Chapter 3 - The Dark History of Renata Robles
While Lupita was being treated in a luxurious private room upstairs, Alejandro sat by his son's bedside in the pediatric ICU. Mateo looked pale, an IV line taped to his small hand, but his breathing was steady under the plastic oxygen mask.
"Papa," Mateo whispered, his voice hoarse from the trauma to his vocal cords. "Renata told me to stay away from her. She said I was bothering her phone call."
Alejandro squeezed his son's small shoulder, his heart aching with guilt. "I know, mi amor. I know. She’s gone now. She will never come near you again."
"The candy girl... she carried me," Mateo said, a small smile appearing under the mask. "She told me stories about a magical jaguar so I wouldn't close my eyes. Is she okay?"
"She’s being taken care of, Mateo. She’s just upstairs."
A soft knock on the door interrupted them. Marcos stepped into the room, his face exceptionally grim. He gestured for Alejandro to step outside into the hallway.
"What is it, Marcos? Did the Robles family try to post bail?" Alejandro asked, his tone turning icy.
"Worse, sir. After we arrested Renata, I had our cybersecurity team do a deep dive into her personal finances and her history over the past six months. We found something highly disturbing." Marcos handed Alejandro a stack of printed financial statements and encrypted text logs.
Alejandro scanned the pages. His eyes widened as he realized the depth of the deception. Renata wasn't just negligent; her family’s business, the Robles Group, was completely bankrupt. The high-profile merger they were planning with the Santillán hotel chain was a desperate attempt to cover up a massive embezzlement scheme run by her father.
But the text messages were the darkest part. Renata had been texting her father just ten minutes before Mateo’s collapse.
“The kid is constantly with us. Alejandro won’t sign the estate transfer to my name until after the wedding. If something happens to the boy, Alejandro will be devastated and will sign over management of the trust to me immediately so he can grieve. I’m looking for an opportunity.”
Alejandro’s blood ran cold. The allergy. Mateo’s severe peanut allergy was something Renata knew about. She had been tasked with carrying his emergency auto-injector in her purse at all times.
"Marcos," Alejandro whispered, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the papers. "Where is Mateo’s EpiPen? The one Renata was supposed to have?"
"We searched her beige coat when she was processed at the station, sir," Marcos replied quietly. "The pen was in her pocket. But the safety cap had been intentionally glued shut with industrial adhesive. Even if someone had tried to use it, the needle could never have been deployed."
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Alejandro leaned against the hospital wall, the horror of the situation crashing down on him. Renata hadn't just panicked and left his son. She had orchestrated the situation, ensuring that if Mateo had an attack, it would be fatal.
And a barefoot girl selling candy had ruined her perfect plan.
