Chapter 15 - RICARDO TAKES THE STAND
Ricardo testified against his attorney’s advice.
He believed he could outthink the prosecutor.
He described the trust plan as legitimate estate management.
He claimed Valentina’s emotional condition required structured guardianship.
The prosecutor asked about the flooded tunnel.
Ricardo said the water system activated accidentally.
The recording in his own bag captured him saying:
The lower rooms flood in six minutes.
Bring the trust.
He called the statement a negotiation tactic.
The prosecutor displayed the child’s forged passport.
Ricardo said it was for safety.
Then the environmental reports appeared.
He had planned to force Torres International to purchase poisoned land.
Isabel stopped him.
The prosecutor asked:
“Did you pay Dr. Camila after Isabel Torres died?”
“Yes.”
“For consultation.”
“Did the consultation involve changing her medication?”
Ricardo looked toward Camila.
She did not lower her eyes.
“Yes,” she said from the witness gallery.
The judge ordered silence.
Ricardo’s confidence cracked.
He blamed Mónica.
He said she wanted Alejandro’s fortune.
He claimed she suggested harming Valentina.
The prosecutor played a recording from the hidden archive.
Ricardo’s voice said:
“Break the child before you challenge the father.”
The courtroom became still.
Alejandro looked at Valentina’s empty seat.
He was grateful she had not been brought inside.
Ricardo finally understood that intelligence could not convert recorded cruelty into strategy.
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The jury would not admire the plan.
They would hear a grown man describing the destruction of a six-year-old as a business step.
