Chapter 24 - The First Strike
The intimidation tactics escalated violently the very next morning.
Natalia arrived at her flagship construction site—a massive, multi-million-peso eco-resort on the edge of the city limits. The project was meant to be the crown jewel of her firm’s portfolio.
As she pulled her truck up to the gates, she realized something was horribly wrong. The private security guards she had hired were missing.
Natalia jumped out of her vehicle and ran onto the site. Absolute chaos greeted her. The heavy construction machinery had been brutally vandalized. The tires on the excavators were slashed, and thick, viscous sugar had been poured directly into the gas tanks of the generators, effectively destroying the engines.
Worse still, the primary site office trailer had been broken into. Natalia pushed the door open to find her physical blueprints shredded and scattered across the floor, covered in dark, black spray paint. Painted aggressively across the main wall was a single word: SELL.
Her site manager, a burly, loyal man named Carlos, ran up to her, breathless and furious.
"They hit us around 3:00 AM, boss," Carlos panted. "They disabled the cameras before they breached the fence. The guards said a dozen men with baseball bats swarmed them and tied them up. They caused hundreds of thousands of pesos in damage."
Natalia stood in the middle of the wreckage, her fists clenched so tightly her fingernails dug painfully into her palms. She knew exactly who had done this. Mauricio Salazar was making good on his threat. He wanted to bleed her dry until she was forced to surrender her office building to cover the construction losses.
"Call the police, Carlos," Natalia ordered, her voice eerily calm despite the devastation. "File a full report. And hire double the security for tonight. Armed guards this time."
She walked back to her truck, dialing Elena’s number.
"Elena. Salazar hit the eco-resort site. We have massive damages," Natalia said the moment the lawyer answered.
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"Are you safe?" Elena demanded instantly.
"I'm fine. But I am done playing defense," Natalia said, her eyes burning with cold fire. "Salazar thinks he can bully me because I am an independent woman. He forgot how I built this company. Meet me at the office in an hour. We are going to war."
