Chapter 3: The Audit of Deceit
The next few days were a blur of lawyers, forensic accountants, and private investigators. Jimena tried to play the victim. She called the press, she leaked stories about my "abusive temper," and she tried to file for an emergency custody order, claiming I was unstable.
She didn't know who she was fighting.
I didn't stop at the money. I dug into the "nanny" she had hired—a woman who spent her days on her phone while my girls sat in the dark. I found the doctors who had been paid to falsify reports about the girls' health, claiming they were "naturally small" to hide the malnutrition.
I took the evidence to the District Attorney. I didn't just want a divorce; I wanted justice.
While the legal storm raged, I focused on the girls. I hired the best pediatricians, the best nutritionists, and the most gentle child psychologists. We spent our days in the quiet of a rental home away from the mansion, eating real food, reading books, and learning to trust again.
"Daddy, is she coming back?" Valeria asked one evening, as we baked cookies.
"No, sweetheart," I said, my heart aching. "She will never touch you again. You are safe. You are loved. And you are enough, exactly as you are."
Camila hugged my leg. "You're not going to Monterrey anymore, right?"
"No," I promised. "Monterrey can wait. You are the only business that matters now."
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It was a slow process. They jumped at loud noises. They hid their snacks. They apologized for the smallest things. But every day, I saw the light return to their eyes. I saw them grow stronger. And every day, I learned more about the extent of Jimena's cruelty. She hadn't just neglected them; she had actively sought to destroy their spirits, to make them subservient, to keep them quiet so she could live her life of luxury unbothered.
The fury I felt kept me awake at night, but it also kept me focused. I wasn't going to let her walk away with a settlement. I was going to strip her of everything she valued: her status, her reputation, and her freedom.
