Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Coup
At 9:00 AM the following morning, the sun rose over the glass skyscraper of Aranda Real Estate in downtown Mexico City.
Inside the grand penthouse boardroom, Doña Esther sat at the head of the conference table, wearing dark sunglasses to hide her exhaustion, surrounded by twelve members of the board of directors and the firm's chief legal counsel.
Marcela sat beside her, sipping an espresso, looking triumphantly at the empty chair at the opposite end of the table—Alejandro’s chair.
"As primary shareholders of the Aranda Trust," Doña Esther announced smoothly, her voice echoing through the silent boardroom, "my daughter Marcela and I are calling for an immediate emergency vote to strip Alejandro Aranda of his position as Chief Executive Officer due to severe personal instability and mental distress."
The board members looked at each other nervously.
"Doña Esther," spoke up Señor Gutierrez, the oldest board member and a loyal ally of Alejandro. "Alejandro built eighty percent of our current commercial portfolio. Removing him without a formal medical evaluation seems... extreme."
"Alejandro has succumbed to the manipulations of a mentally disturbed woman," Marcela interjected smoothly, laying a fake medical affidavit on the table. "Our legal team has prepared documents showing his wife is undergoing psychiatric treatment. Alejandro has abandoned his duties to pursue baseless allegations against his own family."
"Is that so, Marcela?" a cold, commanding voice echoed from the boardroom doors.
The heavy glass doors slid open.
Alejandro walked into the room. He wore a sharp black suit, his dark hair combed back, his posture immaculate, radiating an aura of absolute power and authority. Behind him walked Prosecutor Santiago Ruiz, flanked by four federal agents carrying official evidence boxes.
Doña Esther’s coffee cup rattled against her saucer. Marcela froze, her face turning pale.
"Alejandro," Doña Esther stammered, quickly recovering her composure. "You have no right to barge in here with law enforcement—"
"I am still the CEO of this company, Mother," Alejandro said, taking his seat at the head of the table opposite her. "And as the owner of fifty-one percent of the voting shares left to me in my father's primary trust, I am calling this meeting to order."
Santiago Ruiz stepped forward, placing a thick stack of federal court documents in the center of the mahogany table.
"Gentlemen of the board," Prosecutor Ruiz stated loudly, "I am Federal Prosecutor Santiago Ruiz. Fifteen minutes ago, a federal judge issued arrest warrants for Doña Esther Aranda and Marcela Aranda on charges of capital embezzlement, corporate forgery, felony assault, illegal restraint, and attempted murder by poisoning."
Gasps erupted around the boardroom. Two board members stood up in shock.
"This is outrageous!" Marcela shrieked, slamming her hands on the table. "This is a absurd lie created by that gold-digging girl!"
Alejandro pulled a remote control from his jacket pocket and pointed it at the boardroom's main projection screen.
"Let’s look at the evidence, shall we?" Alejandro said softly.
The screen flickered to life.
First came the high-resolution forensic photos of Valeria’s bruised body and the chemical burns on her shoulder. The board members winced in horror, several turning their faces away in disgust.
Next came the security camera footage from Coyoacán showing Hector breaking into the studio, followed by Hector’s recorded confession naming Marcela as his employer.
And finally, the screen displayed the digital scans of the original 2004 accounting ledger—proving that Doña Esther had stolen twenty million dollars from the company and framed Valeria’s late father.
Señor Gutierrez looked at Doña Esther with utter revulsion. "My God, Esther... you tortured a pregnant woman to cover up your own financial theft?!"
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"It’s fake! Everything is fabricated!" Doña Esther screamed, standing up, her pearls shaking against her chest. "Alejandro, you are destroying your own family!"
"You destroyed this family the day you mistook my kindness for weakness," Alejandro said, his eyes burning with cold satisfaction. "Federal agents are waiting in the lobby."
