Slave Love Pact with the General Manager

(Chapter 5: The Woman in the Hotel)

I didn’t sleep.
I couldn’t.

The photograph remained on my kitchen table, illuminated by the dim light from the open refrigerator.
Adrian, smiling.
A woman in his arms.
A moment of stolen happiness.

The date: April 17, two years ago.
Just a week before his father’s death.

My hands trembled.
Was it a coincidence? Or the beginning of something much darker?

The next morning, I arrived at the office with dark circles under my eyes, trying to look normal.
But Adrian noticed right away. He always did.

“You didn’t sleep,” he said, without looking up from his computer.

“I was reviewing the reports on the Seville project,” I lied.

“You’re a terrible liar, Lucía.” Her voice was almost a whisper, but it pierced me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I forced a smile. “Just tired.”

He stood up, walked around the desk, and stood so close I could feel his breath.
“I don’t want to see you like this. If anyone pressures you, tell me.”

“What if it’s you who’s pressuring me?” I asked without thinking.

The silence was immediate.
His eyes hardened, but beneath them, there was a shadow of something else: guilt.

“Lucia…” he said, his tone changing. “If you have something to say to me, do it.”

I swallowed.
I couldn’t.
Not yet.

“It’s nothing.” I took a step back. “Sorry.”

He looked at me for a few seconds, then returned to his desk.
“Take the day off.”

-Because?

—Because if you stay, I’m going to ask you again. And I know I don’t want to hear your answer.

I left the office with the envelope in my bag and a knot in my stomach.
If I wasn’t going to trust him, I’d have to find the truth on my own.

I looked for the name of the hotel engraved in the corner of the photo: Hotel Emperatriz, Madrid.
An elegant, discreet place… the kind of place where secrets are expensive.

At reception, I pretended to be a journalist. I nervously but convincingly showed a fake card. ”
I need to confirm an old reservation, from April two years ago. In the name of Adrián Ares.”

The receptionist hesitated.
“We don’t usually give out information about our clients.”

“I’m not looking for names,” I said. “Just a date.”

He typed for a moment and lowered his voice.
“Yes, he was registered. Two nights. Room 814. But… he wasn’t alone.”

My heart stopped.
“Do you remember the name of the escort?”

“No, but…” He looked around nervously. “She was dark-haired, very elegant. And I remember something curious: she wore a silver ring with a green stone.”

Silver ring. Green stone.

That detail struck me.
I’d seen it before.
In the office on the 43rd floor, during one of the board meetings.

It was run by Isabella Dalmau ,
the daughter of the same man who had tried to buy me.

That night, while Madrid slept, I wandered aimlessly through the empty streets.
The lights in the shop windows flickered as if they knew my secret.
Everything fit together too well to be a coincidence.

“Adrián and Dalmau’s daughter…” I whispered. “That would explain so many things.”

But if that was true, why lie to me?
Why make me part of their game?

My phone vibrated.
A message.
From an unknown number.

“You know too much, Lucia. And you haven’t seen anything yet.”

I instinctively turned around.
Nothing.
Just the street, the wind, and the feeling of being watched.

I put my phone away, took a deep breath, and kept walking.
If anyone was going to scare me, they wouldn’t succeed.

She was no longer the docile secretary who obeyed orders.
She was the woman who had unwittingly signed a pact with the devil… and was ready to reveal his true colors.

It will continue…