Chapter 5 - The Ledger of Blood
The next morning, while Valeria rested, Mateo laid out several encrypted hard drives on the cabin’s wooden table.
"Where is the original ledger, Valeria?" Alejandro asked softly, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"When I was locked in the basement vault," Valeria explained, her voice gaining strength, "I hid the physical ledger inside the hollow wooden base of your grandfather’s bronze bust in the library. But before they caught me, I uploaded high-resolution scans to a secure cloud server managed by the National Institute of Fine Arts in Coyoacán."
"They don't just have stolen antiquities," Mateo added, pulling up digital files on his laptop. "Look at these bank transfers, boss. Doña Esther and your uncle Guillermo have been using Aranda Enterprises' logistics network to smuggle illegal artifacts out of South America for over fifteen years. They have offshore accounts in Grand Cayman holding over two hundred million dollars."
Alejandro looked at the screen, his eyes burning with cold rage. "They used my company. They used my name to cover up an international crime ring."
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"And if they realize Valeria uploaded those files," Mateo warned, "they will use every politician and corrupt judge on their payroll to wipe out the server—and us."
"Then we won't give them the chance," Alejandro said, standing up. "Mateo, contact the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the International Anti-Trafficking Division. Tell them Alejandro Aranda wants to turn state's evidence against his own family."
