—Raúl, see you at the Mirador del Pacífico Club at eight. Take the police. I am going to report fraud, forgery and breach of trust.
There was silence.
—Teresa… is your son.
—And he was the first to break the pact between mother and son.
I arrived at the club at eight o’clock.
The party was obscenely lavish. White flowers everywhere. A string quartet. Waiters with French champagne. A five-tier cake. All paid, or rather, promised with money that Diego thought he had taken from me.
When he saw me enter, he turned pale.
Vanessa looked gorgeous, wearing a dress that cost more than the annual salary of many of our former employees. Diego approached me with contained fury.
—What are you doing here? I told you I didn’t want to see you.
—I came to give you your wedding gift —I replied.
—Gift? If you no longer have anything.
I looked at him with a sadness that burned me inside.
—Oh, Diego. You took my money from the pantry, not my fortune. And about the apartment… tell me, have you already given the keys to the buyer?
—Yeah. He gave me three hundred thousand pesos in advance this morning. Because?
I barely smiled.
—Because that apartment is not mine, son. It is from a family holding company. The power you took from me in the hospital is no good for selling. You sold something that doesn’t belong to you.
I felt the blood leave his face.
—What… what are you saying?
—That the buyer will try to register the operation and discover that he fell for a scam. That you falsified an authorization. That you abused a sick woman. And legally that is called fraud.
Vanessa approached, irritated.
—What’s going on? What is this lady doing ruining the ceremony?
I looked at her calmly.
—Enjoy the party, dear. Because the honeymoon won’t be in Paris.
At that moment, the doors of the living room opened.
They weren’t the waiters with dinner.
They were two investigative police officers, an actuary and my lawyer.
The music cut off.
The guests began to murmur.
One of the agents walked directly to Diego.
—Diego Villaseñor? You are detained for your probable responsibility in the crimes of fraud, falsification of documents and abuse of trust.
Vanessa screamed.
—That’s impossible! We are good people!
—That does not exempt anyone from the law —the agent answered.
Diego looked at me with pure terror.
