Chapter 14 - THE RECORDING
Mariana did not believe Andrew.
But she had learned not to ignore evidence simply because she disliked the person carrying it.
She asked Rafael directly.
“Did you know Brenda was taking documents?”
Rafael was silent too long.
Mariana’s stomach tightened.
“How long?”
“Three months.”
She stepped backward.
“You knew?”
“I knew someone was accessing copies.”
“And you let it continue?”
“I needed to know who they were working with.”
Mariana stared at him.
“You used my marriage as an investigation.”
“No.”
Rafael moved toward her.
“I used a security breach to trace Victor.”
“You could have warned me.”
“If I warned you, Andrew would have noticed.”
Mariana’s eyes filled with anger.
“He hit me.”
Rafael stopped.
“And you knew something was happening behind my back.”
His face changed.
“I did not know he would hurt you.”
“But you knew enough to protect the company.”
Mariana’s voice became quiet.
“You just didn’t protect me.”
That sentence wounded Rafael more deeply than shouting could have.
For the first time since the confrontation began, Mariana left Escalante headquarters without her father.
She spent the night alone.
Not at the mansion.
Not at a hotel owned by the family.
At a small apartment she had purchased years earlier under her own name.
There, sitting at a simple kitchen table, she listened to Brenda’s recording.
Rafael’s voice was unmistakable.
“Let her keep copying.”
A security officer asked.
“What if she reaches Mariana’s trust files?”
“She won’t reach the originals.”
“And if Andrew is involved?”
Rafael paused.
“Then my daughter needs to discover who she married.”
Mariana stopped the recording.
She felt betrayed.
Not in the same way Andrew had betrayed her.
But betrayal did not become harmless simply because it came from someone who loved you.
The next morning, Mariana entered the boardroom alone.
Rafael was waiting.
She placed her access card on the table.
“I’m stepping away from Escalante Capital until this investigation is resolved.”
Rafael stood.
“Mariana.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“If I take Andrew’s power because he abused trust, then ignore you doing the same thing because you’re my father, I become exactly what I hate.”
Rafael lowered his eyes.
Mariana left.
For the first time in years, she had no husband beside her.
No father behind her.
No family company protecting her.
Then her phone rang.
It was Elena, one of the mansion’s longtime housekeepers.
Her voice was trembling.
“Mrs. Mariana.”
“I found something inside your old bedroom.”
“What?”
“A second phone.”
Elena swallowed.
May you like
“It was taped beneath Mr. Andrew’s nightstand.”
“And it has videos of you sleeping.”
