Some collaborated.
Others were fired and reported.
Some of the money diverted returned to the company. Promotions stopped depending on personal favors. Employees who had lived in fear began to speak. Clara Rivas was appointed compliance director. Arturo Beltrán returned to the Council with a permanent vote.
The negotiation with Capital Norte almost fell apart due to the scandal, but Mariana decided to appear in person.
In a room full of investors, he explained each wound and each correction: complete audit, new controls, transparent accounts, real projects and a technological expansion in alliance with engineers from Guadalajara and Monterrey.
In the end, an investor asked him:
—Why should we trust a company that has just gone through such a serious internal betrayal?
Mariana held her gaze.
—Because an honest company is not destroyed by opening its wounds. It cleans. Today they are not seeing a pretty facade. They are seeing a structure that had the courage to cut off its own corruption before asking them for a peso.
