Chapter 5 - THE HOSPITAL ROOM CONFRONTATION AND THE LAWYER'S SURPRISETwo days later, the sun filtered softly through the blinds of Jimena’s private recovery suite.
Jimena was awake, propped up against fluffy white pillows, sipping warm broth from a plastic cup. Her color had partially returned, though dark circles still bruised the skin beneath her large, expressive brown eyes.
The door clicked open, and Andrés walked in carrying a bouquet of yellow tulips—her favorite.
"Hey," he whispered softly, his heart still aching every time he looked at her.
"Hey," she replied, her voice raspy. She looked down at her still-rounded belly, resting her hand gently on top. "The doctor said the contractions stopped. The baby... the baby is still kicking, Andrés."
Andrés exhaled a breath he felt like he’d been holding for forty-eight hours. He walked over, knelt beside the bed, and buried his face gently against her hands, letting quiet tears of relief slip down his cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Jimena. I was blind. I let them treat you like a prisoner in our own home. I will never, ever let anyone touch you or our child again."
Jimena stroked his hair, her eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and lingering fear. "Where are they, Andrés? Your mother... Bruno?"
Before Andrés could answer, a discreet knock sounded at the door.
Licenciado Roberto Garza, a high-powered corporate and criminal defense attorney whom Andrés had hired through an emergency corporate retainer, stepped into the room holding a leather briefcase.
"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Salgado. I hope I'm not interrupting an intimate moment," the lawyer said with a professional, reassuring smile.
"Not at all, Counselor. Please, come in," Andrés said, standing up and pulling a chair over for him. "What's the status?"
Licenciado Garza opened his briefcase and pulled out several legal documents. "Well, your mother and brother spent the last forty-eight hours in holding cells at the Naucalpan precinct. Your brother tried to pin the entire kidnapping and assault on Ofelia, claiming she masterminded the lock-in and forced him to stand guard."
Jimena gasped softly. "They're turning on each other?"
"Instantly," Garza nodded with a grim smile. "Rats always abandon ship first when the water gets too cold. Furthermore, the financial audit turned up even worse news for them. Because of the corporate embezzlement and falsification of property deeds, the prosecutor isn't offering bail. They are facing up to eight years in federal prison without option for immediate parole."
Andrés crossed his arms, feeling a strange, heavy sense of closure. "Good. Let justice take its course. I won't post bail, and I won't sign any settlement agreements."
"There is one more thing," Garza added, pulling out a sealed yellow envelope with a puzzled expression. "When the police executed the search warrant at the house, they found this locked inside Ofelia’s personal strongbox. It was addressed directly to you, Mr. Salgado. The authorities handed it over to me as part of the legal discovery process."
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Andrés took the envelope. It was thick, heavy, and sealed with old-fashioned red wax stamped with a family crest he hadn't seen since childhood.
He slit the top open with his thumb and pulled out a single, neatly folded piece of yellowed parchment.
