Chapter 3 - The Secret Empire
I slammed my hands down on the desk as the red warning lights flashed across my monitors.
I typed frantically on the keyboard, executing a hard freeze on all corporate holding accounts.
The unauthorized twelve million peso transfer was halted with only seconds to spare.
I leaned back in my leather chair, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.
Andrés was an arrogant fool, but he was certainly not a master computer hacker.
He had to be working with someone on the inside of my firm to get past the primary firewalls.
I sent an emergency alert to my cybersecurity team, ordering a complete lockdown of all financial channels.
The next morning, I woke up early and made breakfast for my confused daughters.
I told them we were going to stay at this big, fun house for a little while like a secret vacation.
I hired a private security team to watch the estate and ensure nobody from the Villaseñor family could come near them.
I changed out of my plain housewife clothes and put on a tailored designer suit that screamed absolute power.
I drove my black luxury SUV directly to the towering glass headquarters of Horizonte Capital Inmobiliario.
When I walked through the sliding glass doors, the entire lobby instantly fell silent.
For years, I had managed the company from the shadows through encrypted emails and proxy board members.
This was the very first time the CEO was walking through the front doors in broad daylight.
The receptionist stood up quickly, her eyes wide with shock and deep respect.
I bypassed the front desk and walked straight into the private elevator leading to the executive floor.
When the elevator doors opened, Mateo was already waiting for me with a stack of thick legal files.
He followed me into the massive corner office that overlooked the entire city skyline.
I threw my designer bag onto the glass desk and demanded to know who tried to steal my money last night.
Mateo handed me a printed security log, his expression grim and exhausted.
He revealed that the internal access codes used in the attempted theft belonged to my own vice president.
My trusted vice president had been secretly feeding Andrés highly classified financial information for months.
They had planned to steal the twelve million pesos to officially purchase the hacienda from its actual owner.
I laughed out loud, the sound echoing coldly against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
I asked Mateo if Andrés had any idea who actually owned the holding company selling the hacienda.
Mateo smiled a shark-like smile and shook his head slowly.
He confirmed that Andrés believed he was buying the property from an anonymous foreign investment group.
He had absolutely no clue that the foreign investment group was just another shell company fully owned by me.
My husband was trying to steal my money to buy my own property, just to impress his cruel mother.
I told Mateo to immediately terminate the corrupt vice president and prepare the eviction papers for the hacienda.
I wanted the entire Villaseñor family thrown out onto the street before sunset.
Mateo nodded and turned to leave the office, but his cell phone suddenly rang.
He answered it quickly, his face draining of all color as he listened to the voice on the other end.
Mateo slowly lowered the phone and looked at me with absolute terror in his eyes.
May you like
He whispered that my mother-in-law, Doña Patricia, was currently waiting in the building's lobby.
She was holding a legal document and demanding to see the true owner of Horizonte Capital immediately.
