come and insult me because deep down you're afraid that Javier will never forget me, how sad your case is," Zulema expressed in a mocking tone.

"Stupid," said Grecia, before walking away with her group of flatterers, going to look for the manager to have Zulema removed from the pub; she couldn't stand that despite not having resources and with a criminal father, Zulema De la Puente was in such an exclusive place.

Zulema took another sip, looked up, and met some dark and penetrating eyes in the VIP area; there was the enigmatic Mathias Belmonte, younger brother of her ex-fiance's mother; one of the most sought-after bachelors in the country.

Mathias was a handsome man, with brown hair, who at thirty-five years old managed his own multinational beauty company, with an excellent participation in the stock market, apart from other investments in which he remained low profile; there were many women trying to conquer him, but he always seemed to ignore them, besides being immune to falling in love.

Zulema returned to her drink, she had forgotten what happened with Mathias two weeks ago, she said to herself "Come on Zulema, what are you doing in this place, you don't have time for this, tomorrow you have to go to the cafeteria, the payment for mom's therapies, doesn't pay itself. Your magic world is over, this is not your place." Taking the last sip she said "Happy birthday, Zulema."

Zulema adjusted her hair, checked her bag, she needed to return to the small apartment she was renting, on a rooftop, near the hospital where her mother is hospitalized; she had to hurry if she wanted to take the subway, she couldn't afford to take a taxi. She had to sell her car to pay the hospital bills.

"The gentleman from the VIP area invites you for a drink," said the bartender.

Zulema looked around, many looked at her with that face of those who judge without knowing; what did Javier's uncle expect from her, was it another humiliation, for what happened the other night, maybe she had been imprudent, but she was not going to allow him to think that because of that he could humiliate her at will.