Chapter 24 - The Forged Foundation
The locking mechanism on the steel box had already been drilled out by the federal investigators. Camila sat at her kitchen table, the coastal sunlight illuminating the dust that drifted from the lid as she opened it.
Inside were three documents, yellowed with age, and a single, faded photograph.
Her eye movement was slow, analytical, as she unfolded the first document. It was a land deed. The property described was a massive, lucrative stretch of commercial real estate in the heart of the capital. The original owners listed were Alejandro and Maria Flores. Her parents.
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Camila’s breathing hitched. She read the second document. It was a transfer of ownership to Arturo Santillán, dated exactly two days before the tragic car accident that had taken her parents' lives and orphaned her.
She looked at the signatures. They were clumsy, uneven imitations. Absolute, undeniable forgeries. The Santilláns had not taken her in out of charity after her parents died. They had stolen her inheritance, murdered her family, and enslaved the rightful heir to clean their marble floors.
