Chapter 4
Elena arrived two hours later.
She did not come alone.
With her was a man named Gabriel Salcedo.
He was a forensic accountant.
Rosa had never met him.
He carried no briefcase.
Only a black folder and a small laptop.
They sat around the kitchen table.
The same table where Arturo had once tried to get Rosa to sign away her house.
Now the documents were spread across it.
Elena studied the old deed.
Gabriel examined the bank statements.
Mateo sat beside Rosa.
Arturo sat across from them.
He looked increasingly uncomfortable.
After nearly forty minutes, Gabriel finally spoke.
“This is not a simple inheritance matter.”
Rosa looked at him.
“What is it?”
He pointed to the bank statements.
“The trust account was active for years.”
“How many?”
“Twenty-two.”
Rosa's eyes widened.
“And the money?”
Gabriel turned the laptop toward her.
The numbers appeared on the screen.
Rosa stared.
She did not understand every figure.
But she understood one thing.
The amount was enormous.
The building had generated income for decades.
Income that should have belonged to her.
Gabriel continued.
“Someone has been moving the money through multiple accounts.”
“Whose?”
“Initially, Sebastián's.”
Rosa looked at Arturo.
Then Gabriel continued.
“But in the last five years, a large portion was transferred to accounts connected to Verónica.”
Mateo's fists tightened.
“Why?”
Gabriel looked at Arturo.
“That is the question.”
Arturo swallowed.
“I didn't know about the transfers.”
Gabriel studied him.
“You knew about the property.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“You accepted money from Sebastián.”
Arturo said nothing.
Gabriel leaned back.
“Then you were part of the structure, whether you understood all of it or not.”
Rosa closed her eyes.
The word structure frightened her.
It meant this was not one person's betrayal.
It was a system.
A family arrangement built on silence.
Elena picked up the old letter.
“There's another issue.”
She pointed to the sentence about the accident.
“I think we need to investigate this.”
Arturo immediately shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
Rosa's voice was quiet.
“Why not?”
“Because it's ancient history.”
“It's my father's death.”
“It was an accident.”
“How do you know?”
Arturo looked away.
Rosa stood.
“How do you know?”
Arturo's silence answered.
Mateo looked at him.
“Dad?”
Arturo ran a hand over his face.
“I heard something.”
Rosa stared at him.
“What?”
Arturo's voice became low.
“Your father argued with Sebastián the night before the accident.”
Rosa felt a chill.
“About what?”
“Money.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Arturo looked at her.
“Because I was sixteen.”
Rosa froze.
“You were there?”
“I heard them.”
“What did they say?”
Arturo's eyes filled with fear.
“I don't remember everything.”
“Remember.”
He closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
“Your father told Sebastián he was going to expose him.”
Rosa's heart began to pound.
“Expose him for what?”
Arturo shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Gabriel slowly closed the folder.
“Then we need to find out.”
Elena nodded.
“I agree.”
Rosa looked at Arturo.
“What happened the next morning?”
Arturo swallowed.
“Your father left early.”
“And?”
“Sebastián came to the house.”
Rosa froze.
“What?”
Arturo looked at her.
“He came before your father left.”
Rosa's voice trembled.
“You never told me that.”
“I was a child.”
“You were sixteen.”
Arturo looked down.
“I was afraid.”
Rosa took a step toward him.
“Afraid of Sebastián?”
Arturo nodded.
“Why?”
Arturo looked at his mother.
“Because when my father left that morning, Sebastián told me something.”
Rosa waited.
Arturo's voice broke.
“He said, ‘If anyone asks, your father left alone.’”
The room went silent.
Then Gabriel asked the question nobody wanted to hear.
“And did he?”
Arturo slowly raised his eyes.
“I don't know.”
Rosa looked at the old letter.
May you like
For thirty years, she had believed her father's death was an accident.
Now, for the first time, she wondered if he had ever reached the road alone.
