Chapter 5 - THE WEB UNRAVELS
By 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, the master suite of the San Pedro mansion was filled with the sound of designer luggage zipping shut.
Paulina stood in front of the walk-in closet, barking orders at her personal stylist over speakerphone while sipping an espresso.
“Yes, make sure the private jet is fueled for Cabo by Sunday afternoon. I can't stand another second in this morgue of a house now that the brat-sitter is gone,” Paulina complained, adjusting her diamond tennis bracelet—a different one than the stolen piece, though equally exorbitant.
The bedroom door creaked open.
Paulina turned around, expecting to see a maid carrying her dry cleaning. Instead, it was Héctor.
He was dressed in a crisp navy suit, looking completely calm, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.
Paulina rolled her eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, it’s you. Look, Héctor, if you’re here to lecture me about firing that thief, save your breath. I told you, women like Rosalía have zero morals. Now, are you going to transfer my monthly shopping budget or do I have to remind your accountants who keeps this family respectable in society?”
Héctor didn't move. He didn't blink. He just stared at her with a chilling, deadpan gaze that made Paulina’s synthetic smile falter slightly.
“You’re right, Paulina,” Héctor said quietly. “Morals are hard to come by in this house.”
Paulina frowned, crossing her arms defensively. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” Héctor stepped into the room, his stride slow and measured, “that I went down to the holding facility last night to visit Rosalía.”
Paulina’s face tightened. “You did what? Are you out of your mind? You visited a criminal who stole from me? What must your business associates think—?”
“I also spent the night reviewing our home security system,” Héctor continued, cutting her off entirely. “All sixteen cameras. Frame by frame. From the utility corridor to the children’s playroom.”
The color drained from Paulina’s face so fast it looked like someone had turned off her blood supply. Her jaw went slack, and the gold-rimmed espresso cup slipped from her fingers, shattering into a thousand glittering pieces against the Italian marble floor.
“Héctor… I… I don't know what you’re talking about,” she stammered, her voice suddenly losing its razor-sharp edge, replaced by a frantic, high-pitched quiver.
“At 2:12 p.m. yesterday, you planted your own diamond bracelet in Rosalía’s market bag,” Héctor said, his voice dropping into a register so cold it felt like liquid nitrogen. “And two days before that, in the playroom, you poured heavy pediatric sedatives into our sons' milk so you wouldn't have to deal with them while you went out to your country club.”
Paulina stepped backward, hitting the edge of her vanity table. Her eyes darted wildly around the room as if looking for an escape hatch.
“It’s a lie! You’re framing me! You’ve been working with that stupid nanny behind my back to turn my own children against me!” she shrieked, her voice cracking into pure hysteria.
Héctor pulled a slim USB flash drive from his breast pocket and held it up between two fingers.
“Every single file—the video of you planting the evidence, the video of you drugging our children, the pharmacy purchase logs under your secret credit card, and your text messages bragging about it to your friends—is backed up on three separate secure servers outside of Mexico,” Héctor said calmly. “By Monday morning, the judge handling our divorce will have all of it. You won't get a single cent of my fortune. You won't even get custody of your own shadow.”
For a second, panic paralyzed Paulina. Then, the terror transformed into a mask of pure, unadulterated venom.
She lunged forward, her nails clawing toward Héctor’s face. “You arrogant bastard! You think you can destroy me?! I’ll ruin you! I’ll tell the media you beat me, I’ll take the boys, I’ll—!”
Héctor caught her wrists effortlessly mid-air, gripping them with a strength that made her gasp in pain. He pushed her back down against the vanity chair with absolute contempt.
“Don't ever test me, Paulina,” Héctor whispered right into her ear. “You tried to destroy an innocent woman's life to cover up your own laziness and cruelty. But your time in this house is officially over.”
He dropped her wrists as if touching something toxic, turned around, and walked out of the bedroom, locking the heavy oak door behind him from the outside.
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He didn't need to call the police yet.
Because tonight, Héctor was going to throw a dinner party. And all of San Pedro’s elite high-society figures were about to get the shock of their lives.
