Chapter 13 - THE EMPIRE
Three days later, Alejandro sat in his office.
No guards.
No whiskey.
No phone.
Just Lucía’s letter.
Federal investigators had frozen several accounts.
Two warehouses had been seized.
Executives were being questioned.
For years, Alejandro had told himself there was a line he never crossed.
He ran rough businesses.
He dealt with dangerous men.
But he believed he was better than the worst people around him.
Lucía’s records forced him to see the truth.
He had benefited from fear.
He had looked away when questions became uncomfortable.
And while he was building an empire, his wife had been trying to escape it.
Valeria entered quietly.
“Mateo ate breakfast.”
Alejandro almost smiled.
“All of it?”
“Half.”
“That’s better.”
“He asked for pancakes tomorrow.”
Alejandro looked genuinely surprised.
“He asked?”
“Full sentence.”
A smile finally appeared.
Then disappeared.
“I’m going to cooperate with the investigation.”
Valeria sat across from him.
“That could cost you everything.”
“I already lost everything that mattered once.”
“You still have Mateo.”
“That’s why I’m doing it.”
He looked around the enormous office.
“This room used to make me feel powerful.”
“And now?”
“Now it looks expensive.”
Valeria laughed softly.
It was the first time he had heard her laugh.
He looked at her.
“How is Diego?”
“Surgery went well.”
“I’m glad.”
“He wants to meet the scary millionaire who paid for his heart.”
Alejandro raised an eyebrow.
“Scary millionaire?”
“He’s thirteen.”
“Tell him I’m offended.”
“I’ll tell him you cried when Mateo said Papa.”
Alejandro stared at her.
“You wouldn’t.”
She smiled.
“Try me.”
For a few seconds, the house felt almost normal.
Then Doña Socorro entered.
Her daughter had been found alive in a small apartment controlled by one of Vega’s associates.
Weak.
Terrified.
But alive.
Socorro hugged Valeria and cried.
“I should have been brave sooner.”
Valeria held her.
“You were trying to keep your daughter alive.”
Alejandro stood nearby.
“We all made choices because we were afraid.”
Socorro looked at him.
“Some choices cost more.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
That afternoon, Alejandro ordered the hidden room destroyed.
Mateo watched workers tear out the camera.
Then remove the chair.
Then carry away the medicine cabinet.
Alejandro expected him to be frightened.
Instead Mateo walked into the empty space.
He stood where Rafael used to threaten him.
Valeria crouched beside him.
“What do you think?”
Mateo looked at the wall.
“Ugly.”
She laughed.
“Yes. Very ugly.”
He pointed toward the wall.
“Blue.”
“You want us to paint it blue?”
He nodded.
“What should this room be?”
Mateo thought.
“Toys.”
Alejandro stood in the doorway.
“A playroom?”
Mateo looked at him.
Then smiled.
It was small.
Barely there.
But it was the first smile Alejandro had seen on his son’s face since Lucía died.
He covered his mouth.
Valeria looked away to give him privacy.
Then Mateo said, “Valeria stay?”
The room became still.
Valeria looked at Alejandro.
He didn’t answer for her.
He had learned that much.
She crouched.
“I’ll stay while you need me.”
Mateo frowned.
“Forever?”
Valeria smiled sadly.
“Forever is a very big promise.”
Mateo considered that.
Then Alejandro’s phone rang.
It was the prosecutor.
He listened without speaking.
After he hung up, Valeria knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Alejandro looked at Mateo.
Then at her.
“They’re charging me.”
“With what?”
“Enough.”
May you like
He took a slow breath.
“And tomorrow morning, I’m turning myself in.”
