Then rage.
You paused the video at the exact moment her hand disappeared into Rosalía’s bag.
“Explain.”
She stared at the screen.
Then she turned to you.
“You have no idea what that woman was doing.”
You almost admired her.
Even in front of the video, she tried to bend reality.
“She saw you in my office,” you said.
Paulina’s face went still.
“She saw you photographing the trust documents,” you continued. “You threatened her. Then you planted the bracelet and called the police.”
Her breathing changed.
Behind you, one of the house phones rang.
Neither of you moved.
“Where are the documents, Paulina?”
She smiled.
Small.
Ugly.
“You’re too late.”
Your blood ran cold.
Then the front door opened.
Rafa walked in like he had done it before.
He was tall, tanned, expensively dressed, and far too comfortable entering your home without permission. His eyes moved from Paulina to you, then to the screen.
He understood immediately.
“Paulina,” he said slowly, “what did you do?”
You turned toward him.
“Who are you?”
He tried to smile.
“Rafael Aranda. Financial consultant.”
You looked at Paulina.
She avoided your eyes.
“Consultant for whom?”
Rafa did not answer.
So you answered for him.
“For my wife.”
Rafa held up both hands.
“I don’t want problems.”
“Then you shouldn’t have walked into my house.”
He glanced toward the door.
Two of your private security guards had already stepped inside. You had pressed the silent alert under the dining table the moment Rafa entered.
Paulina’s face changed.
“You called security?”
“No,” you said. “I activated it.”
Rafa swallowed.
Smart men recognize when a room has turned against them.
You pointed to the nearest chair.
“Sit.”
He looked at the guards.
Then he sat.
Paulina exploded.
“You can’t interrogate us like criminals.”
You looked at the screen, where her own hand was still frozen inside Rosalía’s bag.
“No, Paulina. I’m documenting.”
Gabriel arrived thirty minutes later with two attorneys and a private forensic technician. By then, Rafa had stopped pretending to be brave. Paulina sat in the living room with her arms crossed, silent and furious.
Your sons remained upstairs with Elena.
You hated that they were in the house while this happened.
But you hated more that this had been happening around them for months without you seeing it.
The technician secured the camera footage, copied the system logs, and pulled access records from the doors.
That was when another truth surfaced.
Rafa had entered the mansion twenty-seven times in the last six months.
Mostly when you were traveling.
Mostly through the east service entrance.
