Chapter 7 - RENATA CHANGES SIDES
Renata requested a private meeting with prosecutors the next morning.
By noon, Julián knew.
By one, he was furious.
By two, Renata returned to court with a new attorney.
She no longer wore ivory.
She wore a plain charcoal suit.
No expensive handbag.
No practiced smile.
She looked like someone who had finally realized the floor beneath her feet belonged to somebody else.
Julián stared at her.
“What did you tell them?”
Her attorney stopped her from answering.
Claudia watched quietly.
She didn’t trust Renata.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
But trust wasn’t required.
Evidence was.
Renata took the witness stand.
Her voice shook at first.
Then it steadied.
She admitted the affair.
She admitted entering Claudia’s apartment.
She admitted signing papers without reading them.
She admitted helping Julián access Claudia’s private files.
Then Esteban asked the question everyone had been waiting for.
“Did Mr. Salvatierra ever tell you why he wanted control of Claudia Rivera’s intellectual property?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Renata looked at Julián.
“He was negotiating a sale.”
The courtroom stirred.
Claudia already knew.
But Julián hadn’t known she knew.
That mattered.
“A sale to whom?”
“Northstar Meridian Health.”
A multinational medical conglomerate.
The proposed acquisition value was enormous.
Nearly 1.9 billion pesos.
But there was a problem.
Northstar’s lawyers had discovered that several foundational patents might legally belong to Claudia.
Without clean ownership, the deal could collapse.
So Julián needed Claudia removed.
Not merely divorced.
Removed from the company’s history.
Esteban asked, “Did Mr. Salvatierra discuss how he intended to accomplish that?”
Renata swallowed.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He said he would establish that Claudia was mentally unstable.”
Claudia closed her eyes.
There it was.
The reason for the rumors.
The emails.
The comments to executives.
The private jokes about Claudia being emotional.
The claims that she was overwhelmed.
Julián had been building a narrative.
Not for months.
For years.
Renata continued.
“He wanted the board to believe she couldn’t make responsible decisions.”
“Did he ask you to participate?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Renata looked toward Claudia.
“I’m sorry.”
Claudia didn’t react.
“Answer the question,” Esteban said.
“He asked me to send messages from anonymous accounts.”
“What kind of messages?”
“Messages that would make her paranoid.”
The courtroom went silent.
Claudia remembered them.
Someone is watching you.
Everyone knows what you did.
Julián is going to leave you.
Your mother knows the truth.
She had received dozens.
Julián had held her while she cried.
He had told her stress was making her irrational.
He had suggested therapy.
He had offered to manage more of the company so she could “recover.”
Renata began crying.
“He told me it was just to pressure her into leaving.”
Claudia finally looked at her.
“You watched him convince me I was losing my mind.”
Renata lowered her head.
“Yes.”
“And you helped.”
“Yes.”
Claudia waited.
Renata whispered again.
“Yes.”
Julián suddenly stood.
“She’s lying.”
Renata turned toward him.
“No.”
“You’re saving yourself.”
“Yes.”
That answer stunned everyone.
Renata wiped her face.
“I am saving myself.”
Then she pointed at him.
“Because I finally understand what happens to women when you’re finished using them.”
May you like
Julián stared at her.
For once, he had no answer.
