PART 9
I stood.
“Take Sofia to the emergency room now.”
“Victor.”
“Now.”
“Do not wait for me.”
Rosa said.
“She told me you were getting married.”
“There is no wedding.”
Silence.
Then.
“Oh.”
I looked at the locked door.
Monica knocked again.
“What about Lucas?”
I answered.
“He stays with me.”
Rosa said.
“I’m taking Sofia.”
“Call me when you arrive.”
We hung up.
PART 10
I called hotel security.
Not the front desk.
The director.
His name was Martin.
He had worked with me for years because the hotel was one of several properties owned by Salazar Hospitality Group.
Monica knew I was successful.
She did not know how much of the hotel structure I controlled.
That had always seemed irrelevant.
Now it mattered.
Martin answered.
“Mr. Salazar.”
“Come to room 814.”
“Bring security.”
“Do not alert the bride.”
There was a pause.
“Understood.”
Then I called my attorney.
Gabriel Ortega.
He answered despite it being Saturday.
“Victor.”
“I need you at the Magnolia Hotel.”
“Immediately.”
“What happened?”
“Possible fraud.”
“Possible assault.”
“And the woman involved is Monica.”
Silence.
Then.
“I’m coming.”
PART 11
Monica knocked again.
Then tried the handle.
Locked.
“Victor.”
“This is humiliating.”
I almost laughed.
Humiliating.
Not frightening.
Not confusing.
Humiliating.
Her priority had not changed.
Image first.
Always.
I looked at Lucas.
“Do you want headphones?”
He nodded.
I found a pair in my suitcase.
Put on a cartoon.
Then returned to the laptop.
PART 12
The second file I opened was a bank statement.
My personal investment account.
Except it was not an actual bank statement.
It was a screenshot from an online application.
A transfer request.
Five hundred thousand dollars.
Beneficiary account.
Reyes Consulting Holdings.
I had never heard of Reyes Consulting Holdings.
Then I noticed the status.
Pending approval.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
Electronic.
I stared.
I had never approved that transfer.
I opened the next file.
A power-of-attorney draft.
Naming Monica as agent.
My name appeared.
Again.
Signature.
Again.
Not mine.
The date was two months earlier.
My stomach turned.
PART 13
Next file.
A deed.
My San Antonio residence.
Prepared transfer into a joint trust.
Trustee.
Monica Reyes.
The document had never been filed.
But the signature block looked complete.
My name.
Her name.
Witnesses.
One witness name belonged to a man I recognized.
Carlos Medina.
Monica’s cousin.
He had attended our engagement dinner.
I kept reading.
Another document.
Corporate voting proxy.
This one related to Salazar Hospitality.
My signature again.
Forged again.
My pulse pounded.
This was not an opportunistic plan.
It was organized.
PART 14
Then I opened screenshots of messages.
Monica and someone saved as R.
R wrote.
Once the marriage is legal, spouse status makes everything easier.
Monica replied.
Victor trusts me.
He signs things without reading when I tell him it’s hotel paperwork.
R answered.
Good.
Keep Sofia away.
She asks too many questions.
My jaw tightened.
Next screenshot.
Monica.
She found the trust draft.
R.
Handle it.
Monica.
I already warned her.
R.
Then make sure she cannot stop Saturday.
I stopped breathing.
Saturday.
Today.
Wedding day.
