꒰ MENTIRAS ꒱

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 HAD passed since the death of Jackson and although Estella was not mourning by any means it still bothered her not knowing who had done it. Both she and Miguel Ángel knew it wasn't a good look for the Guadalajara cartel. Easily anyone could assume that it was someone involved in the cartel. They both knew that perhaps that wasn't the case but wanted to be sure that absolutely nobody in the cartel had been the one to murder Jackson.

Estella had to stay at Miguel Ángel's house for the two days since he told her it was important for her safety not to be seen out in public. He wouldn't admit it but the other reason he wanted her there was to be able to spend more time with her even in the chaos they were enduring. Estella liked his house and wanted nothing more but to explore every room but knew that there were far more significant things to think about.

She sat in the large living room area as the television played. It was morning and she was becoming used to watching the news to check for any updates but recently no news channels had reported Jackson's death or any leads on it. But finally, today was the day and it wasn't going to be just Jackson who was going to be on the screen on the television. Little did she know her face would be on the center of it as well since Kiki had followed up with his plan on releasing the shocking information on Estella the Conesas had so desperately tried to hide from the media.

"Estella Conesa the daughter of the Secretary of Education is photographed alongside Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo outside of an art exhibit where an American man named Jackson Morrison was tragically shot and killed. It was said that Morrison was the fiancé of Estella and that she would eventually leave her entire life of college, family, and friends to join the Guadalajara cartel. Despite not being confirmed Estella Conesa has been rumored to be a mistress of Félix and is now heavily active in the cartel. She has been photographed many times with Félix and Isabella Bautista. There have not been any leads on Jackson Morrison's case as of this moment."

Estella watched the reporter shuffle her papers and saw the screen reveal her image from the night of the wedding. It had seemed like that day was a long time ago but she realized it hadn't been so long since the day of the wedding.

She didn't know how to feel seeing her face blasted on the news to be portrayed as some cruel woman who didn't care for her family or friends. She knew her father and mother would receive major backlash from this and felt guilty all over again. Disrupting her negative thoughts Miguel Ángel walked in completely ready to get everything that needed to be done that day.

"Did you enjoy breakfast?" Miguel Ángel looked up at the television noticing her picture. He knew this would someday happen and could see how shocked Estella was and wanted to take her mind off it. They hadn't discussed anything about their relationship status and frankly, it wasn't the most important topic to speak on even though they both wanted to.

"Yes, it was good. The cooks can cook amazingly." She sighed standing up to be able to have a normal face-to-face conversation. He nodded his head and looked away.

"Are you okay after what happened to that gringo? He was your fiancé, no?" Miguel Ángel asked observing how anxious she was. She didn't enjoy how day by day he was slowly starting to recognize her behavior and seemed to know every time she was anxious about something.

"Yes, it's not about him. If anything I'm not even close to being sad about his death. The only thing I can't stop thinking about is who killed him. Who would kill him? Nothing makes sense." Estella ran her fingers through her dark hair and kept thinking about who would kill Jackson it didn't seem like it would be someone from the cartel but how could she be sure?

"Sí, no tiene sentido. Pero relájate estás bien en mi casa." Miguel Ángel mumbled walking up to her. She knew he was right, but it's not like she could just push away her anxious thoughts to the side. It was almost impossible for her not to be anxious about all of this.

"Mi cara está en todas las noticias. El agente de la DEA lo hizo." Estella started to pace around the large room eyeing her picture on the television. She didn't understand why Camarena would expose her but knew it was his job even if she didn't want to admit it. Before she knew it Miguel Ángel snatched the remote control out of her hands and shut the television off her picture shortly disappearing along with the news channel.

"Why did you do that?" Estella went to grab the remote control from him, but Miguel Ángel gently pulled her away.

"Look there's no reason to be scared. Watching the news only makes you more anxious. We will figure out who killed Jackson. Tonight I've called that everyone comes to my house to discuss any possible leads or information they know. So we can clear that nobody in the business did it. Okay?" Miguel Ángel stared at Estella who slowly nodded her head. She was relieved that he would be doing this so they could eliminate the theory on anyone in the cartel committing the murder.

"Thank you Miguel Ángel." She smiled at him and scratched her eyebrow not knowing what to say or do next."To change the topic how's Rafa feeling after his fields being burned?" Estella sighed feeling more relaxed. Miguel Ángel lightly squeezed her hand and the two sat down next to each other.

"I don't know he's been in a bad mood. He's mad at the DEA agent of course and has been doing nothing but fucking cocaine. I told him not to do anything stupid and he agreed so I guess everything is going well." Miguel Ángel answered as Estella lit up his cigarette. She hoped things would continue to run like this and that Rafa who was a short-tempered man would steady his anger down. She wished her sister would be able to help Rafa since Sofia seemed to be his only weakness but knew that wasn't likely to happen.

"Good. Hopefully, things will run smoothly at least for right now." Estella swallowed the gulp in her throat knowing that her statement was far from ever being possible. Nothing in this cartel would ever be running smoothly. It was always to be filled with terror and hardships.

