“You knew who I was when you applied for the housekeeper job three years ago?” I gasped, my mind spinning.
“I did,” Mateo admitted calmly. “I took the job at your mansion to gather the physical shipping receipts Teresa had buried in her private safe. But then… you got sick, Valeria. I saw how terribly she treated you. I saw how she left you alone in that hospital room while she attended charity galas. I stayed beside your bed because I fell in love with the woman who treated everyone with kindness, despite living under a tyrant’s thumb.”
Mateo walked over to his discarded jacket on the chair, pulled out a encrypted black flash drive, and set it gently in my palm.
“Every transaction, every forged bill of lading, and every wire transfer Teresa executed to steal your father’s estate and silence my squad is on this drive,” Mateo said. “I didn’t give it to the federal prosecutor because I wanted you to have the choice. You hold the weapon now, Valeria. Your mother’s empire is in your hands.”
