Chapter 5 - THE MISTRESS WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Valeria had never imagined that a single hospital visit could threaten everything she had worked toward.
She arrived at Mateo's office wearing a cream designer dress and carrying a folder containing the financial documents he had asked her to hide.
She found him pacing beside the windows.
"Have you heard from Bruno?" she asked.
Mateo turned sharply.
"Why would I hear from Bruno?"
"Because he's your security manager."
"Don't play games with me."
Valeria placed the folder on his desk.
"The company accounts are frozen. My lawyer says the authorities are asking questions about payments connected to the trust."
Mateo stared at her.
"You told me those payments couldn't be traced."
"They couldn't, until somebody started digging."
"Who?"
"Take a guess."
Alejandro Reyes.
The name hung between them.
Mateo slammed his hand against the desk.
"That man has been waiting years for a chance to humiliate me."
Valeria studied him.
"Maybe he wouldn't have a chance if you hadn't left your wife bleeding on the floor."
Mateo's expression darkened.
"You were sitting beside me when she called."
"And you were the one who rejected her."
"You encouraged me!"
"I told you to stop letting her control your life. I didn't tell you to ignore seventeen calls."
For the first time, Valeria realized that Mateo's loyalty lasted only as long as it benefited him.
He pointed at the folder.
"Get rid of those."
"No."
He stared at her.
"What did you say?"
"I'm not going to prison because you made a stupid decision."
Mateo laughed without humor.
"You think you're innocent?"
"I think I have enough evidence to protect myself."
She removed a small flash drive from her handbag and placed it on the desk.
Mateo's face went pale.
"What is that?"
"Copies of the messages you sent Bruno. Records of the payments. The draft documents you wanted me to submit."
"You stole my files?"
"I protected myself."
Mateo moved toward her, but she stepped back.
"Don't touch me."
He stopped.
Valeria's voice trembled, but she continued.
"You told me Camila was impossible to live with. You said she was cold, controlling, and obsessed with money. You said you were trapped in a marriage you couldn't escape."
"That's the truth."
"Then why did you tell your lawyer to delay the divorce until the trust amendment was approved?"
Mateo said nothing.
She shook her head.
"You didn't want freedom. You wanted her inheritance."
He grabbed the flash drive.
Valeria released it deliberately.
"You can have it," she said. "I have another copy."
Mateo's eyes narrowed.
"You're blackmailing me."
"I'm making sure I survive."
She walked toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere you can't find me."
"You'll regret this."
Valeria turned.
"Maybe. But not as much as you will."
She left the office and immediately called a lawyer.
An hour later, she was sitting in a private conference room, offering to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for legal protection.
She told the lawyer everything she knew about the financial transfers.
Then she revealed something even more disturbing.
Two weeks before Camila's fall, Mateo had asked her to obtain a copy of the mansion's security access codes.
He had said it was necessary for a surprise renovation.
Valeria had sent the codes to Bruno.
She had never asked why.
Now she understood that ignorance was not the same as innocence.
Across town, Camila was reviewing a list of transactions with Elena when Alejandro entered the room.
"Valeria has contacted the authorities," he said.
Camila looked up.
"What does she know?"
"Enough to be dangerous."
Elena closed the folder.
"If she has evidence, we need to let the investigators handle it."
Camila nodded.
"I don't want her to get away with anything simply because she decided to betray Mateo before he betrayed her."
Alejandro almost smiled.
"That's fair."
Then Camila noticed a notification on her tablet.
An unfamiliar email address had sent her a single photograph.
It showed the staircase in her mansion.
The picture had been taken the night she fell.
In the background, near the upper landing, stood Mateo.
He was looking directly toward the camera.
Camila stared at the image.
She remembered being alone upstairs.
She remembered hearing footsteps.
She remembered Mateo telling her earlier that he would be working late.
But the timestamp on the photograph showed 10:38 p.m.
Three minutes before her fall.
"Who sent this?" she whispered.
Elena checked the message headers.
"The sender used a temporary account."
Alejandro studied the image.
"Someone wants us to know Mateo was there."
Camila enlarged the photograph.
Mateo's right hand was resting against the railing.
His expression was unreadable.
Then she noticed something else.
A second figure stood behind him, mostly hidden by the wall.
Bruno.
Camila's heart began pounding.
"Mateo told me he was at the club all night."
Alejandro's voice was quiet.
"Then we need to establish whether this photograph is authentic."
Camila looked at her husband's face.
For the first time, she wasn't asking whether he had betrayed her.
May you like
She was asking whether he had been present when her life changed forever.
And if he had, why had he never told anyone?
