Chapter 20 - The First BattleTwo years into her career, Sofia took a case that nobody else would touch.
It involved a massive construction conglomerate, Grupo Varela. A poorly reinforced scaffolding had collapsed at one of their luxury high-rise sites, killing three undocumented laborers. The company had immediately bribed the local inspectors, blaming the workers for negligence. The families were left with nothing but grief and eviction notices.
Sofia took the case pro bono.
She was up against a defense team of twelve high-paid corporate lawyers. Her office was a tiny, cramped room above a bakery, filled with stacks of files and empty coffee cups.
I took a week off from the clinic and took a bus to the capital. When I walked into her office, she was asleep at her desk, her cheek resting on a pile of safety regulations.
I quietly set a cup of hot coffee next to her. The smell woke her up.
"Papa?" she blinked, rubbing her tired eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"You sounded tired on the phone," I said, sitting in the chair across from her. "Tell me what's wrong."
"They're drowning me in paperwork, Papa," she sighed, burying her face in her hands. "They buried the safety reports in thousands of pages of irrelevant documents. The CEO, Arturo Varela, is lying under oath, but I can't find the proof. They covered their tracks perfectly."
I looked at my brilliant daughter, feeling a profound sense of déjà vu.
"Sofia," I said quietly. "Do you remember what I told you about how the elite operate?"
She looked up.
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"They are arrogant," I reminded her. "Men like Arturo Varela don't clean up their own messes. They delegate. They think they are untouchable, which means they always leave a paper trail. Don't look at the safety reports. Look at the financial ledgers. Look for the bribes."
Her eyes widened. The exhaustion vanished, replaced by a sharp, predatory focus.
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