Elena, I want you to do something for me, whatever you need. I want you to prepare a complete report of all these irregularities: dates, amounts, descriptions, everything legally documented. He paused, looking back at the street.
And I want you to change all the account access codes. Starting tomorrow, any business transaction over €500 will require my personal authorization. Cristina, are you sure? That means Damian won’t be able to.
Damian can continue managing the day-to-day operations, but the little gifts for his wife are over. His voice was firm, resolute. And Elena, I want Ruth to know exactly why she won’t have access to anything.
Elena smiled for the first time all afternoon. “When do you want the report ready?” Cristina checked her watch: 3:15 p.m. In a few hours, Damian and Ruth would be in their newlywed apartment, probably planning how to leverage company resources for their honeymoon that very afternoon.
And Elena, make sure they receive a certified copy before 8 p.m. As Cristina headed for the door, Elena stopped her with one last question. What if Damian tries to contact you?
If he wants to negotiate. Cristina stopped in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob and the other on her stomach. Tell him I’d be happy to talk to him after he returns every last cent he stole from my son.
The door closed with a soft but final click, like the sound of a new life beginning. Damian and Rut’s apartment in Pedralves. 7:45 p.m. The two-bedroom apartment in Pedralves smelled of cheap champagne and broken dreams.
Ruth had tried to create a romantic atmosphere with ivory candles and rose petals scattered on the floor, but the reality of her new financial situation had turned the celebration into a bittersweet farce.
The glasses were ordinary crystal, not Baccarat as she had dreamed. And the champagne was a cheap cava from Mercadona, not the Dom Pérignon she had imagined for her wedding night.
Damian sat on the anthracite gray sofa, still wearing his wrinkled morning shirt, staring at his phone with a somber expression. Bills piled up on the coffee table: rent, electricity, water, internet—expenses that had once seemed insignificant when he thought he had a thriving business, but now loomed like menacing mountains.
“Are you going to sit there all night?” Ru asked from the kitchenette, where she was trying to prepare a romantic dinner with the few ingredients they had found in the refrigerator. “This is supposed to be our special day.” “Special.” Damian looked up.
“Ruth, do you realize what happened today? I have nothing, absolutely nothing. I’m an employee of my ex-wife.” Ruth approached with two plates of pasta with tomato sauce, trying to maintain a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“But we’re still together. That’s what matters, isn’t it? Love conquers all.” Before Damian could reply, the doorbell rang insistently. Three long rings followed by three more.
Ru frowned and went to the intercom. “Who is it?” “Express courier service. Registered mail for Damián Hurtado and Ruth Díaz.” Ruth exchanged a worried glance with Damián, who would be sending them registered mail on their wedding day.
“Get in,” he said, pressing the button. Five minutes later, a uniformed messenger handed them a padded manila envelope with Elena Ruiz’s agency logo. Damian signed the receipt with trembling hands, sensing that whatever was in that envelope wasn’t going to improve his day.
Once they were alone, he carefully tore open the envelope. Inside was a 12-page spiral-bound report with a handwritten note from Elena on the first page. “Damián, Cristina asked me to give this to you before 8.”
We need to talk first thing tomorrow. Elena Ruth approached from behind, reading over his shoulder. What’s that? Damian turned the first page and began to read.
With each line, his face grew paler. The transfers, the expenses, the invoices—everything was there, documented with surgical precision: dates, amounts, descriptions, every euro he had borrowed from the company over the past eight months.
“Oh my God,” she murmured. Ruth snatched the document from her hands and began to read aloud. Transfer to Ru Díaz Moreno’s account, €5625. Concept not specified.
Her voice grew weaker as she walked on. Suñer jewelry bill €3,200. Description: White gold bracelet with diamonds. She looked at Damian with growing horror. Apartment expenses on Vinguda Diagonal €2,800 per month for 8 months.
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