Chapter 3: The Price of Arrogance
Alejandro tried to find his voice, his corporate instinct kicking in through his panic. "Elena, listen to me. Divorce papers can be reversed. We had a misunderstanding. The pressure of the business was getting to me—"
"The business?" Carlos Varela interrupted, letting out a booming, humorless laugh that made the Mendoza relatives flinch. "Let's talk about Vale Imports, Alejandro. Over the past three weeks, you might have noticed a sudden delay in your shipping containers at the Port of Manzanillo. You might have noticed your credit lines with Banco Occidental being thoroughly reviewed."
Alejandro’s eyes widened. "That... that was you?"
"That was me," Elena answered, stepping into her father's light. "While I was playing the submissive wife in your house, I managed my family's charitable foundations and corporate compliance portfolios from my laptop. I know exactly how much Vale Imports relies on the Varela Group's logistics network. You told me at the courthouse that I never belonged in your world. The truth is, Alejandro, your world only existed because my family allowed you to breathe in it."
Elena raised her hand, and Julián immediately walked over, placing a thick leather folder into her palm. She tossed it onto the table in front of Alejandro. It landed with a heavy, ominous thud.
"What is this?" Alejandro asked, his hands trembling as he opened the folder.
"It’s a comprehensive audit of your company’s tax declarations over the last three years," Elena explained, sitting down at the head of the table, looking like a judge delivering a verdict. "You see, when you forced me to do your company’s digital bookkeeping because you didn't want to hire a professional accountant, you forgot that I have a master’s degree in corporate finance from Stanford. I found the shell accounts, Alejandro. I found the hidden offshore transfers you used to fund your lifestyle without paying your shareholders."
Alejandro felt a cold sweat break out across his neck. "Elena... please. This would ruin me. It would put me in federal prison."
"Then you should have thought about that before you left me standing outside the courthouse with one suitcase and a handful of insults," Elena said, her voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "By 9:00 AM tomorrow, a copy of this folder will be on the desk of the Director of Sanctioned Audits in Mexico City. Your assets will be frozen. Your shipping licenses will be revoked."
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"You can't do this!" Doña Victoria screamed, losing her composure entirely as she rushed toward the table. "We built that company! You are destroying my family!"
"You destroyed yourselves the moment you mistook my grace for ignorance," Elena said, looking at her watch. "It is now 5:00 PM. You have exactly sixteen hours to call your lawyers before the federal government knocks on your door. Dinner is served, by the way. But I highly doubt any of you have an appetite."
