Chapter 16 - BETRAYAL AT MIDNIGHT
Mateo believed Octavio was planning another trap.
Rebeca claimed she had no idea where he was.
Sebastián knew she was lying.
He had watched his mother lie for years.
Her left hand always became perfectly still.
It was still now.
Mateo proposed using Rebeca to arrange a meeting.
She refused.
Then Sebastián surprised everyone.
“Release her.”
Valeria stared at him.
“What?”
“Let her believe she won.”
Rebeca studied her son.
Sebastián continued.
“I’ll publicly withdraw my accusations.”
“I’ll transfer my voting rights to her.”
“And I’ll convince Valeria to accept supervised custody.”
Valeria’s face hardened.
Mateo began to object.
Sebastián looked at his wife.
“Trust me for one hour.”
Valeria almost laughed.
Trust was the one thing he had no right to request.
Then she saw the small microphone Mateo was attaching beneath Sebastián’s collar.
It was a trap.
Valeria leaned closer.
“One hour.”
“If Lucía is placed in danger, it ends.”
Sebastián nodded.
A statement was released to the press.
Sebastián claimed grief had clouded his judgment.
He apologized to Rebeca and requested a private family resolution.
Within twenty minutes, Rebeca received a message.
Octavio had seen the broadcast.
He instructed her to bring Sebastián to the abandoned Alcázar textile mill outside the city.
No police.
No phones.
No Valeria.
Rebeca and Sebastián entered the mill shortly before midnight.
Mateo’s team surrounded the property from a distance.
Inside, Octavio stood beside several metal cases.
The complete financial archive was stored on encrypted drives inside them.
“You finally understood,” Octavio said.
Sebastián looked around.
“Understood what?”
“That wives can be replaced.”
“Companies cannot.”
Rebeca walked toward the cases.
“Give me the drives.”
Octavio smiled.
“First, the trust.”
Sebastián held up a folder.
“This transfers control to my mother.”
Octavio reached for it.
Sebastián pulled it back.
“Tell me how you created the medical records.”
Octavio looked at Rebeca.
“She told me what the reports needed to say.”
“And the sedatives?”
“Mena handled them.”
“The transfer to Switzerland?”
Rebeca answered.
“Valeria would have been comfortable.”
Sebastián felt rage rise inside him.
He controlled it.
“And Lucía?”
Rebeca’s voice remained calm.
“She would have been raised correctly.”
“By you?”
“By an Alcázar.”
Sebastián touched the microphone beneath his collar.
Outside, Mateo gave the signal.
Agents moved toward the mill.
Then Octavio looked directly at Sebastián’s shirt.
“You always touch your collar when you’re nervous.”
He pulled a pistol from beneath his jacket.
May you like
And every light in the mill went dark.
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