Chapter 8 - The Collapse of the Scheme"No! This is a mistake!" Patricia screamed as a female officer forced her hands behind her back, clicking the steel handcuffs into place. "Diego, do something! I'm your sister!"
"You stopped being my sister the day you let my children wear rags while you bought designer bags," Diego said, his voice flat and empty of any emotion.
Doña Carmen fell to her knees on the asphalt, her expensive coat dragging in the dirt as she wept, grabbing at Diego's boots through the iron bars of the gate.
"Diego, please! My son! My beautiful boy!" she sobbed, her voice cracking with genuine terror. "I didn't know Héctor was going to do this! Patricia forced me! She said we needed the money! Don't let them take me to jail!"
Diego looked down at his mother. For years, he had carried her image in his mind while he worked in the freezing winter and boiling summer of Texas, believing that his sacrifice was keeping her safe and happy. Now, seeing her groveling in the dirt, he felt nothing but a profound, exhausting pity.
"You won't go to jail, Mom," Diego said quietly. "At least, not if Sofia’s deal holds. But you are dead to me. You will never see my children again. You will never step foot in this house. Sofia has prepared a legal settlement. You will sign over any remaining claims to the estate, and in exchange, the federal prosecutor will not include you in the wire fraud indictment."
"I'll sign! I'll sign anything!" Doña Carmen wept, grabbing the papers Sofia slid through the bars and signing them with trembling hands.
As the police cars drove away, carrying Patricia and Héctor to the federal holding facility, the quiet street of Lomas de Chapultepec returned to its natural silence.
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Diego turned to Mariana, who was holding Valeria and Mateo close to her. He walked over, wrapping his strong arms around all three of them, pulling them into a tight, warm circle.
"It’s over," Diego whispered, burying his face in Mariana’s hair. "We are safe. Nobody is ever going to hurt us again."
