Chapter 5 - The Woman at the Notary
“Mariana.”
I knew the voice.
Rodrigo.
He stood at the end of the hallway.
My husband had followed us.
Emilia stepped in front of me.
“How did you get here?”
Rodrigo smiled.
“You left your location services on.”
I looked at my phone.
He had been tracking me.
“How long?”
He ignored the question.
“Give me the USB.”
My heart sank.
“So you know.”
“I know enough.”
Emilia stepped forward.
“You're going to leave.”
Rodrigo laughed.
“You're making this unnecessarily difficult.”
“No,” I said.
“You are.”
He looked at me.
“You're exhausted.”
“I have my daughter.”
“And I have a legal right to see her.”
“Not here.”
His smile vanished.
“Don't test me.”
Emilia held up her phone.
“Every word you're saying is being recorded.”
He stared at her.
Then he turned around.
“Fine.”
He walked away.
We waited.
When his footsteps disappeared, Emilia grabbed my arm.
“Now.”
We ran.
We took the back exit.
The next morning, Gabriel arrived in person.
He was older than I remembered.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
A scar along his jaw.
He placed a folder on my table.
“Your father suspected Rodrigo before your wedding.”
I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Rodrigo meeting Varela.
Rodrigo meeting Ofelia.
Rodrigo meeting a notary.
Dates.
Locations.
Bank records.
My hands shook.
“Why didn't you stop the wedding?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I warned your father.”
“And?”
“He told me he needed proof.”
I looked at the documents.
“Is this proof?”
“Some of it.”
“What is the rest?”
Gabriel pointed to the USB.
“That.”
Emilia connected it to her laptop.
There were dozens of files.
Accounting records.
Emails.
Scanned contracts.
Then a video.
My father's face appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Mariana, if you're watching this, something went wrong.”
I covered my mouth.
His voice continued.
“I don't know who will betray you. I only know that someone will try.”
The video stopped.
Another file opened automatically.
A list of names.
At the top:
RODRIGO CÁRDENAS.
Then:
OFELIA CÁRDENAS.
Then:
VÍCTOR VARELA.
My father's voice returned.
“These three people have been connected to financial irregularities involving several companies.”
I stared at the screen.
Gabriel whispered:
“He was investigating them.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he wanted you protected.”
The next file contained a legal structure.
My father's trust.
My name.
And something called the Salgado Legacy Fund.
“What is that?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“The money Rodrigo thought he could reach.”
I frowned.
“I've never heard of it.”
“Exactly.”
The fund had been created separately.
It held properties.
Investments.
And shares in several companies.
Including one company Rodrigo had been trying to acquire.
RC Desarrollos del Pacífico.
I stared.
“My father owned it?”
“Part of it.”
“Then Rodrigo has been stealing from me.”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was moving your money into a company he thought he could eventually control.”
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at Emilia.
She answered.
“Because he wanted to make it appear that you owed him.”
I felt sick.
The strategy was simple.
Move my money.
Create debt.
Forge documents.
Then use my exhaustion after childbirth to make me sign.
Once the paperwork was complete, they could claim I had voluntarily transferred control.
Then Rodrigo would become administrator.
Ofelia would control the assets attached to Renata.
And I would be trapped.
I looked at Renata sleeping nearby.
“No.”
Gabriel's expression softened.
“You still have a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Expose them.”
“How?”
“Let them think they've won.”
Emilia looked at him.
“You're suggesting a trap.”
“Yes.”
I stared at the three names on the screen.
Rodrigo.
Ofelia.
Varela.
Then I smiled.
“Okay.”
The next day, Emilia arranged a meeting with a notary.
I went alone.
The notary was a woman named Laura Méndez.
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then she closed the door.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Your husband has already submitted documents.”
My stomach tightened.
“What documents?”
She placed a folder on the desk.
A supposed authorization from me.
A supposed medical declaration.
And a supposed temporary administration agreement.
I stared at the signature.
It was mine.
But I hadn't signed it.
Laura lowered her voice.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
She pulled out another document.
“This one was submitted yesterday.”
I read the first line.
Then my hands went cold.
It named Rodrigo as administrator of Renata's inheritance.
I looked at Laura.
“Who brought this?”
She hesitated.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Your mother-in-law.”
