Luxury & Lies

For the past two years, your relationship with Armando Beaumont seemed perfect.

Armando was the son of one of the richest and most influential men in the city. He had grown up surrounded by luxury, properties, classic cars, and people who were always ready to agree with him. Despite all that, he seemed different with you. He had never treated you as inferior because of your background. He had even defended you when one of his friends made unpleasant comments about your family or your financial situation.

That's why you had stayed by his side. But Armando had a group of friends who never accepted you. Victoria Lancaster was the worst of them all.

The daughter of another wealthy family, elegant, arrogant, and completely convinced that Armando should be with someone from her own social circle. Ever since you started your relationship with him, Victoria had found any excuse to make comments about you.

To her, you weren't Armando's girlfriend. You were a gold digger. And that night you finally heard what they really thought of you. You had gone to the bathroom during a private meeting. While you were inside, you heard the voices of Victoria, Armando, and their friends on the other side of the door.

"Armando, seriously, don't you realize?" Victoria said . "That girl comes from humble beginnings and she's already getting you to spend money on her."

Some of the others burst out laughing.

"First came the flowers," Victoria continued . "Next will come the expensive gifts, then a house, a Porsche, and finally marriage. It's the basic handbook for a gold digger."

You expected Armando to contradict her. He didn't. Victoria kept talking.

—The worst part is that she doesn't even need to ask you directly for things. She just has to make you feel guilty. She'll make you think you don't love her enough, and you'll end up giving her everything she wants.

The laughter started again. And then you understood something. It wasn't just Victoria. It was Armando. Because he had heard every word and had remained silent. You left the bathroom without saying a word. No one received an explanation. You simply gathered your things and left the meeting.

Hours later, you arrived at an exclusive shopping mall where you had bought a gift for Armando: a watch valued at ten thousand dollars, specially personalized for him.

You returned it. Because it was personalized, you only received seven thousand dollars. You didn't care. You preferred to get seven thousand dollars back rather than give ten thousand to someone who no longer deserved anything from you. But as you left the establishment, you discovered you weren't alone.

Armando and his friends had followed you. Victoria was with them. Armando tried to talk to you. He tried to justify what had happened. And when words stopped working, he resorted to the only thing he knew perfectly:

the money.

He took out a black card and offered it to you, convinced that it would solve the problem. It didn't work. The relationship ended. Armando was completely bewildered. He couldn't understand how you could reject him after everything he was willing to give you.

Victoria, of course, took advantage of the situation to insist that she had been right from the beginning. But it didn't matter anymore. You left.

That same night, as you were returning to your apartment, you received a call from your boss. You worked for one of the most important technology companies in the country. What Armando and his friends didn't know was that you weren't just any employee. You were the CEO.

Your identity was deliberately kept out of the media, and virtually no one outside the company knew who you really were. Your boss had a proposal: an international trip that would last approximately three years.

It was the third time they had offered you the opportunity to participate. You had refused the previous two times. You had preferred to stay with Armando. This time you accepted. The next day you began to pack.

Five suitcases. Documents. Clothes. Computer. Everything you need to start a completely different life. When you were finishing packing your things, someone knocked on the door. It was Armando.

And he hadn't come alone. Victoria and the rest of his friends were with him. Armando still believed he could fix things. He talked to you about marriage. About a house. About money. About everything he thought might change your mind.

Victoria even tried to convince you to accept a house to prove you weren't a gold digger. But you had already made up your mind. The flight was scheduled. Your new life was beginning on the other side of the world.

And none of them knew who you really were. None of them knew you were about to spend three years working abroad.

No one knew how much power you had within that company. And, above all, no one knew that they had just lost a person who would never need their money.

Now it all depends on you.

You can leave and never look back.

You can show them who you are.

You can let them discover the truth for themselves.

You can humiliate them with their own arrogance.

You can forgive.

You can get revenge.

Or you can simply build such an extraordinary life that Armando ends up wondering for years why he let go of the only person who was truly by his side.

The plane is waiting.

Your new life too.

.