Álvaro slammed his fists on the table in despair.
—This is a fraud! I built this construction company from the ground up! I got the clients!
“You didn’t get anything,” Diego interrupted, raising his voice for the first time and echoing throughout the room. “The initial capital, the land, the permits… everything came out of my own pocket. And I did it on one condition: because Camila begged me, crying.”
Álvaro felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.
“Camila…?” he whispered, incredulous.
—Yes. My sister. The one you called a “kept woman” last night.
The one you humiliated and threw away in the rain like trash—Diego’s eyes dripped with pure hatred. She knew your fragile male ego wouldn’t tolerate the money coming from your wife’s family.
He asked me to sign everything through a blind trust so that you would feel like the big man of the house.
The silence in the courtroom was deafening. The lawyers watched Álvaro with pity.
“She was the one who designed your best projects for free. She got you appointments with my contacts. She made you a millionaire, and you, you piece of trash, repaid her by throwing her out on the street in a towel,” Diego declared.
Álvaro was sweating profusely. His hands were trembling so much that he dropped the papers.
—But… the house… my house in Las Lomas…
Diego took out another piece of paper and threw it in his face.
—The house is in my real estate company’s name. It was a wedding gift for Camila. You were just living there as a guest.
One of the lawyers spoke up, in a robotic and professional tone.
—Mr. Álvaro, due to the morality and fiduciary breach clauses that you yourself signed without reading 4 years ago, you are hereby removed from your position as general manager with immediate effect.
Your business accounts and company vehicles are being confiscated. You have 10 minutes to clear your desk. Security will escort you out.
“You can’t do this to me! It’s illegal! I’m going to sue!” Álvaro shouted, tears of despair and humiliation welling up in his eyes.
“Sue whatever you want,” Diego said, getting up from his chair. “But I’m warning you. If you dare come within 500 meters of my sister, I swear the lawyers will be the least of your problems.”
Two hours later, Álvaro was walking down the street in Santa Fe, carrying a simple cardboard box with a few picture frames and mugs. He didn’t have a car. His corporate credit cards were blocked.
He miraculously took a taxi and arrived home in Lomas de Chapultepec, praying to find shelter.
But when he arrived, the scene completely devastated him.
On the sidewalk, in the exact same place where Camila had fallen the night before, were piled 4 Louis Vuitton suitcases.
Beside them, Doña Ofelia was crying her eyes out, arguing loudly with three private security guards who were guarding the entrance.
“Álvaro! My son, for the love of God, tell these guys to let us in! They came in and shoved me out, they wouldn’t even let me take my medicine!” his mother shouted hysterically.
Álvaro looked at the house. The locks had already been changed. A “Private Property” sign hung on the gate.
He had nothing. The empire he thought was his was a sandcastle, and the tide had just swept it away.
She sat down on the bench next to her mother, burying her face in her hands. She took out her cell phone, which only had 15 percent battery left, and with trembling fingers typed a message to the woman she had scorned.
“Camila, I’m really sorry. I beg you. I was an idiot. It was my mom’s fault, she put ideas in my head. Please, my love, don’t leave me on the street. We can fix this. I love you.”
The message was marked as sent.
A minute later, the notification appeared: “This contact has blocked you.”
On the other side of the city, in a beautiful and bright office in Polanco, Camila left her cell phone on the architecture drafting table.
She was no longer wearing a soaking wet towel. She was wearing an impeccable tailored suit. Her hair was perfectly styled, and her face held a peace she hadn’t felt in 10 years.
Diego entered the office with two steaming coffees, smiling proudly as he looked at the new plans she was drawing up.
“How are you feeling, partner?” he asked, placing the glass on the table.
Camila looked out the window, observing the city skyline. She took a deep breath, feeling the air finally fill her lungs without any weight.
She thought about Álvaro. She thought about the humiliations, the shouting, the cold rain, and how he believed he had the power to destroy her.
She turned to look at her brother with a radiant and powerful smile.
—Seriously… I feel more in control of my life than ever before.
Álvaro thought that by throwing her out onto the street he was taking everything away from her. What he never understood is that, by closing that door, he gave Camila back the only thing money can never buy: her freedom and her true worth.
