CHAPTER 4: OFELIA’S LAST BARGAIN
The detectives moved immediately.
One ran toward the garden.
The other secured the front entrance.
Valeria rushed to the glass doors and saw Ofelia crossing the lawn toward the guesthouse.
She was holding Ernesto’s phone.
In her other hand was a set of car keys.
“She’s heading for the garage,” Valeria said.
Detective Delgado followed her outside.
Ofelia reached the guesthouse, but instead of turning toward the garage, she entered through the side door and locked it behind her.
Ernesto caught up with Delgado.
“There is another exit at the back.”
The detective radioed the officers waiting outside the property.
Inside the mansion, Julián suddenly relaxed.
“You’re all chasing the wrong person.”
Valeria turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“My mother didn’t create any of this.”
“Then why is she running?”
“Because she’s weak.”
Valeria studied him.
Even now, he was willing to sacrifice the woman who had protected him.
For years, Ofelia had excused every cruel remark, every suspicious document and every bruise hidden beneath makeup.
She had insisted her son was under pressure.
She had told Valeria that a good wife remained quiet.
But Julián did not love his mother’s loyalty.
He used it.
A loud crash came from the guesthouse.
Detective Delgado drew her weapon but kept it pointed toward the ground.
“Ofelia,” she called through the door. “Come outside with your hands visible.”
There was no answer.
Then smoke began curling through an open window.
“She’s burning something,” Ernesto said.
The detective forced the side door open.
Inside, Ofelia stood beside a metal wastebasket where several documents were catching fire.
Valeria entered behind Ernesto.
Ofelia held another stack of papers against her chest.
“Stay away from me.”
Delgado spoke calmly.
“Put the papers down.”
“You don’t understand,” Ofelia said. “If these become public, my family is finished.”
“Your family is already finished,” Valeria replied. “You’re deciding whether you finish it with the truth or another lie.”
Ofelia looked at her.
Her face seemed to age ten years in a single afternoon.
“I protected him because no one protected me.”
The fire crackled between them.
“When Julián’s father was alive,” Ofelia continued, “he controlled every dollar. Every room. Every decision. When I tried to leave, he promised to take my son away.”
Ernesto’s expression softened slightly, but Valeria’s did not.
“What happened to you was wrong,” she said. “But you taught Julián that love means helping someone control another person.”
Ofelia’s lips trembled.
“I thought if I kept him calm, he would change.”
“You kept him protected,” Valeria replied. “That gave him permission to become worse.”
Outside, sirens approached the property.
Ofelia looked down at the papers.
“They contain the real ownership records.”
Valeria frowned.
“What ownership records?”
Ofelia extended the documents.
Ernesto took them.
The first page showed that Moreno Development had been founded using three million dollars from a trust left to Valeria by her late mother.
Valeria stared at the signature.
Her mother had died when she was twelve.
The trust was supposed to become available on Valeria’s twenty-fifth birthday.
“I never received this money,” she whispered.
Ofelia looked toward the mansion.
“Julián did.”
“How?”
“He convinced the trustee that you had authorized an early investment.”
“Who was the trustee?”
Ofelia closed her eyes.
“Your uncle, Rafael.”
Ernesto went pale.
Rafael Salgado was his younger brother.
The man Valeria called every Christmas.
The man who had walked her down the aisle beside Ernesto.
The man who had assured them the trust had lost most of its value during a market downturn.
Ernesto turned away as though someone had struck him.
“My own brother?”
“He took a percentage,” Ofelia said. “Julián used the rest to build the company.”
Valeria felt the world shift beneath her.
The mansion.
The luxury cars.
The business Julián used to make her feel powerless.
All of it had been built with money stolen from her.
Ofelia held up one final page.
“There’s more.”
It was a life insurance policy.
The insured person was Valeria.
The beneficiary was Julián.
The amount was ten million dollars.
The policy had been increased only six weeks earlier.
Valeria looked toward the main house.
Through the guesthouse window, she could see Julián standing between the detectives.
He was watching her.
He was not frightened anymore.
He was smiling.
Then Valeria remembered the drink he had handed her before her father arrived.
The drink she had set down after taking only one sip.
May you like
Inside the mansion, one of the guests suddenly collapsed beside the kitchen island.
He had accidentally picked up Valeria’s glass.
