Chapter 8 - THE DEAL BETWEEN THEIR FATHERS
Mariana confronted Rafael immediately.
She placed the photograph on his desk.
Her father stared at it for several seconds.
“Where did you get this?”
“Brenda.”
Rafael’s eyes narrowed.
“So she has the archive.”
“What archive?”
Rafael walked toward the window.
For the first time since Mariana arrived, he looked tired.
Twenty-two years earlier, Andrew’s father, Charles, had been Rafael’s business partner.
Not publicly.
Their arrangement involved warehouses, commercial land, and shipping contracts.
Charles was charismatic.
Aggressive.
And reckless.
When the partnership began failing, Charles borrowed heavily against assets he did not fully own.
Then money disappeared.
Rafael discovered fabricated invoices and unauthorized loans.
He ended the partnership.
Charles’s empire collapsed slowly afterward.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Mariana asked.
“Because Andrew was not his father.”
Rafael turned.
“At least I hoped he wasn’t.”
Mariana thought about Andrew’s hand striking her face.
The calculated necklace scheme.
The secret agreement.
“And when I told you I loved him?”
“I investigated him.”
Rafael admitted.
“I found ambition.”
“Debt.”
“Pride.”
“But no criminal conduct.”
“So you let me marry him.”
“You were an adult.”
Rafael’s voice softened.
“You were my daughter, not my property.”
Mariana looked away.
That answer hurt because Andrew had treated marriage in exactly the opposite way.
Rafael continued.
“When his company began collapsing, you asked me to help.”
“I helped because you asked.”
“But I structured everything so that if he betrayed you financially, he could not take you down with him.”
Mariana looked again at the photograph.
“What does Brenda have?”
“Old partnership files.”
“Possibly evidence Charles concealed assets.”
“Possibly worse.”
Mariana’s phone vibrated.
Another message.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD UNION STATION STORAGE BUILDING.
COME WITHOUT SECURITY.
Evelyn immediately objected.
“You are not going alone.”
Mariana agreed.
“I won’t.”
At midnight, Brenda entered the abandoned storage building carrying the blue folder.
She expected Mariana.
Instead, Andrew stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
Brenda froze.
“How did you find me?”
Andrew held up his phone.
“You used the emergency account I created for you.”
Brenda backed away.
“You’re supposed to be at home.”
“I was.”
Andrew’s eyes dropped to the folder.
“Until I discovered what you stole.”
Brenda tightened her grip.
“You need me.”
Andrew moved closer.
“No.”
“I need what’s in your hands.”
Neither of them noticed the tiny red light blinking above the loading bay door.
May you like
Mariana had arrived ten minutes earlier.
And she was listening to every word.
