Chapter 17 - THE REAL TARGET
The meeting at the airport changed everything.
Lucas had not only targeted my family accounts.
He had targeted the Dubai development.
For nearly a year, he had been collecting internal documents through Beatriz.
Construction budgets.
Vendor agreements.
Payment schedules.
Private lender information.
He had approached one of our subcontractors and offered confidential data in exchange for money.
The subcontractor reported him.
My executives had been quietly investigating before I returned.
They hadn’t informed me because they were still determining the scale.
Now we had the missing link.
Beatriz.
The Dubai documents on her laptop matched files Lucas possessed.
My own wife had been his access point.
The corporate investigation expanded immediately.
Lawyers became involved.
Banks were notified.
Auditors preserved records.
Lucas’s companies were examined.
I spent two days in meetings.
On the third morning, Isabella found me on the hotel balcony.
“You’re working again.”
The sentence stopped me.
My laptop was open.
Three phones sat beside it.
Documents covered the table.
I looked at her.
“You’re right.”
She shrugged.
“It’s okay.”
“No.”
I closed the laptop.
“It can wait.”
She stared at me.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“What if it’s important?”
“It is.”
I stood.
“So are you.”
We went for breakfast.
Then we walked along the beach.
Isabella collected shells.
Most were broken.
She kept them anyway.
“Why those?”
“They still look pretty.”
I smiled.
She held up a cracked white shell.
“Rosa says broken doesn’t mean useless.”
I crouched beside her.
“Rosa is smart.”
Isabella slipped the shell into her pocket.
After a moment, she asked.
“Are you going to marry Beatriz again?”
The question confused me.
“We’re still married legally.”
“No.”
She frowned.
“I mean after the lawyers.”
I understood.
“No.”
She watched my face.
“You’re not sad?”
“I’m sad about what I thought we had.”
She nodded slowly.
Then she said.
“I’m not.”
I didn’t correct her.
She had the right to feel whatever she felt.
That afternoon, Elena called.
Beatriz wanted to negotiate.
May you like
She was willing to provide complete evidence against Lucas.
But she wanted something in return.
