Chapter 4 - The Serpent's Nest
Inside the tiny apartment, the air smelled of bleach and fried tortillas. Camila sat at a small kitchen table doing her homework under a flickering bulb.
I sat down on a worn plastic chair opposite Rosa. "Rosa, I need you to tell me everything. Who told you that I personally approved holding back your pay?"
Rosa swallowed hard, glancing nervously at the door before leaning in. "It was Miss Emily," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Three months ago, she called me into the guesthouse. She told me that the estate was going through an audit by the tax authorities. She said you were under investigation, and that if anyone questioned why our pay was delayed, it would ruin the family."
"She told you I was being investigated?" I asked.
"Yes," Rosa said, tears pooling in her eyes. "She said if we stayed quiet and kept working, you would pay us back double as soon as the audit cleared. She said you personally signed a document promising us a bonus from the charity fund. She showed me a paper with your signature on it!"
Marcus looked at me and nodded slowly. It was a classic manipulation technique: use fear, loyalty, and forged promises to keep the workers silent while she drained the funds.
"Did she ever ask you to sign anything, Rosa?" Marcus asked softly.
Rosa paused, then her eyes widened. "Yes! Last month, she brought a electronic tablet to the house. She said it was a tax exemption form so we wouldn't have to pay taxes on our back pay. She had all of us sign it. Even Camila had to sign a form because Miss Emily said children of employees could get a educational grant."
My blood ran cold. The electronic signatures. Emily hadn't just forged my name; she had coerced the illiterate and desperate staff into signing documentation that authorized the $250,000 payout from the charity fund into her shell account. She had framed the very victims she was robbing, making it look like they were part of a fraudulent kickback scheme.
"Rosa," I said firmly, reaching out to touch her calloused hand. "You and the rest of the staff did nothing wrong. You are not in trouble. But my sister is trying to ruin all of us."
"Mr. Bennett," Camila spoke up suddenly from the table, holding a small, scratched tablet computer. "Miss Emily leaves things in the guesthouse when she comes with that tall man."
"What tall man?" I asked.
May you like
"Her fiancé, Julian," Camila replied. "I saw them arguing near the pool house two weeks ago. He was angry. He was yelling at her about a 'five-million-dollar wire' that had to happen before Friday, or else some bad people were going to take his business. And then he dropped this."
Camila held out a small, metallic USB flash drive with a custom monogram: JV Capital.
