CHAPTER 2 — THE TRUTH INSIDE THE STORM
Mateo stared at the papers inside the sealed envelope.
At first glance, they looked official.
Psychological evaluations.
Financial records.
Private investigator reports.
Every page painted the same picture:
Valeria was supposedly having an affair.
According to the documents, she had been stealing money from the family company, hiding assets, and planning to disappear with another man.
It was a perfect narrative.
Too perfect.
Mateo slowly turned another page.
Then another.
And another.
Rebecca and Rogelio watched him carefully.
Waiting.
Expecting outrage.
Expecting betrayal.
Instead, Mateo noticed something strange.
The dates didn't match.
One report claimed Valeria met a man in Monterrey on a day she had been hospitalized during pregnancy.
Another document listed bank transactions from an account that had been closed two years earlier.
Then Mateo reached the final page.
A signature.
Forged.
Poorly forged.
His wife's name.
Valeria Salazar.
The room suddenly became very quiet.
Rebecca's confident smile began to fade.
"You believe us now?" she asked softly.
Mateo looked up.
"No."
Rogelio laughed.
"You're blinded by her."
Mateo calmly placed the papers back into the folder.
"No. I'm trained to identify fabricated intelligence."
Silence.
Then he opened another section of the black folder.
His folder.
The real one.
Inside were property records.
Corporate ownership documents.
Tax filings.
Offshore account transfers.
And one explosive document.
The original will of Mateo's grandfather.
Rogelio's face lost all color.
Rebecca dropped her wine glass.
The old man had never transferred ownership legally.
The family company.
The estate.
The investments.
Everything belonged to a trust.
And the sole beneficiary was not Rogelio.
It was Mateo.
The entire room froze.
May you like
"You stole from your own son," Mateo said quietly.
For the first time in years, Rogelio looked afraid.
