Again, I entered that boardroom, where I smelled mold mixed with alcohol and tobacco. Although I could smell the scent of the colognes of those old investors, some greeted me and others just looked at me with contempt, starting with the director, who, when he saw me, said:“I imagine you are very happy with the monumental failure that happened to me yesterday.”The blood rushes to my head and I try to keep my composure by giving a general greeting,“Good morning; what a joy to be able to see you again in person.” And the petulant director doesn't even give me time to answer; with arrogance, he harasses me.“Madam, to the point, we are waiting for your resignation. On each desk, I left a detailed report of all the errors and mistakes of your period as president.” The damned man cornered me; apparently that was the reason for your meeting.“Wait, I have the right to defend myself; I cannot resign; this is the company my parents founded.”“Relax, Mrs. Ximena, you will continue to be a sh
“As a first measure, I propose to sue those who accuse us of manufacturing radioactive jewelry, since that is impossible because of our high quality standards in manufacturing; second, we will advertise on social networks and apps; and third, we will launch new products such as jewelry for men and pets, which are little explored markets. I also plan to launch a line of high luxury, which will be only for billionaires; we will call it Midas as the King, because everything he touched was transformed into gold; plus a line of exclusive perfumes, for which I am already negotiating the purchase of a factory.”“Excellent, boss, those decisions are very wise.”The meeting ended successfully, although I felt like a clown on the outside. I made an effort to put on a smile, but inside I felt bad. I was worried because it was possible that I was to blame, even indirectly; perhaps my dark enemies harmed some innocent people for hurting me, or they, in their eagerness to enrich themselves, had com
“Love, this is unbelievable!”“You are incredible, my beautiful Ximena; I love you very much. Look, receive the family ring; my grandfather gave it to me to give it to you.” He gave me a little box lined with red velvet.“It's beautiful; it has a beautiful oil drop emerald, the finest in the world.”“It's good that you know about jewelry; this ring has passed through three generations.”“It's very nice; now we should go to the room to celebrate.”“It sounds tempting, but we'd better take advantage of the helicopters; I still have some rental time left. Come on, love, come and let's enjoy seeing the city and the surroundings from above.”“Of course, my love.”At first, I was scared to see how we rose above the hotels and people became tiny; even everything looked like a model—the beaches, the city of the hill of the stern, and the cities tha
Ximena is in her office, pacing back and forth, intoning words in a speech that crosses out phrases and adds others, when a voice startles her:“Hello, my love. It was Angelo who surprised her with another bouquet of flowers. How creative! It is wise not to repeat gifts, which can give rise to the nickname of flower-giver, an example of Don Flower Man.”“What a surprise! I am so stressed with this speech, I don't even know what to say.”“My Ximena, you rehearse so much, and in the end, you don't even read that sheet of paper with so many scratches.”“I don't know why I always lose it; it's a coincidence.”“Although, if you look too stressed, come on, I'll give you a massage.”“No, my love, I know what your massages end up doing.”He pretended not to hear her and rubbed her shoulders, making her purr, like a man who would not be intimidated by a refusal.&ld
The bodyguards did not manage to catch him. He was not a skilled thief; he simply took off his jacket and cap from a corner, turned around, and pretended to be beaten by a pursued individual. That way, he escaped. Ximena stained the platform with his blood. The thief caused more damage with that blow than with the theft of the belongings, and that was reflected in the faces of the bodyguards, who were spinning with worry, saying,“Now what shall we tell the boss? He will be furious; he will surely fire us; who knows what else he will do to us? And he is right; we failed in our task of protecting the lady; what a lousy kind of bodyguards we are; they could have killed her; it is as if she were alone.”“No, well, I will take the blame; with the truth, I had to change the car for that ambulance; that's what happened; I know he will take it badly, but what can I do? The only thing to do would be to go to China, and not even that; I assure you that you can't hide from him, not even under t
“Look, Angelo, I already remembered why I was fighting; I don't want you to fill me with bodyguards that don't even let me breathe. I need my space; this situation disgusts me; it makes me tired; it's not the tranquility that the doctor said I needed; or it's better if we go far away; I'm planning to leave my sister in charge of the company.”“Please, my love, I only want to protect you. I will not forgive myself if something happens to you or to our baby, I swear I felt a lot of rage against me and those escorts for what happened the other day. By the way, they have not found the whereabouts of that thief; some cameras recorded him, but it is as if he had been eaten by the earth.”“Maybe he is with his family; he must be living in one of the hills, in a house made of wood and cans. What he stole from me must be enough to feed them for a few months; hopefully it will help him get out of poverty and stop stealing.”“That's where you are wrong, that comment of high social discrimination
