I inherited $35 million. But before I could tell my husband, the notary left me speechless: “Ma’am, according to the system, you’ve been divorced for two months…”
Valeria looked at each of them. At Camila in her apron. At Mauricio with his possessive air. At her mother-in-law hugging the child like a trophy.
Then Mauricio approached and lowered his voice.
“It’s not in your best interest to fight. NexaData depends on me. The servers, the root keys, the architecture—everything goes through me. The demo with investors is in three weeks. If I don’t cooperate, the company will collapse.”
Valeria felt cold.
—Are you threatening me?
Mauricio barely smiled.
—I’m explaining the reality to you.
That night, Valeria locked herself in the bathroom, turned on the shower to cover the noise, and called Adriana.
—He just admitted that he can sabotage the company.
“Did you record it?” the lawyer asked.
Valeria looked at the cell phone hidden in the pocket of her robe.
-Yeah.
The next day the silent war began.
Valeria ordered an internal audit without informing Mauricio. She asked Lauren Paredes, her trusted accountant, to review all the technology providers from the last four years.
The result came one night, in an empty office room.
“Valeria… this is very serious,” Lauren said, turning the laptop over.
There were payments of $850,000 to shell companies: maintenance, cybersecurity, servers, non-existent consulting services.
One of them was registered in the name of Rosa Ríos.
Camila’s mother.
Valeria remembered that woman crying years ago, swearing that her daughter was a good girl who just needed a chance. Valeria paid off their debts, helped Camila study design, and even recommended her for her first job.
Now his own kindness was turned into a counterfeit invoice.
Hugo continued investigating and found something else: Camila had messages with an ex-boyfriend from Puebla named Lucas. In the messages, she demanded money for the child, until she met Mauricio and realized that the real prize was much greater.
But one test was missing.
Sunday’s family dinner was at Doña Elvira’s house in Satélite. The whole family was there. Camila sat at the head table with the child on her lap.
When Valeria entered, her mother-in-law pointed to a chair next to the kitchen.
—You sit over there. The table is for the family.
Valeria remained standing.
—A family is not built on fraud.
Mauricio stood up, pale.
-Be quiet.
“No,” she said. “See you at the demo.”
Mauricio clenched his fists.
That night, he prepared his final attack.
And Valeria already knew that he would try it in front of everyone…
