Chapter 7 - The Collapse of the Dynasty
By Friday morning, the Robles name was dead in Dallas.
The news of the wedding-night assault, paired with the federal securities fraud indictments, hit the front page of the Dallas Morning News. The banks pulled their remaining funding, and Robles Enterprises declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The grand mansion in Preston Hollow—the house where Carmen had lived for thirty years—was slapped with a government foreclosure notice.
Sofia stood on the sidewalk across the street, wrapped in a comfortable trench coat, watching as moving trucks lined the driveway. Carmen walked out of the front door, carrying a single suitcase, her designer clothes replaced by a cheap jumpsuit, her face pale and sunken.
She caught sight of Sofia and stopped, her eyes wild with hatred. "You ruined us! You and your prehistoric father! You took everything from my son!"
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"You took it from yourselves, Carmen," Sofia said, her voice steady, her posture long and dignified. The swelling on her face had gone down, leaving only a small, faint scar near her lip—a permanent reminder of her survival. "You thought you could buy respect with violence. But respect is earned. And justice is always delivered."
As the moving trucks pulled away, leaving the mansion empty and dark, Sofia felt a profound, beautiful lightness wash over her chest. The nightmare was over. The wolves had been hunted out of the valley.