“Angelo, why were you so mean to make your thugs almost kill my classmate, Erik, because of your jealousy? I can't believe you are behaving like a gangster; the poor boy almost died, really.”“Don't talk nonsense; stop your pregnant madness; let's go home now, or I'll drag you away.”“Well, what are you going to do? Are you going to send me your army of thugs?”“Stop yelling nonsense; behave like the lady you are.”“I'm the delinquent wife who has to be watched and who has to kill anyone who gets close to her.”“Ximena, you are slandering me. I can't understand why we are at this point. I don't know what you are doing in this place. If you are nothing like this guy, his family must already be coming.”“His family is heartless; they won't come; they don't even call to find out his condition; apparently, his parents are separated; and he has only half siblings, although they do send him money for expenses.”“In that case, let's go; I'll tell Vivian to take care of it.”“How can she stil
“Where am I?” Ximena woke up; her head hurt. She was lying on an old mattress in a large room with old walls whose paint was peeling because of the humidity. She got up and looked around her. The windows had been covered with steel sheets, and the light came in through the plastic tile that was in place. The height of the walls of that cellar made him not even consider climbing them. He tried to open the door, and it didn't even have a knob to try to pull it.“Let me out!” She yelled at the cameras, “You don't know who you've messed with; my husband will kill you; he's a very dangerous man. I swear they will regret having kidnapped me. I give them a chance to free me. Not only that, but I will even give them a good sum in cash.”Only her echo and the movement of the cameras that were watching her answered her. A smoke came from the floor, and suddenly she felt very sleepy. When she woke up again, she found plates of food and more blankets. She tried to eat for her baby, but the crying
“Angelo, I will kill your children first, then your sister-in-law, then you, although I will take my time with everyone.” The old man took a rusty poker and went to the prisoners' cage. “Sir, we are informed that Alexandros took another route; it is possible that he went wrong. Or he kind of stole the money.” A henchman arrives to inform him.“That can't be possible, and if it is, we will look for his mother, and we will apply five hundred bullets to make that rat come out of his hiding place.” Giuseppe spat on the ground and almost dropped his box of teeth.“Besides, there is something very strange; the lookouts on the road report many cars in the sector. More than usual, it is possible that it is a rescue; it would be better, sir, if you were eliminated quickly, and we leave.” The assistant lowered his head as he spoke to him.“Nonsense, that doesn't mean anything. Besides, I have been waiting for this moment for years; I am going to savor it; I will be delighted; it will be a spec
“I thank you very much for this last favor.”“Do not worry and remember it very well; I can't have friendships with a snitch. Although your grandfather also helped, the old man sold the castle and the little that was left.”“Yes, José Luis, I know; he told me that he feels very guilty about everything that happened with Ximena; he knows that he will have to pay for that when he dies.”“Angelo, enough with the sermons; we must concentrate on the operation; they shouldn't have called the police; it complicates everything.”“I didn't do it, it was up to her and Detective Das; I would have preferred something from us.”“It might be better; Max's father, whose real name is Giuseppe Latin, has more money than all of us together, therefore more men and means.”“I am confident that we will succeed, as we always do.”“Of course, Angelo, we make it, or we die, either way, for the hole we drive.”“It may happen, but at least I'll take Giuseppe with me; I'll send him to meet Max.”“At least the c
Fire trucks arrive on the scene, making their way through the curious and opportunists. The police cordon off the scene and search for witnesses to the tragedy.“Detective, a wounded soldier. He says that some very suspicious subjects were going to leave a car on the front sidewalk, and that a comrade went to stop them, and the driver shot him, so they returned fire, and that caused that terrible explosion.” A policeman informed his superior.“I knew they were going to attack Ximena. And as usual, my boss didn't listen to me.”“Detective, they took a lot of precautions, and that's why they doubled the guard.” The officer left to help the firefighters remove debris.Ximena emerged from the chaos, filthy and disoriented, accompanied by escorts.“Mrs. Ximena, are you hurt?”“Detective Das, what happened? Do you know anything about Angelo?” Ximena greeted her, hugging her detective.“It seems they were planning to blow this building sky-high to silence her. As for Angelo, I assumed he was
