Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT RODRIGO STOPPED LYING
Renata showed Rodrigo the footage that evening.
He watched it once.
Then he placed her phone face down.
“It was not what it looks like.”
“She was barefoot leaving your private suite at two in the morning.”
“We had been drinking.”
“That is not an explanation.”
Rodrigo walked toward the bar.
Renata remained near the doorway.
“How long?”
He poured whiskey but did not drink it.
“It happened once.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“And after?”
“We ended it.”
“You spent last night alone with her.”
“To work.”
“Do you love her?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly.
Renata almost wished he had hesitated.
Love might have explained something.
Instead, he had risked their marriage for entitlement and convenience.
“Does Valeria believe it ended?”
Rodrigo stared into the glass.
“She understands the situation.”
“What situation?”
“That I’m married.”
Renata laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“She does not act like someone who respects that fact.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You allowed her to speak for you, sign through you, remove me from meetings, and sit where your wife should sit.”
“I didn’t know about Orion.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“I knew she used outside consultants. I did not know she owned the company.”
“Did you sign the invoices?”
“She brought batches of approvals.”
“So you signed without reading.”
“We were trying to survive.”
Renata’s eyes filled, but she refused to let the tears fall.
“Was the affair before or after the trust began discussing financing?”
Rodrigo looked away.
That was the answer.
Valeria had become more powerful at the exact moment Grupo Ibarra became dependent on Renata’s money.
“Fire her,” Renata said.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“She knows every lender, every negotiation, every private weakness in this company.”
“That is why she must go.”
“If I remove her before the dinner, investors will panic.”
Renata stared at him.
“You are asking me to sit quietly while the woman you slept with uses your company to steal money.”
“I’m asking you to give me until the financing closes.”
“And after you get my trust’s money?”
“I will fix everything.”
Renata picked up her phone.
“I have heard enough.”
Rodrigo finally looked frightened.
“If you stop the bridge, thousands of employees could lose their jobs.”
“Do not use innocent employees to protect guilty executives.”
She walked toward the door.
Rodrigo followed.
“Will you still attend the dinner?”
Renata turned.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Valeria sent me a seating plan.”
He looked confused.
Renata’s voice became cold.
May you like
“I want to hear what she says when she believes the room belongs to her.”
👉 Rodrigo thought Renata was attending to preserve appearances, but she had already asked the trust’s lawyers to monitor every word spoken at the dinner.
