Alejandro’s voice became very quiet.
“What fake expense reimbursement?”
You smiled without humor.
“Oh. So he didn’t tell you.”
“No.”
“Interesting.”
“Sofia, send me everything.”
“No.”
“I need the documents.”
“You had them. They were in the compliance folder I flagged six weeks ago. Nobody read it.”
You heard him exhale.
“Sofia, please.”
There it was again.
Please.
A word powerful men discovered only when consequences arrived.
“You have one minute,” you said.
“What do you want?”
You looked around your small kitchen.
At the unpaid bills.
At Nina’s worried face.
At the phone still buzzing with everyone’s emergencies.
Then you thought of all the nights you had stayed late so Alejandro could stand on stages and call the company a family.
“I want the truth documented,” you said. “I want Lucia and Julian investigated by outside counsel. I want every employee whose salary was cut using fabricated performance data reviewed. I want a written apology. And I want you to stop pretending loyalty is compensation.”
