Chapter 3 - The Investigation Deepens
The next morning, Ricardo did not go to his corporate offices in Santa Fe. Instead, he transformed his private suite at the hospital into a high-tech war room.
Four of his top forensic cyber-security specialists from his AI firm, Aegis Intelligence, sat at a temporary desk, their fingers flying across encrypted laptops. Next to them stood Hector Vance, a former federal prosecutor who now served as Ricardo’s chief legal counsel.
“I want everything,” Ricardo ordered, his voice cold and devoid of any humanity. “Every text, every email, every bank transfer, every contract she has signed in the last six months. If she bought a cup of coffee, I want to know who poured it.”
“We’re already inside her private cloud, Mr. Galván,” the lead analyst reported. “We found a hidden directory encrypted with a simple algorithm. It didn't take us long to crack it.”
He projected the findings onto a portable screen mounted on the wall.
The Paper Trail of GreedThe data revealed a level of calculated malice that shocked even Hector Vance.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| VALERIA'S SECRET FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEM |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Entity: "L'Enfant Pur" (Luxembourg-registered LLC) |
| * Contract Value: $3.2 Million USD |
| * Penalty Clause: $1.0 Million USD if model (Diego) fails to |
| meet physical specifications (Weight < 20kg, Skin Tone: L1) |
| * Private Payments: $15,000 USD monthly to Dr. Emilio Sotomayor |
| (Unregistered Pediatric "Wellness" Clinic in Polanco) |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
“My God,” Hector breathed, adjusting his glasses. “She mortgaged her own son’s health. Look at this penalty clause. If Diego gained even half a kilo, or if his skin tone showed any sun exposure, she stood to lose millions.”
“And look at the payments to this Dr. Sotomayor,” the analyst pointed to the screen. “He’s a discredited pediatrician who lost his license in Spain five years ago for administering unauthorized growth inhibitors and experimental aesthetic treatments to children of wealthy clients. He’s been operating an underground clinic in Polanco under a shell medical spa license.”
Ricardo stood up, his eyes locked on the name of the doctor.
“He’s the one who supplied the chemical peeling creams and the prescription-grade sedatives,” Ricardo said, his voice flat.
“Yes,” Hector confirmed. “And we have found the chat logs between Valeria and Sotomayor. She explicitly complains that Diego’s 'whining and crying' about the chemical burns was making it impossible for the photographers to work. Sotomayor literally tells her to 'double the dosage of the syrup' and assures her that the compression garments would 'sculpt his silhouette' permanently if worn continuously.”
RECOVERED ENCRYPTED CHAT LOG (October 14, 2025) Valeria: The boy has open sores on his thighs. He refuses to wear the wool trousers for the winter collection shoot tomorrow. Dr. Sotomayor: Apply the silver nitrate cream to dry the wounds temporarily. Give him 5ml of the blue bottle twenty minutes before the shoot. He won't feel a thing. The camera doesn't show pain.
Ricardo’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles popped. “She didn't just neglect him, Hector. This is corporate-sponsored child torture.”
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“We have enough to put her away for a very long time,” Hector said. “But we need to act quickly. Valeria’s legal team is already preparing a countersuit. They are going to claim that you are using your resources to manufacture these allegations to avoid paying the alimony settlement from your divorce.”
“Let them try,” Ricardo said, a dark, terrifying smile appearing on his face. “They think they are playing a legal game. I am going to destroy her entire world before she even steps into a courtroom.”
