Chapter 2: The Man I Tried to Destroy
At 11:56 p.m., Alejandro Serrano arrived at the gates of my estate.
The security cameras recorded his black SUV pulling up beneath the iron arch bearing the Villarreal family crest. Rain had begun to fall, turning the driveway into a slick ribbon of reflected light.
Two guards stepped out of the security booth.
One recognized him immediately.
“Mr. Serrano, you cannot enter.””
Alejandro rolled down his window.
“My name is Alejandro Serrano. There's a pregnant woman inside your property suffering from a medical emergency. Open the gate.””
The older guard shifted his weight.
“Mr. Villarreal hasn't authorized any visitors.””
“Your employer's wife is bleeding on the floor.””
“We have instructions.””
Alejandro stared at him.
“Instructions from whom?””
“Mr. Villarreal.””
For a moment, Alejandro said nothing.
Then he reached for his phone.
“I'm calling the emergency dispatcher again. You can explain directly to them why you're refusing to open a gate while a woman and her unborn child may be dying.””
The younger guard glanced nervously at his colleague.
“Sir, we can't—”
Alejandro stepped out into the rain.
“Then get your supervisor on the phone.””
The older guard planted himself in front of the entrance.
“I'll lose my job if I let you in.””
Alejandro looked at him, water running down the shoulders of his dark suit.
“And she'll lose her life if you don't.””
The guard's expression faltered.
Behind Alejandro, sirens approached the estate.
He turned toward the sound.
An ambulance pulled up behind his SUV, followed by a second vehicle carrying two members of Alejandro's private security team.
One of the paramedics climbed out with a medical bag.
“Where's the patient?””
“Inside the main house. She's eight months pregnant. She fell down the stairs, reported bleeding and abdominal pain, and says the baby isn't moving normally.””
The paramedic's expression changed immediately.
“We need access now.””
Alejandro faced the guards again.
“Open it.””
The younger guard reached for the control panel.
His supervisor grabbed his wrist.
“Wait. We need authorization.””
Alejandro took one step forward.
“Touch that panel or move out of my way. Those are your options.””
The older guard looked at the approaching paramedics, then at Alejandro's face.
Finally, he pressed the button.
The gates swung open.
Alejandro ran ahead of the ambulance.
He had not stepped onto my property in five years.
The last time he had stood beneath that marble entrance, we had been brothers in everything but blood. We had celebrated the first major contract of our careers, shared a bottle of my father's expensive whiskey, and promised that no amount of money would ever come between us.
Then I had accused him of embezzling millions from our construction company.
The accusation had been a lie.
I had known it was a lie when I made it.
But the evidence had carried my signature, the board had believed me, and Alejandro had lost his position, his investors, and the woman he had planned to marry.
I had told myself that business was business.
I had never imagined that one day I would need him to save my wife.
The front door stood locked.
Alejandro pounded against it.
“Camila!””
No answer.
He struck the door again.
“Camila, it's Alejandro! The ambulance is here!””
From somewhere inside came a faint sound.
A scrape.
Then a whisper.
“Help…”
Alejandro turned to the security team.
“Break the lock.””
One of his men produced a compact breaching tool. Within seconds, the door gave way.
The smell hit them first.
Metallic blood. Cold marble. The faint scent of the white lilies Camila liked to keep in the entrance hall.
Alejandro stepped inside.
Then he saw her.
Camila lay at the foot of the staircase, one hand curled against her abdomen. Her hair was spread across the marble. A dark stain had spread beneath her dress, and her face was so pale that her lips seemed almost colorless.
For one terrible second, Alejandro forgot how to move.
“Camila?””
Her eyelids fluttered.
He dropped to his knees beside her.
“I'm here. Can you hear me?””
She tried to speak, but only a breath emerged.
Alejandro took her hand carefully.
“Don't move. The paramedics are coming.””
She tightened her fingers around his.
“Mateo…”
His jaw clenched.
“Don't worry about Mateo right now. Just stay with me.””
The paramedics rushed through the entrance, pushing their equipment ahead of them.
“Sir, please move back.””
Alejandro released Camila's hand reluctantly.
One paramedic checked her pulse while another began assessing her condition.
“Possible placental abruption,” the first said.
“We need to move quickly.””
