Page 107 of Fortune's Kiss
Just outside the glass, Mayté placed her hand on top of Lo’s.“La Sirena was right.My heart is broken.You broke it, Lorena.”
Lo’s own heart shattered into millions of pieces.“That wasn’t … what I wanted.”
Mayté pounded the glass.The thud reverberated through Lo’s chest.“You should have trusted me!I would have saved usall!”She sobbed, pounding again.
Lo’s eyes stung.“No,” she croaked.“The house considered Alejandro’s help cheating.It would have killed you both if youhad gone through with it.But Alejandro’s death was enough to appease the house.That’s why I did it.”
Mayté’s face twisted, sending more tears down her cheeks.“How can I even trust your word?You keptsecretsfrom me.You lied.Lied about just needing to make it to the final round to win.”
“I didn’t want you to lose hope.And the other lies were because I was scared.I didn’t want to lose you.So I hid things.About my father, about myself.And you—never wanted to see them.”
Mayté inched closer to the glass.
“I know you can’t forgive me,” Lo said.“And I understand if you won’t, but please believe me when I say that I willalwayschoose you over anyone else.Even if it makes you hate me, and even if you wouldn’t do the same.”
Mayté stared, suspicion and confusion competing in her expression.
Lo’s voice broke and she wiped at her eyes before the tears could come.“Youare the only one I love.”She meant every single word.“I wish things hadn’t happened this way.But I don’t regret saving you.I never will.And it’s okay if you don’t pick me … I d-don’t deserve it …”
Mayté’s lips quivered.She cried out, a horrible, guttural sound Lo had never heard before.It was full of pain.Then silence.Silence for several agonizing moments.
“Let her go,” Mayté told El Angelito, her voice soft.
“What?”Lo couldn’t hold back her sob.“Mayté—”
“I choose Lo.”
But nothing happened.
“I saidI choose Lo.”Mayté turned toward Loretta, who simply smiled.
The Banker looked away.
“Then go free her,” Misterioso taunted.
“But I—”
“I never said that El Angelito would do the rescuing, no, no,” Misterioso mocked.“El Angelito gives you the choice of who to save.You have made your choice, now go save her.”
Mayté turned to the mirror once again, with furrowed eyebrows.
Lo wiped her face.Something felt wrong.“Mayté, wait.You don’t have to do this.”
But Mayté ignored her and reached her hand through the glass.
All around her, the glass revealed her own reflection, reaching out to Mayté with a relieved smile.But Lo’s own arms dangled weakly at her sides.“Mayté!No!”
Lo’s reflection snatched Mayté’s hand and yanked her through the mirror.
TWENTY-SEVENMayté
Mayté fell on her hands and knees.
“Mayté!”Carlos slammed his fists against the mirror.
She and Lo sat, surrounded by reflective walls.They showed Mayté’s face, eyes bloodshot, hair falling out of its braid, and crusted blood staining her nightgown.Then it flickered into a smirking Lo.But that wasn’t the real Lo.No, the real Lo sat at her side, head down.
“Mayté … I’m so sorry …”
