Chapter 2 - Unmasking the ParasitesSantiago Mendoza’s office sat on the top floor of a sleek glass tower overlooking the Puebla skyline. His desk was immaculately organized, stacked with black leather folders.
I sat across from him while the audio recording finished playing through his high-end desk speakers. The last cruel chuckle of Diego’s voice echoed in the room before dying out.
Santiago slowly removed his glasses, his eyes sharp and grim.
"It’s rare that a client hands me an airtight confession on day one," Santiago said quietly. "Legally, Mexico is an all-party or single-party consent territory depending on civil context, but for financial fraud and marital asset dissipation, this audio is an atomic bomb."
"I don't just want a divorce, Santiago," I said, leaning forward. "I want my money back. I want every single peso I poured into my sister’s life, my mother’s lifestyle, and my husband’s fake projects returned to my father’s trust."
Santiago pulled up a set of digital financial records on his monitor. "While you were driving over, I took the liberty of running a preliminary sweep on the joint accounts you share with Diego, as well as the subsidiary accounts under your father’s holding company, Grupo Alfa Development."
He turned the screen toward me.
"Look here," Santiago pointed with his pen. "Over the last eighteen months, Diego has approved six major vendor wire transfers from your family's construction reserve fund to an independent shell company registered under the name Lumina Consultores."
My eyes narrowed. "Who owns Lumina?"
"The registered owner is Lourdes Gomez—your mother," Santiago revealed. "And the secondary signatory on the corporate bank account? Mariana Gomez."
The blood rushed to my ears. They hadn't just been waiting for handouts; they were actively embezzling from my father’s legacy.
"How much?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"So far? Four point two million pesos," Santiago replied coldly. "Diego was using his position as Financial Director at your family's firm to approve fake invoices for 'architectural consulting' provided by Lumina. He was literally paying your sister a monthly salary out of your company’s pockets to be his mistress and live in a luxury condo in Angelópolis."
"And my fertility treatments?"
"The three hundred thousand pesos you transferred to Diego’s account last month for the clinic in Mexico City?" Santiago pulled up another receipt. "It was never paid to the clinic. The money was transferred directly to a private medical suite at Ángeles Hospital to cover the VIP delivery fees, private nurses, and imported nursery furniture for Mariana."
A bitter laugh escaped my lips. I closed my eyes for a brief second, taking a deep breath to anchor myself. They had made me undergo painful hormone injections, diagnostic surgeries, and emotional agony—all while using the money I gave them to deliver their secret child.
"What is the play, Santiago?" I opened my eyes, looking at him with absolute clarity.
"If we file for divorce today," Santiago explained, "Diego will immediately attempt to liquidate what assets he can access, hide behind your mother, and claim that the money transfers were 'family gifts' approved by you. We need to catch him in a position where he cannot run."
"He’s expecting a major promotion next week," I said, remembering the conversation we’d had over breakfast three days ago. "The board of Grupo Alfa is holding its annual shareholder gala on Saturday night at the Grand Hotel de Puebla. Diego believes my mother and I are going to officially hand over thirty percent of the voting shares to him so he can become Managing Partner."
Santiago’s lips curved into a sharp, lethal smile. "He really thinks he has you completely under his control, doesn't he?"
"He does," I said. "He thinks I’m broken, desperate, and clueless."
"Then let him keep thinking that until Saturday," Santiago said, pulling a fresh stack of legal documents toward him. "Between now and then, my team will execute emergency freezes on Lumina Consultores' accounts, audit every single invoice Diego has ever signed, and prepare a criminal indictment for corporate fraud and grand theft."
"And my mother and sister?"
May you like
"When the hammer falls on Diego, it will shatter Lumina Consultores," Santiago said. "Lourdes and Mariana will be named as co-conspirators in corporate embezzlement. They will face full asset seizure and criminal charges unless they repay every single cent."
"Good," I said, standing up and buttoning my coat. "Because I’m visiting my sister tomorrow to congratulate her on her baby boy."
Related Stories
