Chapter 11 - The Threat Behind the Threat
Daniel wanted me frightened.
It worked.
For approximately seven minutes.
Then fear became anger.
Sofía advised me not to respond.
Instead, she requested emergency restrictions preventing any transfer involving the apartment while the disputed loan was investigated.
My bank began reviewing the guarantee documents.
The lender hired its own examiner.
Daniel stopped answering their calls.
That told me everything.
Meanwhile, Carmen and Valeria moved into Roberto's sister's house.
They blamed me publicly.
Privately, they were panicking.
I knew because Roberto showed me the messages.
Carmen.
Mariana has no idea what she's doing.
Valeria.
Daniel said the bank is asking questions.
Carmen.
Then he needs to fix it.
Valeria.
How?
Carmen.
The same way he fixed the signature.
I read the sentence three times.
Sofía printed it.
“Keep going.”
Further down, Valeria had written.
What if Mariana finds out about the second account?
I looked up.
“What second account?”
Roberto went pale.
He claimed he didn't know.
This time, I believed him.
We subpoenaed financial records connected to CVO Holdings.
The account statements arrived two days later.
There was more than 400,000 pesos remaining.
Money had entered from Daniel.
From Valeria.
From cash deposits.
And from someone listed only as M.T.
My initials.
I had never transferred money into CVO Holdings.
Sofía traced the payments.
They originated from refund checks issued in my name.
Insurance rebates.
Tax reimbursements.
Vendor credits.
Small amounts I never noticed.
Someone had redirected them.
Not enough individually to trigger suspicion.
Enough together to matter.
Daniel had spent years skimming the edges of my life.
A little here.
A little there.
A card charge.
A false household expense.
A salary payment to a nanny who no longer worked for us.
A forged signature.
A hidden company.
I thought about all the nights I stayed late at the office because Daniel said money was tight.
All the mornings I apologized for missing breakfast.
All the guilt.
He had used that guilt like a bank card.
Then Sofía discovered one transaction that did not fit.
A payment from CVO Holdings to a private investigator.
Three months earlier.
My stomach tightened.
“Why would Carmen hire an investigator?”
Sofía looked at the invoice.
“She didn't.”
I leaned closer.
The client name was Daniel Ortega.
The investigator had been hired to follow me.
Photograph me.
Document my work schedule.
Document my travel.
Document how often I was away from Camila.
The complaint to my employer had not been improvised.
May you like
Neither was the custody strategy.
Daniel had been preparing for this divorce before I ever asked for one.
