CHAPTER 2 — The Insurance Was Never the Real Plan
Mariana didn't sleep.
The insurance policy remained on the dining table long after Mauricio had left, illuminated only by the soft light above the kitchen island.
Forty million pesos.
Her full legal name.
A policy issued just sixty-three days earlier.
Primary beneficiaries:
Eduardo Salgado.
Beatriz Salgado.
Her fingers slowly traced the signatures.
Eduardo's was unmistakable.
Beatriz's appeared as the policy witness.
Mariana felt her stomach twist.
Not because they wanted the money.
Because they had expected her to die.
At sunrise, Mauricio called again.
"I found something else."
"What is it?"
"The life insurance wasn't purchased alone."
Silence.
"There are three additional contracts."
Mariana frowned.
"What kind of contracts?"
"A trust agreement... an emergency succession plan... and a confidential agreement with a private investment company."
"Who owns it?"
"We're still digging."
"But every document leads back to the same shell company."
Desarrollos Altavista.
The same company she had been quietly investigating for months.
The same company that had been draining money from Grupo Biomédica through fake consulting invoices.
None of it looked accidental anymore.
It looked organized.
Instead of confronting Eduardo, Mariana returned to the hospital carrying coffee and breakfast.
She smiled.
She asked how he felt.
She even adjusted his blanket.
From the hallway, Beatriz watched proudly.
"I knew she'd forgive you," she whispered to a relative.
"Mariana has always been loyal."
Mariana heard every word.
She simply smiled again.
People often underestimated quiet women.
She intended to keep it that way.
That afternoon, while Eduardo slept, Mariana wandered through the hospital cafeteria.
Near the coffee machines, she noticed someone sitting alone.
Ximena.
Her shoulder was wrapped in fresh bandages.
Dark circles framed her eyes.
She looked nothing like the glamorous woman from the accident.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Finally, Ximena broke the silence.
"You must hate me."
Mariana remained calm.
"Should I?"
Ximena lowered her head.
"I didn't know he was married when we met."
Mariana didn't answer.
"I found out later."
"And you stayed."
Tears filled Ximena's eyes.
"He promised he was divorcing you."
The words hurt.
Not because Mariana believed them—
—but because they sounded rehearsed.
Exactly the kind of story Eduardo would tell.
Before leaving, Ximena whispered something unexpected.
"Be careful."
Mariana stopped walking.
"What do you mean?"
Ximena looked toward the hallway to make sure no one was listening.
"Eduardo isn't the one making the decisions anymore."
Mariana slowly turned back.
"What are you talking about?"
Ximena hesitated.
Then she quietly said,
"If Beatriz tells him to sign something..."
"He signs it."
That night, Mauricio arrived with another folder.
"This gets worse."
He spread dozens of financial statements across the table.
"For nearly eighteen months, company money has been disappearing."
"How much?"
"Almost eighty million pesos."
Mariana stared at him.
"That's impossible."
"I thought so too."
He slid a spreadsheet toward her.
Small transfers.
Always below the amount that triggered automatic audits.
Thousands here.
Hundreds of thousands there.
Never enough to attract attention.
Together...
Enough to bankrupt the company.
"They've been bleeding it dry."
Mauricio nodded.
"And if the company collapses..."
"They collect my insurance."
"And nobody questions where the missing money went."
Mariana finally understood.
The insurance payout wasn't the prize.
It was the backup plan.
The next morning, Mariana visited the company's headquarters for the first time since the accident.
Employees rushed to greet her.
Several seemed genuinely relieved.
"Mrs. Ríos, we're so glad you're here."
She smiled politely.
Inside Eduardo's office, everything looked normal.
Too normal.
The family photographs remained perfectly arranged.
The awards still covered the shelves.
But one drawer...
Was locked.
Eduardo had never locked that drawer before.
Mariana quietly called the building's security chief.
"Has anyone entered this office since the accident?"
The man checked the electronic log.
His expression changed.
"Yes."
"Who?"
He swallowed.
"Mrs. Beatriz Salgado."
"How many times?"
He looked again.
"Six."
Mariana's eyes narrowed.
"She came here every single day."
"And every visit lasted less than fifteen minutes."
Late that evening, after every employee had gone home, Mariana unlocked the drawer using an emergency company key.
Inside was almost nothing.
Just a leather notebook...
A flash drive...
And an envelope marked in Eduardo's handwriting.
"Destroy if discovered."
Her pulse quickened.
She opened the envelope.
Instead of documents...
A single photograph slipped onto the desk.
It showed Eduardo...
Beatriz...
Ximena...
and a fourth person whose face had been partly torn away.
Only one detail remained visible.
A distinctive silver ring engraved with the initials:
A.V.
Mariana stared at it for several seconds.
She had seen that ring before.
Not on Eduardo.
Not on Beatriz.
But on the hand of the man who had approved every suspicious payment made to Desarrollos Altavista.
The company's chief financial officer.
Until that moment...
She had believed he was only helping hide stolen money.
Now she realized something far more terrifying.
He wasn't covering up the conspiracy.
He was part of it.
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And whatever had happened before that highway crash...
The real mastermind had not yet revealed himself.