"I can't promise you that shit will run smoothly and you know that mija. But I can promise that you will be always be protected by me. And I'm sorry that you got involved in this especially the death part of it but you need to understand that this is how shit runs." Miguel Ángel explained. He sometimes felt guilty for pulling her into this shithole but knew it had to be done, and there could perhaps be a decent outcome to all of this.

"No, I understand. If anything I'm the one who got myself involved by planning my kidnapping but I'm fine now. I like Isabella's house...and the adrenaline I get from this." Estella stopped her sentence midway feeling embarrassed. She didn't know if it would be a smart thing to say that she also appreciated Miguel Ángel's company since she didn't know how he would react to hearing that.

"Do you like my house?" Miguel Ángel smoked his cigarette attentively staring at her. Estella nodded her head feeling as if this was some trick question.

"Yes, you have great taste in paintings." Estella motioned her cigarette towards the wall of paintings but felt uneasy once again thinking back to what had gone on at the art exhibit.

"I know." He laughed hoping to cheer her up but nothing seemed to be working. She disliked being in such a bad mood especially around him but couldn't help but think what this all meant for her. She was involved with a drug lord and if they weren't cautious she could end up dead or behind bars and neither were a positive future.

"I'm not going to lie to you Miguel Ángel. I'm worried and there's nothing good about worry in a cartel. I don't want to get arrested or killed, and you need to stop sugar-coating everything. I can deal with it so tell me can I end up dead if I agreed to seek anything more with you?" Estella leaned in close to Miguel Ángel who glanced at her and turned away to think.

"You want the truth I'll give it to you. You can get killed by getting with me. You would be more of a threat if you agreed to pursue a relationship with me. So for that, I completely understand if you don't want to go on with this. I want you safe and relaxed so if that means going back to Isabella's house then do it. I understand Estella." Miguel Ángel stood up all with Estella noticing that Azul was waiting in the front of the house to give him some recent information and help organize the meeting later that night.

"I-" Estella stumbled over her words it was a very complicated situation and she didn't know if she should jeopardize her life to be with him. She had feelings for him, but this was hard.

"I'll give you time to make up your mind. Don't stress about it, and I'll see you at the meeting." He let go of her waist and walked off to meet with Azul. Estella drank the rest of Miguel Ángel's drink in annoyance. She was given an ultimatum between risking her life to be with him or leaving him to return to Isabella's home to live her life more safely in the cartel and didn't know what to do. If anything she wanted nothing more but to call Sofia or Ana to explain her problem but knew that wasn't possible. Too many things went through her head and the only thing she needed was rest.

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Tossing and turning were the only thing Estella could achieve while attempting to nap. She stood up from the bed and looked around the lovely bedroom. To be respectful Miguel Ángel had allowed her to sleep in a separate bedroom across from his master bedroom since he didn't think it would be appropriate to share one together. She didn't mind however sometimes felt very alone in such an enormous bedroom.

Estella stared up at the ticking clock on the wall realizing only an hour had passed by since Miguel Ángel had left to run some necessary "errands." She didn't know exactly what time the small meeting would happen but was nervous about it. Not as anxious as she had been about the last one which resulted in a rather odd night with Miguel but still very nervous. She despised Jackson and in a way didn't know if she would want to thank the killer or not. Clearly, the person who had decided to shoot him was an act to defend her or perhaps a strategy to mess up the cartel's image. Either way, Estella was desperate for answers.

"Excuse me when do you think Miguel Ángel will be returning? He ensured me there would be a small meeting to...discuss." Estella asked one of the servants who was about to answer until someone disrupted their conversation.

"Estella." She turned around seeing Rafa who had bloodshot eyes which she determined were from the amount of cocaine he had been taking. She looked around thinking Miguel Ángel would be next to him but instead only noticed Cuco behind him who avoided eye contact with her at all costs.

"What is it, Rafa? If you're looking for Miguel Ángel, he's not here right now." Estella crossed her arms wondering why Rafa was here. He couldn't have shown up early it was too out of character for him.

"¿Hablaste con tu hermana?" Rafa questioned only confusing Estella even further. She squinted her eyes in confusion thinking maybe he was just missing Sofia and wanted to talk to her.

"No, ¿Por qué?" Estella stepped closer to him feeling like he was keeping something from her. She was getting bad vibes and felt like something was extremely off by his question. His face was thrown off when she had answered and this interested her.

"Nothing. I thought she would have told you by now." He smoked his cigarette and walked off along with Cuco who glanced at her. Estella was stunned and needed an explanation from him. If something was wrong with her sister or something had gone on she had the right to know.

"Rafa have you spoken to her?! Don't fucking lie to me." Estella snarled yanking Rafa's arm which did not inflict any pain to him at all. He chuckled, and she realized that he was very high and convinced herself it was only the drugs talking.

"Estella is everything okay? It's time for the meeting." Miguel Ángel walked in recognizing how tense it was between Estella and Rafa. He scowled at Rafa before helping her to her bedroom to prepare herself for the meeting. She hadn't dressed suitably for the meeting and that surprisingly had been the last thing on her mind.

