Chapter 7 - The First Lie
“Why are you here?” Alexander asked.
Carmen lifted her chin.
“We came because Sofia became unstable at the reception.”
Javier nodded too quickly.
“She ran away after attacking my mother.”
Sofia tried to rise.
Elena held her firmly.
“That’s not true.”
Carmen looked at her with theatrical pity.
“You don’t remember clearly, sweetheart.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“Do not call her that.”
Javier stepped into the apartment again.
Alexander blocked him with one rigid arm.
“You stay in the hall.”
“This is between me and my wife.”
“No. This is between my daughter and the people who followed her after she escaped them.”
Javier went pale.
Carmen remained composed.
“She fell. We tried to help her.”
Alexander looked at Sofia’s torn sleeve.
“Did she fall upward against someone’s hand?”
Carmen’s eyes flickered toward the marks on Sofia’s arms.
Then Alexander held up the phone.
“The recording began before she left the hotel.”
Javier stared at the screen.
Carmen recovered first.
“Recordings can be misunderstood.”
Alexander tapped the timeline.
A fragment played.
Make her sign before she leaves.
Carmen’s own voice filled the apartment.
Alexander stopped it immediately.
No one moved.
Javier looked at his mother.
“You said you had the phone.”
“I thought I did.”
Sofia’s eyes closed briefly.
Alexander knelt beside her again.
“Did they take the condo papers?”
She nodded.
“Carmen has the original envelope.”
Carmen laughed.
“This is absurd.”
Alexander lifted the envelope from the table.
“This one?”
Her expression changed.
Sofia whispered, “I pulled it back before I ran. She only got part of it.”
Alexander examined the torn opening.
A document was missing.
“Which page?” he asked.
Sofia struggled to focus.
“The signature page.”
Javier backed farther into the hallway.
Carmen turned toward him.
Neither realized the hallway security camera was recording their every movement.
Alexander reached for his car keys.
Then he stopped.
He looked at Carmen with complete stillness.
“You did not attack her for a condo.”
Carmen swallowed.
“You attacked her because you believed the condo could be transferred tonight.”
May you like
The silence confirmed it.
👉 The missing signature page led Alexander to a notary waiting across town with forged documents already prepared.
