Chapter 3 - The Illusion of Victory
Noon arrived, bright and sickeningly sunny in Dallas.
Across town, at the ultra-exclusive country club, Carmen Robles was holding court.
Through a private investigator Alexander had on retainer, we were receiving live photo updates on a secure tablet in my kitchen.
Carmen was wearing a stunning emerald green dress, sipping mimosas, smiling brightly for the society photographers she had hired for the post-wedding brunch.
Javier was beside her, looking slightly tense, constantly checking his expensive Rolex, but maintaining the facade of a newlywed waiting for his tardy bride.
They truly believed fear had paralyzed us.
They believed Sofia was just a broken little girl crying in her mother's arms, too ashamed and too terrified to fight back against the mighty Robles family name.
They were entirely wrong.
While they drank champagne, Alexander was orchestrating a symphony of destruction from my dining room table.
"Status on Javier's firm?" Alexander asked into his headset.
"The partners are currently in an emergency weekend board meeting," a voice replied through the speaker. "The package was delivered exactly ten minutes ago."
I poured coffee, watching my ex-husband work.
"What package?" I asked quietly.
Alexander looked up, his eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction.
"Javier is a junior partner at Sterling & Vance. A very conservative, very reputation-conscious law firm. Ten minutes ago, every senior partner received an encrypted file. It contained Dr. Vance's medical report on Sofia, the high-definition photos of her injuries, and an audio file."
"What audio file?"
"I hired a sound engineer this morning to isolate Javier's voice from the hotel hallway security cameras," Alexander explained smoothly. "He bribed the hotel manager at 5 AM. The firm is currently listening to their golden boy tell his mother not to hit his bride too much in the face."
My breath hitched. "They'll fire him."
"Firing him is just the appetizer," Alexander corrected. "I also sent them the financial trail I uncovered. Javier has been quietly embezzling from his clients' escrow accounts to fund his mother's lavish lifestyle. The condo wasn't a power play, Elena. It was a lifeline. They are broke."
I stared at him, stunned. The designer clothes, the country club, the arrogance—it was all a crumbling facade.
"They needed the $1.8 million from Sofia's condo to cover the stolen funds before the quarterly audit next month," Alexander continued, typing rapidly.
Suddenly, the tablet on the table pinged with a new photo.
It was Javier at the brunch. He was staring at his phone, his face drained of all color, looking like he had just seen a ghost. His perfectly styled hair seemed to suddenly droop.
Carmen was looking at him, confused, her smile faltering as she noticed her son's panic.
"The firm just called him," Alexander murmured, leaning back in his chair. "He's terminated. Effective immediately. And they are referring his embezzlement to the State Bar and the District Attorney."
Sofia walked slowly into the kitchen, wearing one of my oversized sweaters, leaning heavily on a cane. Her face was a canvas of purple and yellow, but her eyes were remarkably clear.
She looked at the photo of a panicked Javier on the tablet.
"Good," she whispered, her voice raspy but firm. "What about her? What about Carmen?"
May you like
Alexander stood up and gently pulled out a chair for his daughter.
"Carmen is about to learn that in this world, there is always a bigger monster," Alexander said. "And she just invited him to dinner."
