Chapter 11 - THE ACCOUNT RODRIGO COULD NOT EXPLAIN
Rodrigo arrived at Daniel Shaw’s office with two attorneys.
Renata sat at the opposite end of the glass conference table.
No wedding ring.
No private conversation.
Only documents.
Daniel displayed the Red Meridian transfer.
“Seven hundred fifty thousand dollars left Mr. Ibarra’s private account and entered this company three months ago.”
Rodrigo stared at the screen.
“I did not authorize that.”
“The transfer used your biometric approval.”
Valeria had controlled Rodrigo’s phone during meetings.
She knew his passwords.
She sometimes held the device while he drove.
But biometric approval required his face.
Rodrigo closed his eyes.
“She brought me documents at home.”
“What kind of documents?” Renata asked.
“Insurance renewals. Personal guarantees. Vendor approvals.”
“Were you sober?”
His attorney objected to the question.
Rodrigo answered anyway.
“Not always.”
Renata remembered the whiskey.
The late nights.
The messages he barely read before signing.
Daniel continued.
“Red Meridian holds an eight-percent equity option in the entity Mercer Ridge planned to create after acquiring Grupo Ibarra’s assets.”
Rodrigo looked sick.
“She planned to profit from the default.”
“Yes.”
“With my money.”
“Yes.”
His attorney leaned forward.
“This supports Mr. Ibarra’s position that he was defrauded.”
Daniel’s expression remained neutral.
“It does not erase his false disclosures to lenders.”
Renata placed three emails on the table.
Rodrigo had assured the trust that no company executive held a financial interest in any vendor.
He knew Valeria had introduced Orion.
He claimed he did not know she owned it.
But one email from six months earlier read:
VALERIA—KEEP ORION OUTSIDE THE BOARD PACKAGE. RENATA WILL OVERREACT IF SHE SEES ANOTHER RELATED VENDOR.
Rodrigo stared at his own words.
Renata’s voice became quiet.
“You knew it was related.”
“I thought it belonged to a friend of hers.”
“You concealed it anyway.”
“I was trying to close the projects.”
“You were trying to avoid my questions.”
Rodrigo looked at her.
“I never wanted the company to collapse.”
“Valeria counted on that. She knew you would hide smaller lies to protect the larger image.”
Daniel received a message and placed his phone down.
Investigators had entered Valeria’s apartment.
She was gone.
Her passport, jewelry, and computers were missing.
On her desk, they found a printed flight itinerary to Mexico City.
Departure was in ninety minutes.
Then airport security located her vehicle.
May you like
It was parked outside a private terminal.
👉 Valeria was preparing to flee, and the encrypted drive in her luggage could determine whether Rodrigo had knowingly joined her scheme.
