Chapter 4 - The Midnight Raid
At 2:30 a.m., the mansion was completely silent, save for the wind blowing through the pines of Bosques de las Lomas.
Renata slipped out of the master bedroom, her bare feet making no sound on the thick Persian rugs. She wore a dark silk robe, her long blonde hair tied back, her smartphone held tightly in her right hand. She glided down the hallway toward Alejandro’s study, her eyes scanning the dark corners for any sign of the house staff.
She didn't know that three floors below, in the security hub, Alejandro and Mateo were watching her every move on the night-vision monitors.
Renata pushed the study door open, her eyes instantly locking onto the sliver of green light from the safe. She let out a small, satisfied breath. "Too easy," she whispered to herself.
She reached into the safe, her manicured fingers wrapping around the black USB drive. She immediately pulled out her portable terminal—a high-end military-grade data transmitter provided by Altius Logistics—and plugged the drive into the side port.
"Come on," she muttered, watching the progress bar fill up on the terminal screen. "Give me the medical routes, you middle-class peasant."
The screen flashed blue. A line of code began to scroll rapidly down the display, but instead of the corporate logos of Ferrer Cargo, the screen suddenly filled with a single, bold red emblem: the crest of the Fiscalía General de la República—the Mexican Federal Prosecutor's Office.
Renata’s breath caught in her throat. She tried to pull the USB drive out, but the terminal screen locked, a large digital clock appearing on the display, counting down from sixty seconds.
The lights in the study suddenly snapped on, blinding her with brilliant, white halogen glare.
Renata gasped, spinning around, her back hitting the steel door of the safe.
Alejandro was standing in the doorway, his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his slacks. Behind him stood Mateo and four armed federal officers in full tactical gear, their weapons raised, the red laser sights painting distinct, clear circles across the center of her silk robe.
"Looking for this, Renata?" Alejandro asked, holding up the real hardware ledger between two fingers.
Renata’s face transformed from aristocratic arrogance to pure, animal panic in less than a second. She tried to hide the terminal behind her back, but one of the federal officers stepped forward, twisting her wrist with an efficient, painful movement that made her drop the device onto the carpet.
"Alejandro... darling, this is a misunderstanding," she stammered, her voice losing its elegant pitch, becoming thin and desperate. "I... I thought I heard someone in the office. I came down to check the safe... I saw it was open—"
"Save it, Renata," Alejandro said, stepping into the room. He picked up the terminal from the floor and handed it to the federal captain. "The device she just used has already transmitted her family’s private server keys directly to the federal cyber-crimes unit. As we speak, a team of fifty agents is entering the Altius Logistics offices in San Pedro Garza García."
Renata took a step back, her eyes wide with horror. "You... you set me up. You ruined my family."
"Your family ruined themselves the moment they started hijacking my trucks and putting my drivers' lives at risk," Alejandro said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. "But more importantly, you brought your filth into my home. You thought because you had an old surname and a wedding planned for the magazines, you could treat the people who build this house like garbage."
He walked closer to her, his eyes locked onto hers until she couldn't look away.
"You threw away a three-year-old girl's dinner because you said she didn't belong here," Alejandro whispered, each word cutting through the quiet room like a scalpel. "You were right about one thing, Renata. This house isn't for people like you. Thieves don't sleep in the master bedroom. They sleep in the state penitentiary."
The federal captain stepped forward, pulling Renata’s arms behind her back and clicking a heavy pair of steel handcuffs around her wrists.
"Renata Alcázar, you are under arrest for industrial espionage, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and grand larceny," the officer recited, pulling her toward the door.
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Renata didn't scream until she reached the hallway. She looked back at Alejandro, her face twisted with a toxic, venomous rage. "You're nothing but a dock worker in an expensive suit, Alejandro! You’ll always be a peasant! My father’s lawyers will have me out by morning!"
"Your father’s lawyers are currently being arrested for money laundering, Renata," Alejandro called out after her. "Tell them I said hello."
