Chapter 6 - DIEGO HAD A SECOND PHONE
The phone surfaced during financial discovery.
Not from espionage.
Not because I broke into anything.
Diego disclosed devices under court-ordered discovery after the loan and marital-finance issues became part of the case.
One phone contained messages with Natalia Vega, an account manager who worked with Roberto’s company.
Their relationship had begun emotionally eight months earlier.
Then physically.
I stared at the first unmistakable message.
Natalia:
When are you actually leaving her?
Diego:
After Roberto’s refinancing is safe. I can’t have Verónica freezing everything beforehand.
My chest tightened.
Another:
And Sofía?
Diego:
That’s the complicated part. Mom thinks I should push for primary custody.
Natalia:
Do you want that?
Twenty-three minutes passed before Diego replied.
I don’t want to lose the house or pay her half plus child support.
I put the phone transcript down.
That hurt more than the affair.
Sofía had not been discussed as a child he could not bear to lose.
She was part of the financial equation.
Then came Teresa’s message to Diego:
If you get primary custody, Verónica will have less leverage over the house.
My hands went cold.
There it was.
The larger betrayal.
The belt.
The stolen education fund.
The forged guarantee.
The custody strategy.
The affair.
They were not separate disasters.
They were all connected by the same belief:
My daughter and I were assets to position.
May you like
Not people whose consent mattered.
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