Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32 — The Fractured Pedestal
Valeria didn't step toward her father. She stayed exactly where she was, right in the middle of the two men.
"Is it true?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
"Val, he is a mercenary sent by people who want to destroy us," Ernesto pleaded, his voice cracking, his hands trembling. "Julian’s family, Marcus Vance—they dug up old ghosts to tear us apart. You know me. I raised you. I protected you."
"You protected a lie!" Valeria shouted, the emotional dam bursting for the first time in months. She held up the photo. "Is this her? Is she alive?"
Ernesto looked at the photograph, and in that single second of hesitation, his silence gave the definitive answer. He lowered his head, his shoulders slumping as if a century of guilt had finally crushed him.
"She wanted to leave the business, Valeria," Ernesto whispered, refusing to look her in the eyes. "If she stayed in Chicago, my family’s associates would have killed her. And they would have killed you to ensure my silence. I staged the accident to save her life. The money in your trust fund? It didn't come from her estate. It was her payoff to disappear forever and leave you with me."
Victor smiled—a cold, humorless curve of his lips. "A touching story, Ernesto. But you forgot to tell her about the monthly maintenance fees. You forgot to tell her that your family is still collecting interest on the assets she left behind."
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Victor turned back to Valeria, sliding a small encrypted flash drive onto the plywood table.
"Your father didn't just build a trap for Julian Moreno, Valeria. He built a cage for you, lined with gold and trauma, so you would never look close enough to see the blood on his hands."
