Chapter 3 - The Falling Dominoes
The collapse of the Mendoza empire was a cascade of failures that occurred almost simultaneously throughout the city.
Within hours, their credit lines were cut, their corporate accounts were flagged, and their luxury vehicles were reclaimed by the creditors.
I watched the news reports from my living room, the scenes of the Mendoza family being evicted from their primary residence unfolding like a script I had written.
Doña Victoria, who had spent years searching through my personal items to make me feel small, was now clutching her designer bags on the sidewalk, surrounded by a swarm of media.
Alejandro, the man who had bragged about his status to anyone who would listen, was pacing in the background, his face a mask of utter despair.
They had assumed their status was inherent, an immutable fact of life, never realizing it was a temporary loan I had granted them.
I had been their benefactor, their secret protector, and their ultimate judge, all at once.
The realization would be the final, most devastating blow of their downfall.
Every luxury they had enjoyed, every social invitation they had received, and every business deal they had closed had been enabled by my capital.
They weren't just losing their money; they were losing their history.
The Mendoza name, which they had touted as a badge of honor, was now a shorthand for corruption and fraud.
I sat in the quiet of the library, the only sound the steady tick of a clock, feeling a sense of deep, resonant satisfaction.
They had sought to make me feel invisible, but in their quest to destroy me, they had built the scaffold for their own demise.
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Every time Alejandro had looked down on me, every time Doña Victoria had insulted me, I had simply redirected the funds and signed the documents that ensured they would have nowhere to hide.
I was the invisible hand that had finally stopped holding them up.
