Chapter 7 - The Unravelling
Alejandro lunged forward, his desperation overriding his fear as he grabbed for Sergio’s sleeve. “Please, Sergio! Don't involve compliance! We can fix this internally! If you flag this before the general manager promotion goes through, my career is finished—I’ll lose everything!”
Sergio violently jerked his arm away, sneering down at the man who had bowed and scraped before him all evening. “Your career was finished the moment you decided to steal from a fund dedicated to pediatric research grants, Alejandro. Did you really think you could use my name as a shield while you played sugar daddy to your assistant?”
“It wasn't just him,” a cold, sharp voice interrupted from the dark hallway behind us.
We all turned.
I hadn’t heard her approach, but stepping out from the shadows of the den was someone I hadn't expected to see tonight. It wasn't Chloe on the phone anymore. It was Chloe in the flesh, standing right in our hallway.
She wore a sleek trench coat, her blonde hair slightly damp from the midnight rain, holding her own phone out like a shield. Her eyes flashed with panic, but beneath the fear was a ruthless, feral survival instinct.
“Chloe? What the hell are you doing here?” Alejandro shrieked, his eyes bulging as he looked between his wife and his mistress. “How did you even get in?”
“Your spare key was right where you always keep it, under the fake potted plant,” Chloe snapped, glaring at Alejandro with absolute contempt. She turned her gaze to Sergio, her posture straightening. “Mr. Mendoza, if you’re looking to pin the entire embezzlement scheme on a mid-level manager, you’re looking at the wrong person. Alejandro didn't just approve those transfers—he wrote the code that routed them through the company’s automated payroll system. I have every single email he sent me, detailing how we were going to frame his wife’s mental instability to take the fall if the audit ever hit.”
Silence fell over the foyer, so thick and heavy you could hear the distant hum of traffic outside the condo window.
I looked at Chloe, then at Alejandro, and finally back at Sergio. The web of lies they had woven together over the years was collapsing inward, crushing them both under its weight.
“You planned to frame me?” I asked softly, looking directly at my husband.
Alejandro’s lower lip quivered. He couldn't meet my eyes. He turned his head away, staring blankly at the floor. “Mariana... I had to. She had me trapped—”
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“Shut up!” Chloe screamed, stepping forward and shoving Alejandro hard against the wall. “Don't sit there and play the victim! You were the one who suggested we bleed the regional grant dry so we could buy that penthouse in Lincoln Park!”
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