Chapter 2 - Camila Told Me Her Mother and Stepfather Had Been Preparing the Fraud for Months, but the Name Behind Them Was One I Had Spent Fifteen Years Trying to ForgetCamila woke at 3:18 a.m.
I was sitting beside her hospital bed.
She looked at me.
“Dad?”
“I'm here.”
She tried to move.
I stopped her.
“Don't.”
She stared at the ceiling.
“Are they gone?”
“Yes.”
“Mom?”
I hesitated.
“She was arrested.”
Camila closed her eyes.
“She helped him.”
“I know.”
“I thought she'd stop.”
“So did I.”
Tears appeared.
“I kept telling her I was scared.”
I took her hand.
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
She shook her head.
“I signed some papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don't know.”
“Did they force you?”
“Yes.”
“Then they don't count.”
She looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because you didn't choose them.”
She breathed slowly.
Then whispered:
“They wanted your money.”
I almost laughed.
“My money?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“They wanted everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“They kept saying the trust would make them rich.”
“What trust?”
“The one Grandpa left me.”
My stomach tightened.
The trust.
I had established it years earlier.
My father had left assets to Camila.
But the trust had several layers.
Camila couldn't access everything until she reached certain ages.
Whoever controlled her could potentially control those assets.
I asked:
“Who told Héctor about the trust?”
Camila hesitated.
“A man came to the house.”
“What man?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he look like?”
“Older.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar.”
My heart stopped.
“What kind?”
“Across his cheek.”
I knew exactly who she meant.
Alejandro Varela.
My former rival.
He had been presumed dead for fifteen years.
Our conflict had nearly destroyed both organizations.
I had thought he died in an explosion.
Apparently, he survived.
I asked:
“Did he talk to Héctor?”
“Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Several.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked about you.”
“What did Héctor say?”
“He said you had become soft.”
I smiled bitterly.
Soft.
That was the problem.
People mistook peace for weakness.
Camila looked at me.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Did you really used to be…”
She stopped.
“Be what?”
“A bad man?”
I couldn't lie.
“No.”
She stared.
“That means yes.”
I looked toward the window.
“I was a dangerous man.”
“Were you a killer?”
I didn't answer immediately.
“I did things I regret.”
She nodded.
“Are you going back?”
I turned to her.
“No.”
“Even for me?”
“I'll protect you.”
“Without becoming him?”
I held her hand.
“That's what I'm going to try.”
She smiled weakly.
“Good.”
I wanted to promise more.
But the truth was that Alejandro had returned.
And men like him didn't come back for revenge without a reason.
Javier entered.
“Boss.”
“What did you find?”
He handed me a folder.
“Bank transfers.”
Héctor's accounts had received money from five shell companies.
All connected to Alejandro.
But one transaction caught my attention.
A payment to a private investigator.
The target:
Camila Mendoza.
The date:
Two months before the attack.
Someone had been monitoring her for weeks.
I looked at Javier.
“Why?”
“We're not sure.”
He placed another document beside it.
A copy of Camila's trust agreement.
Someone had accessed it.
How?
The trust documents were sealed.
Only three people knew all the details.
Me.
My attorney.
And my old financial adviser.
The third man had disappeared years ago.
I looked at the document.
There was a signature on the bottom.
My attorney's.
But the signature was fake.
Someone had forged his authorization.
Which meant the breach came from inside.
I looked at Camila.
Her eyes were closed.
She was pretending to sleep.
I knew.
She had heard everything.
My daughter had spent enough time around me to recognize when I was afraid.
I stood.
“I'm ending this quickly.”
She opened her eyes.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Don't kill him.”
I paused.
“Who?”
“Alejandro.”
I stared.
“How did you know?”
“Because you looked at the picture.”
I sat beside her.
“I won't.”
“Promise.”
“I promise.”
She smiled.
Then:
“Make him answer instead.”
May you like
I kissed her forehead.
That was exactly what I intended to do.
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