Chapter 2 - The Crimson Ledger
I grabbed the binder and the envelope, shoving them into my oversized leather tote just as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway.
"Mariana?"
It was my brother, Daniel. He stood in the doorway, his tailored suit immaculate, but his face pale. Daniel had always been the weaker link in the family, easily controlled by our mother and Alejandro.
"What are you doing in here?" Daniel asked, his eyes darting to the shifted oil painting, then to my bag.
"I was just looking for Papa's old journal," I said, stepping past him, trying to hide the tremor in my voice. "But it's not here. I'm leaving."
"Alejandro is on his way here, Mariana," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a tense whisper. "He knows you went off the grid. He traced your SUV's GPS. Whatever you think you're doing, stop it. For your own good."
"For my good, or yours, Daniel?" I demanded, pushing past him into the bright afternoon sun.
I didn't go home. I drove straight to a secluded motel on the outskirts of the city, paying cash for a room that smelled of cheap bleach. I locked the door, drew the curtains, and dumped the contents of the safe onto the bed.
I opened the manila envelope first. Inside were bank transfers dating back eight years. Millions of dollars moving from my father's shipping company into offshore accounts controlled by a shell corporation. But it was the legal documents underneath that made my blood run cold.
It was a criminal indictment document, drafted by the federal prosecutor's office but never filed. It named me as the primary director of the shell corporation used for money laundering.
My signature was on every document.
But I had never signed them. They were perfect forgeries.
Attached to the back was a handwritten agreement, signed by Alejandro, my mother, and... Robert.
“In exchange for the complete dismissal of all investigations against Mariana Velasquez, Robert Velasquez agrees to plead guilty to embezzlement of school funds, forfeit all marital assets, accept full public liability for the financial discrepancies, and sever all contact with Mariana Velasquez permanently. Failure to comply will result in the immediate filing of federal charges against Mariana.”
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My breath left me in a ragged sob. Robert hadn't betrayed me. He hadn't stolen from his school, or cheated, or emptied our savings. My family had set me up as the scapegoat for their corporate crimes, and Alejandro—my brilliant, protective divorce lawyer—had used the threat of my imprisonment to force Robert to destroy his own life to save mine.
And then, Alejandro married me to ensure I could never testify against him, keeping the Velasquez fortune entirely within his grip.
