Chapter 19 - THE TRIAL
The trial lasted nine weeks.
Reporters filled every entrance.
The Aranda name became national news.
Former politicians denied connections.
Business partners blamed one another.
Doña Esther sat at the defense table wearing perfect suits and an expression of complete contempt.
Valeria testified on the fourth week.
Alejandro sat behind her.
She described the attack.
The doctor.
Marcela holding her.
Esther's words.
The fake lover photograph.
The threat to make Alejandro believe she was unfaithful.
The defense tried to portray Valeria as emotional.
She remained calm.
"Mrs. Aranda, isn't it true that your marriage was already troubled?"
"Yes."
The attorney seemed pleased.
"So you had reason to resent my client?"
Valeria looked at Esther.
"No."
"I had reason to fear her."
The courtroom became silent.
Marcela testified next.
Then Serrano.
Then Tomás.
Then financial experts.
Then investigators.
Finally, Rafael's recording was played.
His voice filled the courtroom seven years after his death.
Do not trust Serrano.
Protect Marcela.
Trust Valeria.
Doña Esther looked at Alejandro for the first time.
Something inside her face finally cracked.
Not guilt.
Loss of control.
The jury returned verdicts after three days of deliberation.
Guilty on multiple counts.
Some charges involving the older deaths remained legally complicated.
Others were proven.
There would be appeals.
There would be years of litigation.
But the woman who had ruled the Aranda family through fear no longer controlled them.
Outside the courthouse, reporters shouted questions.
Alejandro said nothing.
Valeria held his hand.
At home, Mateo was sleeping with Lucía.
That mattered more.
That evening, Alejandro opened the old black ledger one final time.
Then he placed it inside a secure archive with all the case records.
Valeria watched him.
"Done?"
"Done."
She shook her head.
"Not quite."
She handed him an envelope.
Inside was an official document.
Alejandro read it.
His eyes widened.
Valeria had restored her professional surname.
Valeria Mendoza Aranda.
He looked at her.
She smiled.
"I spent too long being told the Mendoza name wasn't good enough."
May you like
Alejandro took her hand.
"It was better than ours."
