“Help me?” Camila asked. “By forcing me to hand over my properties?”
—You’re exaggerating.
Camila turned towards Arturo.
—I want all records related to Ricardo Montalvo, Silver Coast Holdings and any operation involving my properties to be preserved.
—I already requested it this morning—Arturo replied. —I also asked that pending transfers be blocked until the legal department verifies their legitimacy.
Matthew paled.
—Did you block the transfers?
“Yes,” Arturo said. “And now that we have this document, I will recommend that the council request an independent investigation.”
Mateo approached Camila, forgetting about the guests surrounding them.
—We need to talk in private.
—We have nothing to talk about.
-Please.
The word came out of her mouth with a softness that Camila hadn’t heard from her in months.
For a moment, she remembered the man who waited for her with coffee when she worked late. The one who texted her asking if she got home safely. The one who seemed proud when she closed a difficult deal.
Then he remembered something else.
Three weeks earlier, Mateo had asked her to send him a copy of the deeds to his condominiums. He said he needed to review them to prepare his marriage financial plan.
Camila had refused to send him the complete documents and had only shared the information necessary for a conversation with her advisor.
Mateo had gotten angry.
He had said that a couple shouldn’t have secrets.
Now he understood that he didn’t want to know about his assets.
I wanted to access him.
“When did you start planning it?” she asked.
Mateo looked around.
—You don’t know the whole story.
—Then tell me.
He lowered his voice.
—Ricardo offered us an opportunity. It was a temporary arrangement. Nobody was going to lose anything.
—Who are you referring to with “us”?
Mateo did not answer.
Sofia intervened immediately.
“You don’t have to explain anything to her. She’s already canceled the wedding. Let her keep her properties and we’ll leave.”
“Where are we going?” Camila asked.
The woman remained silent.
Camila went back to the document. There was a clause marked in blue ink, a reference to a date, and an internal code that seemed linked to an acquisition file.
Elena pointed to the note.
—This wasn’t drafted yesterday. The agreement has been in the works for months.
“How many months?” Camila asked.
Arturo checked the creation date.
-Seven.
Seven months.
Camila felt something break inside her, but she didn’t let it show on her face.
Seven months earlier, Mateo was still taking her out to dinner to celebrate each anniversary of their relationship. Seven months earlier, he had cried while talking about his deceased father during a conversation in the kitchen of his apartment. Seven months earlier, he had told her that he wanted to start a family with her.
And while she believed she was building a future, he was preparing a way to take over what she had built.
“Was my ring also part of the deal?” Camila asked.
Mateo frowned.
-That?
—Did you get engaged to me because you loved me or because you thought marrying me would make it easier to access my assets?
—That’s not fair.
-Answer me.
Mateo opened his mouth, but he couldn’t utter a single word.
Sofia stepped between them.
—My son did love you! You’re the one destroying everything for a sum of money.
Camila looked at her with a calmness that was more intimidating than any scream.
—Then you won’t mind if an investigator reviews every dollar that passed through Silver Coast Holdings.
Sofia’s smile disappeared.
—You have no proof that I have done anything illegal.
—That’s why there will be an investigation.
At that moment, a security guard approached Elena and spoke to her discreetly. The lawyer listened, asked a question, and then looked at Camila.
“There’s a problem. The organizer found a service door open. The cameras show that someone left the hall a few minutes ago carrying a black suitcase.”
Arturo looked up.
—¿Ricardo?
—We don’t know yet.
Camila looked at the empty table. The card with the guest’s name was still between Arturo’s fingers.
Then her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
The message contained a photograph of the document she was holding in her hands, taken from an angle that only someone inside the room could have obtained.
Below appeared a phrase:
*“If you want to know who really planned your wedding, stop looking for Ricardo. Ask Mateo what happened with the first acquisition agreement.”*
Camila slowly raised her head.
Mateo was watching her.
And from the expression on his face, he knew that he too had received a message.
“What happened to the first agreement?” Camila asked.
Matthew stepped back.
Sofia turned to her son.
—Mateo, don’t you dare say anything to him.
