Chapter 5 - The Missing Brother
“This is a misunderstanding!” Isabella cried out, her hands flying to her pearl necklace. “Mateo, darling, the medication must have given you hallucinations—”
“Shut up, Mother,” Mateo snapped. The sheer force of his voice silenced the room.
I stepped forward, holding up the heavy red binder and the fireproof document bag we had pulled from the wine cellar.
“There’s no hallucination here,” I said, looking directly at Alejandro. “I have the forged death certificate. I have the unredacted ledgers. I have the video of Tomas confessing to your entire embezzlement scheme.”
Diego lunged for me. “Give me that bag, you bitch!”
He didn't make it two steps.
Mateo stepped in front of me and drove his fist directly into Diego’s jaw. The crack of bone echoed like a gunshot. Diego crumpled to the floor, groaning, blood pouring from his mouth.
Alejandro’s face turned purple with rage. “You think a few stolen papers mean anything? I own the judges in this city! I own the police! You are nothing, Mateo. You are a mechanic wearing a cheap suit!”
“He’s right,” a new voice said from the doorway.
We all turned.
Tomas was standing there. He looked exhausted, his clothes wrinkled, holding a heavy leather briefcase.
“Tomas!” Alejandro ordered. “Take the documents from that woman!”
Tomas didn't move toward me. He walked to the center of the room and dropped the briefcase at his father's feet. It burst open, spilling hundreds of bank statements, wire transfers, and offshore account logins across the floor.
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“I’m done running, Father,” Tomas said, his voice trembling but resolute. “I didn't disappear because I was scared of you. I disappeared to drain the offshore accounts. The money is gone. I wired it all back to the investors you stole it from.”
Alejandro stared at the papers on the floor, his empire crumbling in real-time.
