CHAPTER 4 — The Memory Card That Could Destroy an Empire
The television continued blaring across the penthouse.
"Breaking News... Authorities have opened a criminal investigation into businessman Mateo Vargas..."
Every major news channel was carrying the same story.
The same accusations.
The same photographs.
The same carefully edited narrative.
To the public...
Mateo Vargas was no longer a respected entrepreneur.
He was becoming Mexico's newest corporate villain.
Mateo slowly muted the television.
His expression didn't change.
For the first time since the accident...
His fear was giving way to something else.
Determination.
Someone had stolen his future.
Framed him for crimes he didn't commit.
Tried to strip away his company, his freedom, and even his identity.
Now...
He had only one option.
Fight back.
Across the room, Carmen watched him carefully.
"I've never seen that look before," she said quietly.
Mateo gave a bitter smile.
"Neither have I."
Lucía sat on the living room rug, completely unaware of the danger surrounding the adults.
She happily colored pictures in an old notebook while humming a song she had learned at school.
Her innocent laughter felt painfully out of place inside a room filled with betrayal.
Mateo picked up Daniel Ortega's damaged cellphone.
The tiny memory card rested in his palm.
"So this is what they were willing to kill for..."
Carmen nodded.
"The night before Daniel died, he told me that if anything happened to him, I should never trust the police."
"He said powerful people were involved."
"Very powerful."
Mateo inserted the memory card into a secure adapter connected to his laptop.
The screen remained black for several seconds.
Then...
One single folder appeared.
FINAL INSURANCE
Inside were twelve video files.
Thirty-seven photographs.
Several scanned contracts.
One encrypted audio recording.
And a document titled...
IF YOU ARE WATCHING THIS, I AM ALREADY DEAD.
Silence filled the room.
Mateo opened the video.
The screen flickered.
Daniel Ortega appeared.
He was wearing a construction helmet stained with dust.
Behind him stood the unfinished high-rise where he would lose his life the following morning.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
He kept glancing over his shoulder before speaking.
"My name is Daniel Ortega."
"If you're seeing this..."
"...they killed me."
Carmen covered her mouth.
Tears immediately filled her eyes.
It was the first time she had heard her husband's voice in nearly two years.
Daniel continued.
"This wasn't an accident."
"I found fake invoices."
"Millions of pesos were disappearing through shell companies."
"I reported everything."
"I thought the owners would stop it."
"They didn't."
Mateo frowned.
"The owners?"
Daniel slowly shook his head.
"No..."
"The real owner never knew."
"They've been hiding everything from Mr. Eduardo Vargas."
Mateo froze.
His father.
Daniel continued speaking.
"Mr. Eduardo tried to investigate."
"He said someone inside upper management was stealing from the company."
"He promised he'd expose them."
Daniel stopped talking for several seconds.
His breathing became uneven.
Then he whispered something that made Mateo's blood run cold.
"They said..."
"...if Mr. Eduardo didn't stop asking questions..."
"...he would have the same accident as me."
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
The room felt colder than before.
Mateo stared at the blank screen.
His father had officially died from a sudden heart attack.
That was the story everyone believed.
But now...
A terrifying possibility entered his mind.
"What if..."
He swallowed hard.
"What if my father never died naturally?"
Carmen looked at him.
"I've wondered that for years."
Mateo immediately opened another file.
It contained photographs of financial transfers.
Millions of pesos moving between companies that existed only on paper.
Every payment eventually led back to one familiar signature.
Alejandro Ruiz.
Mateo's breathing accelerated.
"This has been happening for years..."
Long before the accident.
Long before Valeria entered his life.
Alejandro hadn't merely betrayed him.
He had spent years quietly building a criminal empire inside Vargas Construction.
Then another file caught Mateo's attention.
PROJECT PHOENIX
Password Protected.
He tried his birthday.
Access denied.
His company registration number.
Denied.
His father's birthday.
Denied.
Carmen suddenly spoke.
"Daniel used only one password for everything."
"What was it?"
She smiled sadly.
"Our daughter's birthday."
Lucía looked up.
"My birthday?"
Carmen nodded.
Mateo typed the date.
The folder opened instantly.
Inside...
Hundreds of confidential files appeared.
Hidden contracts.
Bank transfers.
Secret surveillance photographs.
Political bribes.
Payments to judges.
Illegal offshore accounts.
It wasn't just corporate fraud anymore.
It was an organized criminal network.
Then Mateo noticed something that made his heart stop.
One photograph had been taken inside a private hospital.
A man lay unconscious in intensive care.
His face was partially hidden beneath oxygen tubes.
But Mateo recognized him instantly.
His father.
The timestamp shocked him even more.
The photograph had been taken...
Three days after Eduardo Vargas was officially declared dead.
Mateo stared at the date over and over.
Impossible.
According to every public record...
According to the funeral...
According to the death certificate...
His father had already been buried.
So...
Who was the man lying in that hospital bed?
And why had someone secretly photographed him?
Before Mateo could examine the remaining files...
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown encrypted number appeared.
Stop looking for your father.
A second message arrived.
He's still alive...
...but not for much longer.
Mateo's heart nearly stopped.
Then came one final message.
If you want to save him... come alone to Warehouse 17 before sunrise.
Across the room...
Carmen looked at the silver key still resting on the table.
The same key the intruder had left behind.
Both of them finally realized...
It hadn't been left there by accident.
It was an invitation.
Or...
May you like
A trap.
End of Chapter 4...
