Chapter 8 - The Judgment of the Defeated
Six months later, the North Wing of the Santa Martha Acatitla women’s prison and the Reclusorio Norte men’s penitentiary had become the permanent residences of the Larios family.
Rodrigo Larios had pleaded guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges to avoid the maximum sentence, receiving a twelve-year prison term without the possibility of parole. His architectural license had been permanently revoked by the federal licensing board, his name turned into a cautionary tale taught in every law and business school across Latin America.
Doña Teresa was sentenced to four years in a medium-security facility for her complicity in the corporate fraud and for aggravated human rights violations stemming from the doorbell video evidence. The high-society friends who had once attended her dinners in Coyoacán had completely erased her from their social registers, her memory blocked from the elite clubs of the city.
Inside the quiet visitor’s gallery of the Reclusorio Norte, Rodrigo sat behind a thick partition of reinforced glass, wearing a plain beige inmate uniform. His hair was shaved close to his skull, his face thin and worn from the brutal reality of prison life.
Sitting across from him was Lucía’s senior legal associate, who slid a final legal document through the slot at the bottom of the partition. It was a certified copy of the final divorce decree.
"Sign the final acknowledgment, Mr. Larios," the attorney said smoothly. "The marital asset dissolution is complete. You have zero legal claim to any property, fund, or trust associated with the Barrera family name."
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Rodrigo grabbed the cheap plastic pen, his hand shaking as he scrawled his name across the line. He looked up at the attorney, his voice a hollow rasp. "How is she? Lucía... and her mother?"
The attorney smiled, a genuine, warm expression that carried a deep respect. "Doña Carmen and Miss Barrera are no longer in the city, Mr. Larios. They have returned to where their roots are. They are building something real."