"What happened? Is my sister okay?" Estella pulled away from Miguel once they made it up to the empty bedroom. He lifted his eyebrows not understanding what she was asking.

"What are you talking about? You should be ready for the meeting everybody is already downstairs, and they are not happy to be here." Miguel Ángel exclaimed in a hushed tone. She rubbed her temple realizing Rafa must have been saying nothing but foolishness but something told her it wasn't that perhaps Sofia was in trouble.

"Rafa was talking about Sofia. It's probably the cocaine he's taking. I'm sorry I shouldn't be acting like this it's just something felt off when he mentioned her. It almost seemed like something was wrong." Estella shook her head feeling like she was going insane by the second. Miguel Ángel furrowed his eyebrows shrugging not knowing the words to reply to this.

"It's only your nerves. Rafa is not in the best mindset right now with the cocaine." Miguel Ángel looked at her one more time and walked out of the room leaving her to change. Estella sighed and started to make up some unusual assumption that maybe Sofia had something to do with Jackson's death. It would make sense since the first person Sofia would go to if she ever committed a crime as terrible as murder would definitely be Rafa. But she opposed this theory hoping that it was only her anxiety. There was no way Sofia would murder Jackson no matter how much she despised him it couldn't be true.

After minutes of getting prepared, she walked down the stairs inhaling the familiar scent of smoke and alcohol. It was intimidating to walk down the stairs to see everyone gathered to talk about what happened to Jackson. He was a gringo and you weren't supposed to kill gringos so if anyone in the room did which was very doubtful it would not be good for the cartel.

She sat down avoiding the glares from the others and decided to sit next to Isabella who was not eager to be there. She felt wronged by Estella but simply smiled at her not needing to cause any petty drama. Estella looked around the table which was not as big as the other one in the hotel by any means and recognized there was plenty of people. Tijuana brothers, Acosta, Don Neto, and so on and they did not appear pleased to be here which was understandable but Estella didn't think it was her fault it's not like she knew that Jackson would somehow try to take her that day and instead end up murdered in broad daylight.

"We're here to discuss the death of the gringo. If you've heard then you know that some American was shot while I was with Estella. He tried to take her and was shot by someone unknown. We need to clear up that nobody here did it or knows anything about who could have possibly have done it. This does not make the business look good, so we need to find out who killed him." Miguel Ángel began to stare at Estella who nodded her head approvingly. The others whispered amongst each other and couldn't help but have their viewpoints on the situation.

"Nobody in the cartel shot him. It doesn't make any sense why would any of us do that? We all know the consequences of killing a damn gringo. Nobody would do it not even to defend her." Benjamín was the first to give his opinion and crossed his arms. He gave Estella a "no offense look" but she couldn't help but feel irritated by this comment.

"Didn't you hear? We're trying to eliminate that theory that's all." Estella replied to him bothered by his unnecessary remark. It seemed like everyone took this out on her and didn't seem to care about the situation. She knew they could be doing other essential things but an American dying next to Miguel Ángel and her did not look good. It appeared as if one of Miguel Ángel's men had been ordered to shoot him which likely wasn't the case but to the public, this is what it looked like.

"I have to agree with him. It doesn't make any sense on why we're here. We know that nobody here did it." Acosta glanced at Estella who struggled not to snap.

"Because los gringos are saying that one of you could have done it. That shit doesn't look good on us so if anyone knows who possibly killed him. Come forward." Miguel Ángel peeked around the table seeing everyone look at each other. Estella took a glimpse at Rafa realizing that he appeared to be deep in thought and had white powder under his nose meaning he had just snorted cocaine. The thought of what he said about Sofia still was in her mind and couldn't help but think about it. It was unthinkable for Sofia to go this far but it still came across that Rafa was keeping something from them.

"We don't know anything. Whoever killed that gringo needs to be found or else, this shit isn't going to look good on us Félix." Amado drank the remainder of his drink and Miguel Ángel agreed.

"Rafa, are you sure don't know anything?" Estella frowned at Rafa who shrugged leaning back in his chair. He did but would he say anything? Definitely not and Estella knew that but it was worth a shot. Nothing made sense and it seemed like he was the only person here to somewhat know something. She got that feeling from him once he had mentioned Sofia. She had learned to identify when Rafa was behaving weirdly ever since she had met him at that club with Sofia.

"No, I'm not hiding anything. Why would you think that?" He smoked his cigarette waiting for Estella to contradict his statement. She wanted to but couldn't since it wouldn't look decent on her end and right now she needed the others to like and trust her and her yelling at Rafa wasn't going to help.

"I was just wondering since you asked about my sister and said some unusual shit." Estella knew the others were confused, but she didn't care. She knew that Rafa was hiding something and wanted to know what. Miguel Ángel didn't understand what Estella meant but was curious to know.

"She's my girlfriend and you happen to be her sister. Of course, I would ask about her." Rafa argued, but Estella didn't believe any of this crap he said.

"True but