Chapter 18 - The Sound of Steel
Prosecutor Elena Ortiz, who had quietly slipped out of my room through a side door moments before, marched down the hallway. Flanking her were two massive, heavily armed detectives from the Investigative Police.
"Ah, the authorities," Diego’s lawyer sighed in relief, completely misreading the situation. "Officers, this doctor is illegally detaining my client’s wife..."
Elena ignored the lawyer entirely. She stopped inches from Diego, holding up an official document stamped with the red seal of the Attorney General.
"Diego Villalobos González?" she asked coldly.
Diego adjusted his expensive suit jacket. "Yes. Good thing you are here to arrest this crazy doctor."
"I am Prosecutor Elena Ortiz," she said, her voice echoing down the pristine hallway. "And I am here to execute an immediate arrest warrant against you for the crimes of Aggravated Domestic Violence and Attempted Femicide."
Diego froze. The color vanished from his face, leaving him looking like a ghost. He looked wildly at the document, then at the two massive detectives stepping up beside him.
"What? This is insane! Do something, lawyer!" Diego panicked, backing away. "She did this to herself! My mother saw her!"
The detectives didn't give him time to argue. In one swift, practiced motion, one officer grabbed Diego's right arm, twisting it firmly behind his back, while the other unclipped his handcuffs.
Click-clack.
The sharp, metallic sound of the steel cuffs snapping shut around Diego’s wrists was the most beautiful symphony I had ever heard.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Diego howled, thrashing wildly against the officers, his expensive shoes scuffing the hospital floor. "Valeria! You bitch! You are going to pay for this! I will destroy you!"
"Take him away," Elena ordered in disgust.
They dragged him toward the elevator. His screams of rage and desperate threats faded as the heavy steel doors closed, severing his power over my life forever.
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Dr. Mendoza walked back into my room. He looked at me, a gentle, tired smile on his face.
"It's over, Valeria," he said softly. "The monster is gone."
