flash
The hangover hit Mateo like a freight train at sunrise. Sunlight filtered through the velvet curtains of the luxury hotel suite, burning his eyes. Beside him, Valeria was still asleep, smelling of cheap neon cocktails and expensive perfume. Mateo groaned, reaching for his phone on the nightstand. / Chapter 18 / 20

Chapter 18 - Face to Face at the Ruins

Mateo stumbled backward until his spine hit the shattered balcony glass. Rain lashed against his back. The realization washed over him like arctic water: his entire prison breakout, the secret phone, the mercenary contact, the fake riot—it was all an elaborate play orchestrated by Alejandro and Camila.

"No... no, no, NO!" Mateo shrieked, clutching his head. "You set me up! AGAIN?!"

"We needed you out of prison, Mateo," Alejandro said, stepping toward him with absolute authority. "As long as you were alive in a Mexican prison, your lawyers kept filing appeals, dragging Camila through endless legal battles, trying to claim rights to her inheritance."

"So you orchestrated a breakout..." Mateo gasped, realization hitting him like a physical blow. "To kill me?"

"We don't need to kill you, Mateo," Camila said, her eyes fixed on him with cold detachment. "Under federal law, an escaped convict who commits armed home invasion and kidnapping loses all rights to legal representation, asset claims, and citizenship. You legally died in that prison fire three hours ago. The state has already issued your death certificate."

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Isabella’s artificial tears gleamed under the soft golden chandeliers of the private VIP suite, her hands trembling with a performance worthy of a grand stage. She gestured wildly toward Khloe, who lay crumpled on the cold marble, her white silk dress torn and stained with drops of spilled champagne. Marcus stood frozen in the doorway,

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"What does that mean?!" Mateo screamed, terror finally breaking through his madness.

Alejandro pulled a black cloth hood from his coat pocket. "It means you no longer exist in any public system on Earth. You are a ghost."

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