50 He Humiliated His Pregnant Wife, Claiming the Mistress Brought the Heir… Until the Police Revealed Who the Real Father Was

The visitor area of the State Penitentiary smelled of stale bleach, cheap coffee, and despair.

Emiliano Cárdenas sat behind a thick sheet of reinforced plexiglass, wearing a bright orange jumpsuit that clashed violently with his pale, unwashed skin. Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes, and his hair, usually slicked back with expensive pomade, was greasy and matted.

When the heavy steel door opened and Renata walked in, supported by her father, Emiliano jumped to his feet, slamming his hands against the glass.

"Renata! Renata, thank God!" he shouted into the plastic phone receiver attached to the wall.

Renata sat down calmly on the stool on her side of the glass. She didn't pick up the phone immediately. She just looked at him—really looked at him. The illusion of the powerful, handsome corporate heir was completely shattered. Standing before her was just a cowardly, desperate boy.

She slowly picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello, Emiliano."

"Renata, you have to help me! You have to talk to your father!" Emiliano pleaded desperately, his voice cracking through the static of the speaker. "This is all a big misunderstanding! I was manipulated! Ximena... that crazy bitch lied to me! She poisoned my mind against you! She made me believe things that weren't true!"

Renata listened, her face completely emotionless. "Ximena didn't force you to raise your hand against me, Emiliano. Ximena didn't force you to forge my signature on bank loans. Ximena didn't force you to call our unborn baby 'useless'."

Emiliano flinched, a flash of guilt crossing his eyes before being replaced by desperate begging. "I was drunk! I was under so much stress because of the company! You know how my parents pressure me! I didn't mean any of it, Renata. I love you! I love our baby!"

"You don't love anyone, Emiliano. You love money, status, and yourself," Renata said, her voice dropping into a chillingly calm tone. "And now, you have none of them."

"Renata, please!" Emiliano sobbed, tears spilling over his dirty cheeks. "Don't do this! I'm the father of your child! That baby needs a father! You can't let my son grow up with his father in prison!"

"My child will grow up knowing his mother was strong enough to protect him from a monster," Renata replied coldly. "And as for you being his father... legally, biologically, and spiritually, you are a stranger to him. I signed the paperwork today. My son will carry the Salazar name. Your family name ends in shame, right here in this room."

Emiliano’s face twisted in rage, the desperate plea evaporating instantly into pure venom. He slammed his fist against the plexiglass. "You ungrateful bitch! My family made you! You were nothing before you married me! Just a quiet, boring little girl hiding behind her daddy's money!"

"And yet, here I am, free, wealthy, and holding the future," Renata said, leaning closer to the glass. "While you are sitting in an orange jumpsuit, waiting for a jury to send you away for twenty years."

"I'll fight you!" Emiliano screamed, spit hitting the glass. "I'll get out! My father's lawyers will tear you apart!"

"Your father's lawyers quit this morning because you couldn't pay their retainer," Renata informed him with a sweet, lethal smile. "You've been assigned a public defender. His name is Mr. Gomez. He has eighty other cases this week. Good luck."

Renata stood up, smoothing her dress over her bump. She looked down at him through the glass one last time.

"Goodbye, Emiliano."

"Renata! Renata, don't walk away from me! RENATA!" Emiliano screamed, hammering on the glass with both fists until two heavy-set guards grabbed him by the arms, dragging him back toward his cell as he kicked and cursed hysterically.

Renata walked out of the prison into the bright, warm sunlight. She took a deep, clean breath of fresh air. For the first time in three years, her chest didn't feel tight. She felt light. She felt free.