– No.

I looked at Alejandro calmly.

— Everything was transferred to my son Diego’s name.

Someone dropped their glass and the sound of the glass breaking echoed on the floor.

Alejandro turned pale.

— That’s a joke.

“No,” I said gently. “It’s the law.”

He took a step towards me.

— You’re lying.

“The notary came to my house personally,” I replied. “And this morning all the documents were officially registered.”

Her expression began to tense up.

— You wouldn’t have done something like that.

“I didn’t do it,” I said. “My father did it five years ago.”

Doña Patricia seemed confused.

— That’s impossible. Alejandro practically ran the company!

— Alejandro just thought he was driving it —I replied.

Some guests began to murmur among themselves.

Alejandro swallowed hard.

— This isn’t going to stay like this.

“Maybe,” I said calmly. “But today is not your day.”

I took my coat from the coat rack.

— By the way… the notary also initiated a financial audit of the company.

Alejandro remained motionless.

— What audit?

— One that will show where the funds that disappeared from the accounts went.

The silence grew heavy.

Fernanda looked at her phone as if it were suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

“You have no proof,” said Alejandro, but his voice no longer sounded confident.

—Yes, I have them—I replied. Transfers, signatures, bank records.

Doña Patricia looked at her son.

— Alejandro…?

He did not answer.

His hands were tense.

“My father always said something,” I added calmly.

Alejandro watched me in silence.

— The most dangerous people are those who think they are smarter than everyone else.

Nobody laughed again.

Some guests slowly began to gather their belongings.

One of them was already walking towards the door.

Alejandro tried to regain his confident tone.

— Do you think you can destroy me?

—No—I said.

I opened the door.

— You did that all by yourself.

Doña Patricia looked at me incredulously.

— You planned all of this.

I smiled slightly.

— No. I just stopped stopping them.

The cool night air of Mexico City entered the house.

Behind me I could hear murmurs, footsteps, the rustling of jackets.

Alejandro said in a low voice:

— You’re going to be left alone.

I turned around one last time.

– No.

I took out my phone.

There was a new message on the screen from my friend at the ranch.

A photo of Diego.

He was covered in mud up to his knees, smiling broadly and hugging a small dog.

Below the photo it said:

“Everything is fine here.”

I looked at the image for a few seconds.

Then I put my phone in my pocket and went out into the night.

Because for the first time in many years I felt that, at last, I was free.