Chapter 2: The Empire Begins to Collapse
Across the city...
The emergency board meeting erupted into chaos.
Executives stared at the massive screen in disbelief.
Every loan funding the Rivas expansion...
Frozen.
Every credit line...
Suspended.
Every overseas transfer...
Blocked.
Ricardo spoke through the video conference.
"Effective immediately..."
"The Salazar Group is withdrawing all financial support."
One director nearly dropped his phone.
"Santiago doesn't know about this."
Ricardo answered calmly.
"He does now."
Back inside the mansion...
Santiago's cellphone vibrated nonstop.
One call.
Then another.
Then twenty.
His chief financial officer.
His legal department.
Foreign investors.
Banks.
Each message carried the same sentence.
Emergency.
His confidence disappeared.
"What have you done?"
Ricardo smiled.
"I haven't even started."
At that moment another car arrived outside.
Police officers entered with court documents.
"Mr. Santiago Rivas."
"You are ordered to surrender all passports pending investigation into allegations of fraud, domestic violence, unlawful confinement, and conspiracy."
Beatriz screamed.
"This is ridiculous!"
Ricardo nodded toward another woman entering behind the officers.
It was my attorney.
She placed a flash drive on the table.
"The recordings."
Every threat.
Every slap.
Every confession.
Everything streamed by the antique clock over the past three weeks.
Santiago finally understood.
May you like
The woman he believed was broken...
Had been collecting evidence.
