Chapter 3 - The Account
Elena closed the office doors.
“No one enters.”
The security team outside nodded.
Sofia placed her phone on the desk.
“The second account isn't a bank account.”
Elena waited.
“It is a holding structure.”
“For what?”
“Properties.”
Elena frowned.
“How many?”
Sofia looked at her.
“Thirty-seven.”
Elena stood.
“Thirty-seven properties?”
“Thirty-seven properties registered through different companies.”
“Owned by whom?”
Sofia's answer was barely audible.
“The Alcantaras think they own them.”
Elena stared at her.
“Think?”
“They don't.”
A long silence followed.
Sofia opened a digital folder.
“The original ownership documents were transferred years ago.”
“To whom?”
Sofia looked directly at Elena.
“To me.”
Elena stepped backward.
“Why would my father do that?”
“Because he didn't trust anyone else.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“He believed I could disappear without being noticed.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“He was right.”
Sofia lowered her eyes.
“I wasn't supposed to become involved.”
“Yet you did.”
“I had no choice.”
Elena turned toward the window.
“How much money?”
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“Because the structure was designed to make the total impossible to calculate from one place.”
Elena stared at the documents.
Then she noticed something.
One of the property names was familiar.
The Pines.
Her eyes narrowed.
“They don't own The Pines.”
“No.”
“Who does?”
Sofia hesitated.
“The trust.”
“Whose trust?”
Sofia looked at her.
“Mine.”
Elena's face became still.
At that exact moment, her phone rang.
A security officer appeared at the door.
“Mrs. Mendoza.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“The Pines has initiated an emergency transfer.”
Elena froze.
“Transfer to whom?”
The officer looked at Sofia.
“Your niece.”
Sofia's expression changed.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
Elena turned.
“What wasn't?”
Sofia stood.
“Someone triggered the contingency.”
“Who?”
Sofia stared at her phone.
A new message appeared.
You should have stayed gone.
May you like
Sofia whispered,
“They found me.”
