Chapter 10 - THE BROTHER WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
I wanted to dismiss it.
A grieving widow.
A tragic accident.
A controlling mother.
Not every dark secret had to become murder.
But Elena had proof of something.
Gabriel had emailed himself documents the night before his death.
Bank transfers.
Loan applications.
A draft letter accusing Teresa of opening accounts using his identity.
The same thing Diego had done to me.
I stared at the screen.
“This happened before.”
Elena nodded.
“Diego knew some of it.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he know Gabriel confronted Teresa?”
“Yes.”
“Did police investigate?”
“The accident? Yes. They said Gabriel lost control on a wet road.”
I exhaled.
There was no evidence Teresa caused his death.
And I refused to invent one.
But Gabriel’s financial records mattered.
They showed a pattern.
Teresa had been using her sons’ marriages and identities as financial tools for years.
The next morning, the bank fraud investigator called.
They had confirmed my digital signature came from an IP address tied to our home.
But there was more.
The authentication code had been sent to my old email.
An email Diego still had access to.
Then the investigator asked:
“Did you authorize a change to your mortgage contact information in February?”
“No.”
“Your phone number was removed from certain notifications.”
My stomach sank.
“Whose number replaced it?”
She told me.
Teresa’s.
That was when everything became simple.
Not emotionally.
Legally.
They had left tracks.
So many tracks.
I filed an identity theft report.
Then a criminal complaint.
Diego called me that night from an unknown number.
“You went to the police.”
“Yes.”
“You’re trying to put me in jail.”
“You forged my name.”
“I was going to pay everything back.”
“With what?”
“The property deal.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“You’re blowing up Sofía’s life.”
“No. You blew it up. I’m cleaning up the pieces.”
His breathing changed.
“Do you really want her father in prison?”
I closed my eyes.
That was cruel.
Because he knew exactly where to push.
“You should have thought about that before using her mother’s identity.”
He went silent.
Then his voice softened.
“Verónica. I messed up.”
The first admission.
Not enough.
But the first.
“We can fix this.”
“No.”
“We’ve been together seven years.”
“You spent at least one of them cheating on me.”
Silence.
“You talked to Lauren.”
“Yes.”
“She hates me.”
“She told me what happened.”
“She doesn’t know everything.”
“So tell me.”
He hesitated.
Then he said:
“My mother started it.”
I almost laughed.
“You’re forty years old, Diego.”
“You don’t understand her.”
“I understand her perfectly.”
“No, you don’t.”
His voice dropped.
“She owns half of everything.”
“What?”
“The properties. The accounts. Everything.”
“You mean she controls you.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She threatened me.”
“With what?”
A long pause.
May you like
Then Diego whispered:
“With what happened to Gabriel.”
