Chapter 8 - My Name in His Handwriting
I had bought the apartment two years before marrying Daniel.
My mother had helped with the down payment before she died.
Every room carried a memory of her.
Daniel knew that.
He also knew I would never risk it for one of his schemes.
Yet there was my name.
Mariana Torres.
Signed beneath a guarantee I had never seen.
The signature looked close.
Too close.
Someone had practiced.
Sofía arranged for a forensic document examiner.
I gave him authentic samples.
Tax forms.
Employment contracts.
Bank documents.
The answer came quickly.
The signature on the loan documents showed multiple inconsistencies.
Pressure.
Letter formation.
Stroke direction.
It was not mine.
Then we asked where the loan money had gone.
The trail led to three places.
Valeria's boutique.
Daniel's private trading account.
And a company called CVO Holdings.
I had never heard of it.
Roberto had.
When I showed him the name, all the color drained from his face.
“Carmen Valdez Ortega.”
I stared at him.
“CVO.”
He nodded.
The company belonged to Carmen.
It owned nothing obvious.
No office.
No employees.
No website.
Yet Daniel had transferred nearly 280,000 pesos into it.
“Why?”
Roberto rubbed his forehead.
“I don't know.”
But he was lying.
I could tell.
“Roberto.”
He looked toward Camila, who was coloring at the other end of Sofía's conference room.
Then he whispered.
“Carmen wanted a house.”
“What house?”
“One in Cuernavaca.”
I almost laughed.
Of course.
For years, Carmen had talked about retiring somewhere warmer.
She told everyone Daniel would eventually buy her a house.
Apparently, I was buying it.
“Did they purchase it?”
“I don't think so.”
Sofía looked up from her notes.
“Then where is the money?”
Roberto shook his head.
“I don't know.”
My phone buzzed.
A social media notification.
Valeria had posted a video.
She was crying into the camera.
Behind her were suitcases.
The caption read.
WHEN YOUR BROTHER'S WIFE THROWS AN ELDERLY COUPLE INTO THE STREET TO PUNISH THEM.
Within an hour, strangers were calling me heartless.
Abusive.
A bad mother.
A greedy wife.
Valeria never mentioned the balcony.
She never mentioned the diverted money.
She never mentioned the forged loan.
She only showed Carmen crying beside a suitcase.
Then one comment appeared beneath the video.
A user named Rosa Méndez wrote five words.
Tell them why Camila was outside.
The comment disappeared three minutes later.
May you like
But not before people saw it.
And suddenly, Valeria's perfect victim story began cracking apart.
