Chapter 4 - The Blackmail Chain-4
The atmosphere in the room shifted from shock to horror. The mention of blackmail transformed what seemed like a bitter family dispute into a dark financial crime.
"Blackmail?" Mateo repeated, his tone icy. He stepped closer to Teresa, ignoring her subtle attempts to pull away. "Teresa, what is she talking about? What assets have you been liquidating?"
Teresa didn't answer. She sat down heavily on a chair, her head bowed, her expensive silk shawl slipping off her shoulders onto the floor. She looked ten years older in a matter of minutes.
I opened the folder further, pulling out bank statements marked with red highlighter.
"Every month for the past five years," I explained, reading directly from the financial audits, "a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars was made from an offshore holding account tied to the Aranda Trust. The destination was a private account registered in the Cayman Islands under the name Vance Capital Holdings."
Rodrigo gasped. "Vance? As in... Gabriel Vance?"
"Gabriel Vance died eight years ago," I replied. "But his son, Julian Vance, is very much alive. And Julian knew the truth about his father's affair with Teresa. He had the original letters, the entry logs to the estate, and a handwritten note from Teresa herself pleading with Gabriel to keep quiet when she discovered she was pregnant with Rodrigo."
I threw the copy of the bank transfers onto the main table, right next to the floral centerpieces.
"When Julian realized how much money the Aranda name was worth, he didn't just ask for a small payout," I continued. "He systematically bled Teresa dry. And when Teresa realized she was running out of personal funds to keep Julian quiet, she needed a new cash injection. That’s where you came in, Rodrigo."
Rodrigo looked horrified. "Me?"
"Yes," I said. "Your prenuptial agreement with me stated that if we divorced due to infidelity on my part, you retained one hundred percent of the marital assets, including the estate my parents helped us purchase, and I would be denied any spousal support or custody funds. Teresa was planning to take control of those assets, sell them off, and use the money to satisfy Julian Vance’s escalating demands."
Rodrigo stared at his mother in absolute disbelief. "You... you were going to destroy my marriage, steal my home, and destroy my life... just to pay off your lover's son?"
"It was for the family!" Teresa sobbed wildly, raising her hands in defense. "If Julian revealed the truth, the company shares would crash! We would lose everything, Rodrigo! You would have been left with nothing! I was trying to save you!"
"You were trying to save yourself!" Rodrigo yelled, his voice echoing off the high ceilings of the club. "You didn't give a damn about me or Lucía! You used me!"
"And that's not even the worst of it," I added, my voice cutting through their argument like a blade. "Teresa wasn't working alone to orchestrate this tonight. She had help from someone inside the Aranda firm. Someone who stood to gain massive control of the board once Rodrigo’s reputation was destroyed."
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I turned my head toward the back doors of the hall, where Paulina Mier had almost reached the exit.
"Paulina," I called out sharply. "Don't leave yet. We haven't talked about your commission."