“Her blood pressure is dangerously low,” the second replied.
“Let's prepare for transport.””
Alejandro stood nearby, his hands trembling.
“Is the baby alive?””
The paramedic didn't look up.
“We won't know until we've assessed her properly. We need to get her to the hospital immediately.””
Camila's eyes opened again.
She looked toward Alejandro.
“Don't let them take him…”
He leaned closer.
“No one is taking anyone. We're getting you both help.””
A paramedic secured an oxygen mask over her face.
As they transferred her onto the stretcher, Camila suddenly gripped Alejandro's sleeve.
“Please… don't let Mateo send me away.””
Alejandro froze.
“What do you mean?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He said… if I kept calling, he'd turn off my phone.””
Alejandro looked toward the staircase.
A trail of blood marked the marble steps.
His expression hardened in a way his assistant had not seen in years.
“Get her into the ambulance,” he said quietly.
The paramedics wheeled Camila outside.
Alejandro followed, then stopped at the entrance and turned to the guards.
“Who was on duty tonight?””
The older guard swallowed.
“I was supervising.””
“Did she call for help?””
The guard looked down.
“Yes.””
“How many times?””
“I don't know, sir.””
Alejandro took a step toward him.
“You knew she was injured, and you did nothing?””
“We tried calling Mr. Villarreal, but his phone was unreachable.””
“Then why didn't you open the gate?””
The guard had no answer.
Alejandro pointed toward the driveway.
“Give the police your statement. All of you. Preserve every camera recording from tonight. If anyone deletes a single second, I'll make sure the investigators know.””
He climbed into the ambulance beside Camila.
The doors closed.
As the vehicle pulled away, he called his assistant.
“Find out where Mateo is.””
“I'm checking now.””
“And get me a list of every call made from Camila's phone to his number tonight.””
“Why?””
“Because if he knew she was dying and chose to ignore her, I want proof.””
The assistant fell silent.
Then he asked the question Alejandro had been dreading.
“Sir, if this becomes public, what do you want us to do?””
Alejandro watched Camila's motionless face as the paramedic adjusted her oxygen mask.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Nothing?””
“I'm done protecting powerful men from the consequences of their own decisions.””
At the hospital, doctors were waiting at the emergency entrance.
Camila was rushed through the double doors, and Alejandro was left beneath the harsh fluorescent lights with blood on the cuff of his shirt.
He stared at it.
Five years ago, I had stood in a boardroom and told a dozen investors that Alejandro was a thief.
Tonight, he had crossed a locked gate and knelt in my wife's blood without asking whether I would approve.
His phone rang.
The screen displayed the name of his attorney.
Alejandro answered.
“Tell me you have something.””
“I do,” the attorney replied.
“I've been reviewing the original financial records from the Villarreal case. There's a discrepancy in the transfer authorization.””
“What kind of discrepancy?””
“The account that received the money wasn't registered to you or your company.””
Alejandro closed his eyes.
“Who owned it?””
The attorney paused.
Then he said a name.
“Mateo Villarreal.””
For five years, Alejandro had suspected that I had framed him.
Now he had the first piece of evidence that could prove it.
But before he could ask another question, a doctor appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Mr. Serrano?””
Alejandro ended the call.
“Yes?””
The doctor's expression was grave.
“We've stabilized your friend as much as we can, but we need to perform an emergency delivery. The baby's heart rate has dropped dangerously low.””
Alejandro's stomach tightened.
“Will they survive?””
“We're doing everything possible.””
The doctor turned toward the operating room.
Then he stopped.
“There's one more problem. We need the patient's medical history and information about her previous medications.””
Alejandro reached for his phone.
“I'll get it.””
The doctor hesitated.
“Her husband should be here.””
Alejandro looked at the blood drying on his sleeve.
“Yes,” he said.
“He should.””
He called me.
My phone was still on airplane mode, abandoned on the sofa inside the nightclub.
And while the doctors prepared to save my wife and child, I was laughing at a joke Valeria had just whispered into my ear.
I had no idea that Alejandro was standing outside an operating room, waiting to learn whether my son would live.
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I had no idea that the man I had destroyed was about to uncover the truth behind my fortune.
And I had no idea that the first person to confront me with the evidence would be my own wife.
