Chapter 5 - THE MARRIAGE INSIDE THE ELEVATOR
Two mornings later, Renata entered Grupo Ibarra’s headquarters without announcing herself.
Her last name was still on the building.
The receptionist asked whether she had an appointment.
Before Renata could answer, Valeria appeared from the private elevator.
She wore a cream suit and carried Rodrigo’s coffee.
“Rodrigo is in meetings all morning.”
“I need the Orion records.”
“The legal department will provide whatever is appropriate.”
“The trust is the proposed lender.”
“And you’re also the CEO’s wife. That creates a conflict.”
Renata almost admired the confidence.
“You are his assistant and the owner of a vendor receiving company funds.”
“Chief executive assistant.”
“That does not improve the sentence.”
Several employees turned to listen.
Valeria lowered her voice.
“You should be careful about humiliating Rodrigo inside his own company.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“You walk in after years of staying home, and suddenly you want to prove you matter.”
Renata looked around the lobby.
She had helped choose the building.
She had negotiated its first mortgage.
No one present knew.
That was partly Rodrigo’s fault.
It was partly hers.
The elevator doors opened behind Valeria.
Rodrigo stepped out.
His tie was loose.
Valeria turned immediately and adjusted it with practiced familiarity.
Her fingers rested against his chest for one second too long.
Rodrigo saw Renata watching.
He stepped away.
“What are you doing here?”
“Requesting records your staff has refused to provide.”
Valeria answered before he could.
“She demanded access to confidential files.”
Renata studied her husband.
“Tell her to release them.”
Rodrigo glanced at the employees.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“My office.”
Inside, Renata placed the trust’s formal audit request on his desk.
Rodrigo barely read it.
“This is excessive.”
“Nine million dollars disappeared.”
“It did not disappear.”
“Then show me where it went.”
He walked toward the window.
“You always assume the worst when you don’t control something.”
“I trusted you enough to remain invisible while you took credit for work we did together.”
“I never asked you to disappear.”
“You asked me not to correct anyone.”
Rodrigo turned.
“Because I needed the company to believe in me.”
“And now they believe I’m an unemployed wife interrupting your meetings.”
He had no answer.
Renata noticed a reflection in the window.
Valeria stood outside the glass wall.
She could not hear them.
But she was smiling.
Later, building security sent Renata a private message.
The security director had worked for Isabel Salcedo years earlier.
He attached elevator footage from the previous night.
At 1:14 a.m., Rodrigo and Valeria had entered the executive elevator alone.
At 2:03, they emerged from the private residential suite above his office.
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Valeria was carrying her shoes.
👉 The unexplained invoices were no longer Renata’s only reason to question what her husband had been hiding.
