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The conference room door opens and Enric and Blanca walk in, followed by Jordi Comas, the family's attorney who was at the first meeting. The three women stand, and Elvira shakes Jordi's hand while Claudia greets her parents with a kiss. Laia watches the coldness of the scene and wonders how Claudia can be so warm when all the warmth she gets from her parents seems to be something they offer out of social obligation—not because they want to, or because she deserves it.

"Shall we get started?" Elvira proposes, breaking the ice in a moment that's uncomfortable for everyone.

Everyone sits down, and just as Claudia is about to, Laia catches her eye and nods toward the door.

"I'll wait outside, okay? I don't think your parents are happy about me being here," she says quietly.

"I don't care what they're happy about. I want you to stay."

"Sit down, Laia," Elvira says firmly—she's heard her too.

Laia sits slowly, as if she's waiting for Claudia's father to ask her to leave, but the man only looks at her with a stern expression and doesn't say a word.

The attorney pulls some documents from his briefcase and hands out copies—one for Elvira, one for Claudia, one for her parents, the same as last time. Claudia takes hers, leans back in her chair, and tilts it between herself and Laia. They start reading. The first page is a recap of what was discussed and the conditions Claudia passes immediately, but when she reaches the second page, she finds two columns: on the left, a summary of every report Laia submitted, with dates and a list of everything Claudia did wrong—never anything she did right. When both of them turn to the second column, they see it's a report filed by someone else, a person with the last name Montes. It mirrors Laia's reports almost exactly at first, the same things repeated, but as they read on they notice that on certain days the Montes version has more details than Laia's—and when they get to what doesn't line up, they discover it's everything Laia left out: the day of the fight where Laia ended up headbutted, the morning they detoured to the beach, the fact that it was Claudia who was driving the day of the accident.

"What the hell…?" Elvira mutters, still reading.

"It looks like Claudia had quite a good time," Enric says.

It takes Claudia a few more seconds to look up from the report, and when she does, she looks directly at him.

"What is this? Where did all that information come from?" she asks, feeling something in her body she can't quite name—a mix of disappointment and fury that makes her clench her jaw until it hurts.

"We hired a private investigator," Blanca answers calmly. "When we saw the young lady—" She pauses, leaning forward slightly to look at Laia.

"Miss Fabra," Jordi supplies, without looking up.

"Right. We concluded we couldn't trust her. She's young, attractive, probably naive—which made it very easy for her to fall for your charms. Give her a few of your smiles and she'd be eating out of your hand in no time. And clearly we weren't wrong."

Laia has gone completely still in her chair while Claudia's expression is one of pure disbelief.

"Did you know about this?" she asks, turning to Elvira.

Her aunt just shakes her head, too stunned by her sister's actions to say anything.

"We did you a favor, Elvira," Enric cuts in. "Now you know your assistant isn't as trustworthy as you thought—she lies when it suits her and goes to the beach on company time."

Laia starts to tremble, and Claudia laces her fingers through hers and squeezes, shaking her head.

"I can't believe this," she says, more to herself than to anyone in the room.

"I'm the one who can't believe it," Blanca begins. "We brought you here to give you a chance—to show you what real hard work looks like and make you realize how privileged you are. And instead of making the most of your time and growing, you've spent it continuing to embarrass this family with your behavior, doing whatever you please while sleeping with a girl who not only doesn't—"

"Shut up!" Claudia snaps, her tone so sharp that Blanca's face falls apart.

"Don't talk to your mother that way," Enric warns, and Claudia is about to respond when she feels Elvira's hand on hers.

She turns, and her aunt leans in close.

"Calm down. Let them say everything they have to say, and then you talk. Okay?" Her voice carries a steadying calm.

"I don't have much to say," Enric says. "Here's where things stand: either you accept the position that belongs to you and fulfill your responsibilities, or it's over. It's obvious that bringing you here was a mistake and a waste of time. You're never going to change—you're a spoiled, ungrateful girl, both at once. We'll give you two months to prove yourself in your new role. If you fail, we execute the contract and you get nothing."

"If anything, it'll be Mom who cuts me out," Claudia shoots back, unable to stop herself. "Because you have nothing. Everything is hers." Her father opens his mouth to respond, but Claudia raises her hand to cut him off. "It doesn't matter—you can execute the contract right now, because I'm not accepting a position I never wanted. I've spent my whole life doing everything you two decided for me, never once taking into account what I actually wanted. You're right about one thing: I have wasted a lot of years of my life. But not for the reason you think—I wasted them trying to show you I wasn't happy with the life you'd planned for me, and you never cared." She stops for a moment to breathe. "You have never sat down with me to have an honest conversation. You've never asked me what I needed. Every conversation we had came down to you forcing your will on me. That ends now."

"What are you saying?" Blanca asks.

"I don't want the position in the company. I don't want your money or the damn inheritance. All I want is to be in charge of my own life—without feeling guilty for wanting things you don't approve of. That stops here. I'm not going to let you keep manipulating me or constantly humiliating me, and above all, I'm not going to let you tell me who I can or can't be with." She glances at Laia and reaches over to hold her hand. "You might not like it, but I do—and that's what matters."