CHAPTER 3 — THE EMPIRE OF LIES
By noon, chaos had erupted inside Grupo Salazar.
For years, Alonso had presented himself as the man who kept the company growing.
The visionary.
The leader.
The future CEO.
But numbers do not care about reputation.
The audit team uncovered everything.
Luxury vacations charged as business expenses.
Personal credit cards hidden under vendor accounts.
Fake consulting contracts.
Unauthorized transfers.
Thousands became millions.
Millions became evidence.
By afternoon, the board of directors gathered for an emergency meeting.
Alonso entered expecting support.
Instead, he found attorneys waiting.
And Renata sitting calmly at the head of the table.
Berta stormed into the room moments later.
“You can't do this to my son!”
The chairman slid a folder across the table.
“Actually, Mrs. Valdés, we can.”
Inside was the complete audit report.
Three hundred pages.
Every transaction documented.
Every signature verified.
Every lie exposed.
Alonso's face turned white.
“Renata... we can fix this.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
“You watched your mother destroy my dress.”
He lowered his eyes.
“You watched her humiliate me.”
Silence.
“You watched her treat me like I was nothing.”
Still silence.
Then Renata spoke the words that ended their marriage.
“And you said nothing.”
Security escorted Alonso from the building.
Berta followed, screaming threats that nobody bothered to answer.
May you like
The doors closed behind them.
Neither would ever enter again.