“I need a way out; I have to go see him.” I have repeated these words many times, every day during these weeks, and I receive the same answers, although today a doctor answers me something different.“Mrs. Ximena, you know that it is something very complex because the gentleman is in another hospital since he was more injured. On the other hand, you still require special care, and although I have news for you, you are going to get out of here.” The doctor with the face of a kindly old man purses his lips to give a dramatic pause or to wait for my answer, but I just make a puzzled grimace, so he goes on, “Yes, as you can hear, we are going to get out.”“Explain me better; I notice something strange in the way you say it.” While I speak, the old man moves his mouth between fake smiles and sucker punches.“Mrs. Ximena, the judge who is handling your case demands that you be interrogated; that's what we are going to do, and it could be that your husband is also required; suddenly you will
“Where am I? Who am I?” I have asked these questions several times. Until suddenly my consciousness becomes clear, and the memories hit me all of a sudden. I look around me; it takes me a while to realize that I am in a hospital, in a first-aid room, and the smell of anesthesia raises my blood pressure. The doctors surround me with syringes, perhaps with painkillers, although they inject them in the serum, and I think I manage to ask for Angelo and my children before falling asleep.I have no hands, no feet, no face, or anything. It seems to me that I am a painting on a wall contemplating the horizon, but suddenly I am also someone who observes the painting. I detail that it is a canvas of my life and that it was painted with tears and smiles. I see it and I see me, both screens at the same time, until a blue energy shakes us and my eyes see a great light. Furthermore, as I turn my head and observe people dressed in white and blue, I hear, “We are going to intubate her.”It is a proce
“Calm down, my children; it won't be long now until we get to Bogotá.” Ximena consoled her children and herself.The long trip was coming to an end. She arrived at the central terminal; she went downstairs normally; the freezing city air calmed her; she breathed in the aroma of progress; and she prepared to leave to board the cabs. Everything seemed perfect until she saw a man who, upon seeing her, called someone on the phone.“I'm going to get caught.” These words escaped her, and she turned around, raised her children, and walked quickly. But, rather than running to avoid suspicion, she turned her head to see that the man was following her, accompanied by two others dressed in black. She calculated that her best strategy was to return to the fleet under the pretext that she had forgotten her luggage, so she could go back to the unloading area. But instead of looking for a non-existent suitcase, she marched quickly towards the exit of the buses, crossed the avenue, walked a few meter
“How is it that such a pretty young lady with such a pair of little angels walks around this region so full of dangers?”“I was visiting my grandfather; he lives in the mountains.”“It's good to go back to the country, to know the roots; besides, as an old man, you don't know when you will see your loved one for the last time; tell me, I haven't seen my daughter for a long time.”“And that, is it, that you are angry?”“No, miss, it's just that some criminals killed her. And she had two granddaughters who were taken by an uncle who refused to allow me to see them. It was very difficult; that's why I went to the country with my wife until she died. Now all I have left are memories of my life—of what I did, what I didn't do, and what could have been. Although the truth is that I'm not from around here, I'm retracing my steps. I know that the bone is breathing down my neck; although I'm still afraid of the uncertainty of the afterlife, I also long for it because this body no longer respon
“We are going to finish off even the sow's nest.” Angelo closed his black jacket, lowered his balaclava cap to cover his face, and jumped from the helicopter held by a rope. When he touched the ground, he landed with both legs, running straight ahead with the gun. He imagined he was diving from a very high pool; he didn't even turn to see if his men were following him. He neutralized a couple of guards and, little by little, his adrenaline went down as his sadness increased.“Sir, we went all over the place, and there is no trace of a woman and two children.” The mercenary Can-Can informed him, turning his head and looking for any threat.“It can't be possible; this is the place.” Angelo kicked a table to calm his mixed feelings.“My lord is not wrong; look here; we found this dog in a hiding place.” Jose Luis came in and pushed Diego to the floor.“Damn rat! What did you do with my wife and children?” Angelo lifted Diego by the neck while he was shaking. It was hard to understand wha
“Okay, Angelo, I'll tell you.” Emily cleared her throat, her voice almost unable to come out because those strong hands were choking her. “I made a mistake in proposing that question to you.”“Please forgive me; I didn't want to go to these extremes; it's just that I'm very worried.” Angelo whispered, letting go of her neck, “I know she's in danger; besides, I'm having the same symptoms as when she was pregnant with my twins; I hope it's just my psychosis.”“Angelo, I understand you. Hold on; I'll calm down, or I'll end up in an ambulance.” Emily exhaled, speaking fast, took a deep breath, mentally repeating the mantras that helped her calm down, and continued, “Please don't tell her that I was the gossip rat.”“You can tell her that I made you; although you will have to come with me, we must plan a way to rescue her.” Angelo picked up the hamburger again to eat it.“I remember when Ximena found me after we were separated because we were adopted by different families. She took me to e