Chapter 29 - The Desperation of Álvaro Miller
Two hours later, in the secure detention corridor beneath the tribunal building, Álvaro Miller sat handcuffed to a stainless-steel table, weeping hysterically.
His Italian suit was rumpled, his hair in disarray, and his reputation completely shattered across every corner of the globe. Every asset he owned was frozen. Every club had expelled him. His brother-in-law had disowned him, and the entire world had watched him sell out his own twin sons for blood money on live television.
The steel door clicked open.
Lucía walked into the room, accompanied by Arthur. She didn't look angry anymore. Her face was as cold and unyielding as a marble tombstone.
"Lucía!" Álvaro sobbed, straining against the handcuffs that bit into his wrists. "Lucía, please! You have to talk to the prosecutor! Tell them I was coerced! Julian threatened my life! He told me he would destroy me if I didn't sign those affidavits!"
Lucía stood on the other side of the table, looking down at the man who had once sneered at her poverty, who had abandoned her in a crumbling tenement while he drank vintage wine in penthouses.
"You weren't coerced, Álvaro," Lucía said softly, her voice devoid of even pity. "You were greedy. You thought you could erase thirteen years of abandonment by stealing the very minds of the boys you threw away."
"They're my sons!" Álvaro wailed. "I have their blood! I made them! Without me, they wouldn't exist!"
"You didn't make them," Lucía replied, leaning down until her eyes bored straight into his hollow soul. "You contributed half of their chromosomes, and then you gave up every moral right to their existence. Marcos and Mateo made themselves. They studied by candlelight when you turned off the heat. They solved equations on the backs of cereal boxes while you bought luxury cars."
"Lucía... I’ll give you everything!" Álvaro begged, snot and tears dripping onto his collar. "The five million... I know where Julian hid the offshore keys! I can give you Vance Dynamics' internal servers! Just don't let them send me to federal prison! Please!"
Lucía straightened her posture, turning toward the door.
"The federal marshals found your offshore keys twenty minutes ago, Álvaro," Arthur said coldly from the doorway. "Marcos cracked your encryption from his phone while waiting for the elevator. The sentencing guidelines for treason and perjury carry a minimum of thirty-five years."
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"Thirty-five years?!" Álvaro screamed, his voice cracking into high-pitched hysteria as Arthur opened the door for Lucía. "Lucía! Lucía, come back! Marcos! Mateo! Tell your mother! I’m your father! I’M YOUR FATHER!"
The heavy steel door slammed shut, sealing Álvaro Miller inside his concrete tomb forever.
