Chapter 3 - Blood and Betrayal
The dining room transformed into a battlefield where the weapons were truth and the casualties were pure vanity.
"Get out," I said, pointing directly at Valeria. "Take your fake purse, take your lies, and get out of my home before the police arrive to escort you off the premises."
Valeria didn't need to be told twice. She snatched her trench coat from the entryway bench, avoiding everyone’s eyes. As she reached the threshold, she cast one last venomous look over her shoulder at Rodrigo.
"Don't bother calling me," she spat. "You're broke, your company is dead, and you're nothing without your mommy and your wife."
The heavy oak door slammed shut behind her, rattling the glass panes.
The echo of the slam left Rodrigo, Beatriz, and Fernanda utterly exposed. Beatriz was trembling, her hands fluttering over the scattered china. Fernanda looked like she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole, her eyes fixed on the knockoff handbag sitting on the credenza.
"Claudia," Beatriz began, her voice suddenly adopting a wheedling, pathetic tone that turned my stomach. "Mija... let’s not be hasty. Families have trials. Men make mistakes! The Bible says we must forgive seventy times seven. Rodrigo was led astray by a wicked woman! He’s your husband before God!"
My mother stepped between Beatriz and me. Her voice was pure steel. "Do not dare invoke God to cover your greed, Beatriz. Ten minutes ago, you toasted to my daughter’s replacement. You sat in that chair and laughed about me dying in an emergency room so you could enjoy your cake in peace."
"It was a joke!" Beatriz cried, tears finally spilling over her painted cheeks. "We were just joking! Fernanda was the one who made the call, not me!"
"Mom!" Fernanda yelled, her face turning white with shock at her mother’s instant betrayal. "You told me to call the clinic! You said Claudia needed to be gone so Valeria could set the table!"
"Look at you both," I said, watching them tear each other apart without me lifting a finger. "Scrambling like rats on a sinking ship."
Rodrigo stood up, his face splotchy, his eyes wild with terror. He walked toward me, reaching out his hands as if to take mine, but I took two steps back, keeping a wide gulf between us.
"Claudia, look at me," he begged. "I’ll sign whatever you want. I’ll make Valeria return every peso from Val-Tex. We’ll sue her! We’ll get the money back! Just don’t call the police. Don’t ruin my name. Verde Norte is all I have!"
"Verde Norte isn't yours, Rodrigo," I said, reaching into my purse and pulling out a certified document with an official blue notary seal. "Do you remember the terms of the corporate partnership we executed when my mother transferred the 1.8 million?"
Rodrigo stared at the document, his breath catching in his throat.
"Clause 14, Section B," Adriana recited from memory, stepping up beside me. "In the event of unauthorized diversion of corporate capital, commingling of personal and business accounts, or material breach of fiduciary duty, the managing partner immediately forfeits all administrative authority, voting rights, and operational control to the primary creditor’s designated representative."
"Which is me," I said. "As of two o'clock this afternoon, the commercial judge in the second district signed an emergency injunction. Verde Norte’s bank accounts are frozen. The company trucks, the commercial mowers, the nursery warehouse in Tlalpan—they have all been placed under judicial receivership."
Rodrigo’s knees gave out. He literally dropped to the floor, grasping at the hem of my jeans. "No... Claudia, no! You can’t do that! How am I supposed to work? How am I supposed to pay the crew on Friday?"
"You aren't," I replied, pulling my leg back so he couldn't touch me. "I already wired the crew their wages for the week directly from my personal savings account. The workers won't suffer because of your stupidity. But your corporate card has been cancelled. Your truck's GPS tracker has been transferred to my monitoring service. And if you set foot on Verde Norte’s premises tomorrow, you will be arrested for commercial trespassing."
Beatriz let out a wail that sounded like an animal caught in a trap. "You’re destroying my boy! You’re putting him on the street! What about me? Who is going to pay the mortgage on my house? Rodrigo promised—"
"Rodrigo promised you things using my family’s blood and sweat," I cut her off. "You have twenty minutes, Rodrigo. Pack two suitcases. Whatever you can fit. The rest stays here until the divorce lawyers inventory the assets."
"Divorce?" Rodrigo’s voice cracked. "Claudia, no! We can go to counseling! We can fix this! I love you! I swear to God I never loved her, she was just... she flattered me! I was weak!"
"You weren't weak," I said, staring down at him with utter disgust. "You were arrogant. You thought I was your secretary, your maid, and your safety net. You thought you could step on my head to climb into a higher social class, and that I would just smile and balance your books while you did it."
I looked at my watch.
May you like
"Nineteen minutes, Rodrigo. If you are still in this house when the hand hits the twelve, the patrol car parked at the corner of the block will come up the driveway."
***
