CHAPTER 2 — The Email That Should Never Have Existed
Mateo's heartbeat thundered inside the silent penthouse.
The glowing computer screen illuminated his pale face as rain hammered against the massive glass windows overlooking Mexico City.
His finger froze above the mouse.
For several long seconds...
He couldn't force himself to open the email.
Some instinct deep inside warned him that once he read it...
Nothing in his life would ever be the same again.
Finally...
He clicked.
The message appeared.
From: Alejandro Ruiz
To: Valeria Mendoza
Subject: The doctors are finally cooperating.
Mateo felt the blood drain from his face.
The email was only three weeks old.
"The rehabilitation isn't progressing as fast as expected. If things continue like this, convincing the court that he's mentally unstable will be much easier than we thought."
Another line followed.
"Once the judge appoints a legal guardian, the board will have no choice but to transfer executive control."
Mateo clenched both fists.
His knuckles turned white.
This wasn't merely betrayal.
It was a carefully planned corporate takeover.
He opened another email.
This one was even worse.
Attached were scanned copies of medical reports.
Reports carrying his own name.
But someone had altered them.
Entire paragraphs had been rewritten.
Medical conclusions had disappeared.
New diagnoses had been inserted.
"Severe cognitive impairment."
"Unable to make financial decisions."
"Permanent psychological instability."
Mateo stared in disbelief.
"They forged my medical records..."
His voice barely escaped his lips.
He immediately checked the digital signatures.
They looked authentic.
Too authentic.
Someone inside the hospital had helped them.
Suddenly...
Another attachment caught his attention.
Projected Asset Distribution
Mateo opened the spreadsheet.
His luxury penthouse...
Already assigned to Valeria.
His company shares...
Scheduled to be transferred into a newly created investment trust.
The controlling authority?
Alejandro Ruiz.
Luxury vehicles.
Private aircraft.
Vacation properties.
Corporate accounts.
Everything had already been divided.
As if he were already dead.
Mateo pushed himself away from the desk.
His stomach twisted violently.
For months...
The two people he trusted most hadn't been waiting for his recovery.
They had been waiting for his collapse.
His eyes drifted toward a framed photograph sitting on the bookshelf.
It showed three smiling faces.
Mateo.
Alejandro.
Valeria.
Taken during the celebration of the company's tenth anniversary.
Alejandro had called him "my brother."
Valeria had kissed him in front of hundreds of employees.
Every smile in that picture now looked fake.
Every memory suddenly felt poisoned.
He quietly removed the frame.
Without hesitation...
He dropped it into the trash.
The glass shattered.
The sound echoed through the empty apartment.
But something else demanded his attention.
One folder remained unopened.
Its label was unusual.
Compensation Claim — Confidential
Mateo frowned.
Why would Alejandro hide a compensation file?
He opened it.
The screen displayed an accident report from eighteen months earlier.
Location:
One of Vargas Construction's largest residential projects.
Victim:
Daniel Ortega.
Occupation:
Tower crane operator.
Status:
Fatal workplace accident.
Mateo vaguely remembered the case.
A crane cable had snapped.
Daniel had fallen fourteen stories.
The tragedy had made national headlines for several days.
Insurance had paid compensation.
The company had accepted responsibility.
The case had been closed.
Or so he thought.
Inside the folder...
Several documents were marked "Do Not Release."
Mateo opened the first one.
His breathing stopped.
The official investigation concluded the crane cable had failed because of defective imported steel.
But another internal engineering report...
Hidden from government investigators...
Reached the exact opposite conclusion.
The cable had been safe.
Someone had intentionally loosened the primary safety lock less than thirty minutes before Daniel climbed the crane.
It wasn't an accident.
It had been sabotage.
Mateo's pulse accelerated.
He kept reading.
The internal report identified two supervisors who had been present that morning.
Both men had disappeared shortly after the incident.
One had moved overseas.
The other had resigned without explanation.
Neither had ever testified.
Mateo leaned closer to the screen.
Then another page loaded.
A photograph.
Daniel Ortega.
Standing beside a smiling young woman.
The same woman wearing the navy-blue cleaning uniform.
The same tired eyes.
The same gentle smile.
"Carmen..."
Mateo whispered.
His chest tightened.
The little girl's words echoed inside his mind.
"My daddy had an accident too."
No...
He hadn't.
Her father had been murdered.
Mateo immediately searched the payroll database.
Carmen Ortega.
Current position:
Cleaning contractor.
Assigned building:
Vargas Construction Headquarters.
Salary:
Minimum wage.
Employment duration:
Four years.
He stared at the screen in disbelief.
Every single weekday...
The widow of a man killed because of corruption inside his own company had been cleaning the floors of the corporation responsible for destroying her family.
And he had never known.
A wave of shame swept over him.
His empire...
Built with pride.
Maintained with honor.
Had secretly become a machine capable of crushing innocent people.
Then...
A tiny notification appeared in the corner of his monitor.
Remote access detected.
Someone else had just logged into the secure archive.
Mateo's eyes widened.
No one should have been able to enter the system except him.
The cursor suddenly began moving...
By itself.
Folders started disappearing.
One after another.
Deleted.
Deleted.
Deleted.
Someone was erasing the evidence in real time.
Mateo immediately disconnected the internet.
Too late.
More than half the confidential files had already vanished.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He hesitated.
Then answered.
A distorted male voice whispered only one sentence.
"You should have stayed in that wheelchair... and minded your own business."
The call ended.
At that exact moment...
Mateo heard another sound.
A faint metallic click...
Coming from inside his penthouse.
Someone else...
May you like
Was already in the apartment.
End of Chapter 2...
