Chapter 10 - SERGIO'S SECRET
Sergio had been helping Arturo.
Not recently.
Three years earlier.
Arturo approached him about hotel vendor contracts.
He claimed Mariana wanted to reduce costs quietly.
Sergio shared internal bids.
He later realized Arturo was steering work toward companies that paid him private consulting fees.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sergio looked ashamed.
“Because I had already helped him.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the ugly answer.”
Sergio had confronted Arturo in the home office.
Mariana’s hidden recording captured part of it.
Arturo threatened to expose Sergio’s role.
Sergio backed down.
Then spent three years trying to compensate by protecting Mariana in smaller ways.
He alerted her to suspicious bookings.
Preserved logs.
Warned Octavio about transfers.
Mariana felt betrayed.
Then stupid.
She had turned Sergio into the loyal manager in her mind because she needed one person to be uncomplicated.
He was not.
“I’m resigning,” he said.
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“You’re suspended pending independent review.”
“That sounds worse.”
“It should.”
For the first time, he smiled.
The board appointed an outside hotel executive, Ana Beltrán, as interim chief.
Ana did not care about Alvarado family feelings.
Within forty-eight hours, she froze four vendor contracts Mariana had personally approved years earlier.
“Why?”
“Because they’re overpriced.”
“They’re longtime partners.”
“That isn’t a financial metric.”
Mariana bristled.
Then stopped.
Ana was doing exactly what independent management was supposed to do.
It hurt.
Good governance often did.
Meanwhile, Isabel Torres and her mother agreed to meet investigators.
Her mother, Rosa, produced an old envelope Gabriel had mailed days before his death.
Inside was a photograph of the construction site.
In the background stood Efraín Alvarado.
The date stamp was two days before the collapse.
Sofía had said Efraín knew nothing until three days after.
Mariana stared at the photograph.
May you like
Her mother had lied again.
