Chapter 7 - BEHIND GREY BARS
The state penitentiary on the outskirts of Guadalajara was a cold, oppressive fortress of concrete and high steel fences.
At 10:00 AM, I sat at a stainless-steel table inside a sterile visitor booth, separated from the inmate door by a thick sheet of reinforced bulletproof glass.
The heavy iron door clicked open, and a guard ushered Alejandro into the booth.
I barely recognized the man sitting down across from me.
In less than forty-eight hours, the slick, arrogant CEO had vanished. Alejandro was wearing a dull grey jumpsuit, his hair unwashed, dark purple circles under his bloodshot eyes, and heavy iron chains binding his wrists and ankles to his waist belt.
He picked up the black plastic intercom phone with trembling hands. I lifted mine to my ear.
"Valeria..." Alejandro wept, his voice raspy and broken through the phone speaker. "Thank God you came... please, you have to talk to the prosecutor! Tell them this was a domestic financial dispute! Tell them we can settle this privately!"
I looked at him through the glass, my expression completely blank. "Why would I ever do that, Alejandro?"
"Because I'm your husband!" he cried out, pressing his chained hands against the glass. "Eight years, Valeria! We shared a life! We shared a home! Okay, I made mistakes! I was weak! Mónica seduced me, and my mother pressured me to get more money for her investments! I was trapped between them!"
I let out a soft, dry laugh. "You were trapped? You sat in a cafeteria while your mistress threw boiling food at my chest. You stood by while your mother called me a pathetic farmer's daughter. You forged my signature to steal my dead father's land, and you used my mother's life savings to set up a love pad for your secretary."
Alejandro hung his head, hot tears splashing onto his grey jumpsuit. "I was stupid, Valeria... pure greed blinded me. But I swear to you, I never stopped loving you. If you drop the criminal charges, I’ll sign over every single asset I have left. I’ll walk away with nothing! Just don't let me rot in this place for twenty years!"
"You're right about one thing, Alejandro," I said coldly, leaning closer to the glass. "You are going to walk away with nothing. But you don't get to choose your punishment. The law does."
"Valeria, please!" he sobbed hysterically. "My mother is in the women's wing losing her mind! Mónica has already cut a deal with the state to testify against me! They're going to give me twenty years in a maximum-security prison!"
"Mónica did what you would have done to her if the roles were reversed," I pointed out. "You built a life out of snakes, Alejandro. You shouldn't be surprised when they bite you."
I slowly set the intercom phone back onto its wall cradle.
"Valeria! Don't leave me! Valeria!" Alejandro screamed, slamming his fists against the bulletproof glass, creating loud thudding sounds that echoed through the visitor room.
The security guard immediately grabbed Alejandro by his shoulders, forcing him back into his chair and hauling him through the iron door back into the darkness of the cell block.
I turned my back on his screams, straightened my jacket, and walked out into the warm, bright afternoon sunlight.
As I stepped into my car, Claudia called me on speakerphone.
"Valeria, I have news from the probate court," Claudia announced triumphantly. "The judge just issued an emergency summary judgment! The forged inheritance waiver has been legally declared null and void! Your thirty-percent founding equity stake in Empaques Rivera has been fully restored to your name, effective immediately!"
"And my mother's six hundred thousand pesos?" I asked.
"Fully recovered from the seized Panama accounts, along with an additional two hundred thousand pesos in court-ordered interest penalties," Claudia cheered.
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I closed my eyes, letting the warm sunlight wash over my face, feeling a profound sense of justice settling into my soul.
"Call Don Ernesto and Doña Rosa," I smiled. "Tell them to gather all the factory workers in the main auditorium at two o'clock. The CEO has an announcement to make."
