“He threw her out into the street while she was pregnant, believing she had been unfaithful: 10 years later, a red light showed him 4 pairs of eyes identical to his own and he discovered the truth that brought him to his knees.”

They were identical. Four peas in a pod. And not only were they identical to each other; they were identical to her.

They had the same wavy brown hair that shimmered in the sun. The same delicate chin shape. And when one of them glanced up at the luxury car, Mauricio felt a physical blow to his chest: those eyes. They were his eyes. A deep emerald green, flecked with gold, a genetic rarity possessed only by the Del Valle family.

“Roberto, stop the car,” Mauricio ordered. His voice sounded strange, hoarse.
“Sir, we’re at a green light, I can’t…”
“Stop the damn car!” he shouted, with an urgency that made the driver slam on the brakes, pulling abruptly to the side of the road.

Mauricio rolled down the window. The hot air and street noise rushed in. The girls jumped. The one who seemed to be the leader stood up, shielding the other three with her small body.

“Would you like some gum, sir?” the little girl asked. Her voice… it was the same musical cadence he had tried to forget for a decade.

Mauricio took off his sunglasses. The girls looked at him curiously, but without recognition. He searched their faces for any trace of deception, but found only a crushing truth.

Ten years ago. The memory hit him like an acid tide.

He had thrown Victoria out of the mansion. He had dragged her out of his life, accusing her of the worst thing a man can be wronged to do: betrayal. The doctors had assured him that he was sterile, that it was impossible for him to father children. When Victoria arrived, beaming with joy, with the results of her multiple pregnancy, he saw in that happiness irrefutable proof of her infidelity.

“Go away!” he had yelled at her as she wept on the floor, clutching her belly. “I never want to see those bastards or you again! If I ever see you again, I’ll destroy you!”

She left without asking for a penny, only with her dignity shattered and the promise that he would regret it. He never looked for her. He convinced himself that he was the victim.

And now, four pairs of green eyes, his eyes, were looking at him from the sidewalk of a forgotten street.

“What… what are your names?” she asked, her throat tight.
“I’m Valentina,” the leader said. “These are Mia, Sofia, and Lucia.
” “And your mom?” The question stung her tongue.
The girls exchanged a look of deep sadness. Valentina looked down, clutching her pack of gum.
“Mom’s not here right now. She’s… working.
” “Where?”
“In jail,” the youngest, Lucia, whispered before her sister could silence her.

Mauricio felt like the world was tilting around him.
“Why?”
“For stealing milk and medicine when Sofi had pneumonia,” Valentina replied, with a fierceness that broke his heart. “But she’ll be out soon. She promised us she’d come.”

Mauricio rolled up the window slowly, unable to breathe. His mind, usually as sharp as a diamond, was a whirlwind of chaos.
“Roberto,” he said, staring straight ahead, his hands trembling on his knees. “Cancel dinner. Cancel everything. And call private investigator Salcedo. I want to know everything. Absolutely everything.”

As the car pulled away, Mauricio glanced in the rearview mirror. The four girls were sitting back down, little warriors against the world. He didn’t know that this image would be the mildest of the tortures he was about to face. What he would discover in the next 24 hours would not only shatter his arrogance but also reveal a much closer betrayal, one that had been sleeping under his own roof, feeding his pride while devouring his happiness.

Salcedo’s report arrived the next morning. It was a thick, cold, and brutal folder. Mauricio locked himself in his office, pouring himself a whiskey at nine in the morning.