You once believed that love was enough that poverty was not a barrier. You were certain you had found it in Matthew, your university classmate, one of those spoiled rich boys who get everything handed to them, who don’t enter universities through effort but through names. And you… you entered through your grades, through your insistence that poverty would not be a barrier to your ambition, nor a grave for your dreams.

He seemed kind at first and he was… or so you convinced yourself. But Matthew was not used to rejection. He had never known what it meant for something to be beyond his reach, and the fact that you were hard to obtain made you a target.

And you fell into his trap. You mistook it for passion, for feelings, for love until the moment you discovered that you had been nothing more than a challenge, a victory he bragged about to his friends: the girl no one could “get”… and he got her. And when you decided to leave him, he threatened you with a video. A video filmed without your knowledge while you were asleep together.

You walked away. And all he said to you, with a confident smile, was that his money would bring you back to him that you would return. And how wrong he was.

Standing firm was difficult, and the wounds were deep, but you did not abandon your dream. Two full years passed from one internship to another, from one attempt to the next, relentlessly. His wound did not break your ambition… it refined it. It made you focus on yourself and discover your true worth.

Until you received your acceptance into one of the country’s largest companies: Álvarez Dynamics Group. A leading firm in technological infrastructure, cybersecurity, and the development of governmental digital systems one of the most important digital transformation companies in Spain, run by CEO Alfonso.

You had heard enough about him… more than enough. His face was in every newspaper, his name associated with attractiveness, power, and wealth one of the most influential single men in the country. But his success was not merely inherited; it was the result of fierce perseverance. No deal ever failed under his watch. Work, to him, was a challenge that tolerated no imperfection.

You didn’t truly understand that until you saw him for the first time two weeks ago. He personally oversaw every new employee, his gaze calm and scrutinizing, yet carrying an aura that compelled respect.

And today you stand upright among the new hires when he passes in front of you, then gestures seemingly at random to choose one of you to accompany him to a business lunch. An unspoken test.

But when his eyes settled on you, you didn’t feel it was random. You were perceptive… and yet you missed that mysterious look that lasted only a fraction of a second.

At the luxury restaurant, you sat across from him, tension tightening your chest. You were under examination now, afraid of failure after everything you had endured to reach this point. As you waited for the other businessmen to arrive, his presence alone was enough to make the air heavier.

Until the blood froze in your veins, Your name was spoken but the voice was not Alfonso’s.

You lifted your head slowly, and the man standing by the table, wearing a mocking smile and a look of surprised but unmistakable displeasure, was none other than Matthew.

His cutting words made you wish the ground would split open and swallow you whole. He said with a tone dripping with contempt, “So this is your boyfriend, huh? You definitely seduced him.”

He looked Alfonso up and down, then continued shamelessly, “How much does he pay you—”

You didn’t hear the rest of the sentence, because Alfonso rose with a terrifying calm. He looked at you for a moment, his eyes steady, and said, “Excuse me.”

You didn’t fully comprehend what happened next because in the very next instant, Alfonso slammed Matthew’s head onto the table with brutal force.