Chapter 38
As we’re leaving, I hear my brother ask, “Who ordered her to be detained?”
Before the security guard can respond, the door of the private elevator opens and I step in with her.
Olívia hasn’t said anything so far, although she’s sticking to me, clinging to my arms. She cries softly, her body shaking so much that I wonder whether she’s in shock. “I didn’t do it, Guillermo. I never stole anything in my whole life. Not even when I barely had anything to eat.”
Damn it!
I make a pact with myself that whoever is responsible for this will pay.
“Do you believe me?”
“Completely. I’ll fix everything. I promise.” I kiss her hair.
She looks at me in tears, and I feel like killing someone.
I lift her up so she can put her arms around my neck.
“I only trust you.”
The simple statement hits me harder than anyone can imagine. I took her out of the life she knew, mixed up everything between us before we clarified the past, and now I’ve allowed my beautiful and happy girl to be humiliated.
“I’ll fix this, love. You have my word. But now I need you to tell me what happened.”
“I left the kitchen, and I was late because we agreed to meet at five, remember?”
I gently stroke her back, and gradually, the crying stops.
“I always leave my bag on my chair. I thought it would be safe, especially since I have nothing valuable to be stolen. All the secretaries do the same.” She sniffs occasionally.
“I was already in the lobby when this woman who’s never talked to me, Charlotte, appeared out of nowhere with the security guard saying that I had stolen her wallet.
At first, I thought it was a tasteless joke. ”
“You’re too good for this world, beautiful.”
“I couldn’t believe she would even say something like that because we both knew I didn’t do it, but it took me a few seconds to realize she was serious.”
“Olívia, pay attention. Joaquín will have called detectives to investigate what happened, but you won’t say anything to anyone except me and him before a lawyer is present.”
“I don’t need a lawyer, Guillermo. I’m telling the truth.”
“I know, but that’s how these things work.”
“Why would Charlotte lie? Why did she accuse me of stealing from her? I never did anything to her.”
“We’ll find out. Joaquín must already have the footage.”
“Thank God. When you watch it, you’ll see I’m telling the truth.”
I step back to look at her. “I don’t need to see anything. I know who you are, Olívia.”
She leaves a kiss on my chest, her small body still trembling.
Then Joaquín’s words come back to my mind: someone willing to physically harm an innocent girl is dangerous.
We’re waiting for Joaquín and the lawyer. My brother just called to inform me that the detectives have already taken some of those involved for questioning.
When I left him, he went straight to the surveillance room and managed to watch the whole incident—from the moment the woman put the wallet into Olívia’s bag to the security guard detaining her.
Thanks to Joaquín’s paranoia—he chose the internal surveillance system of our hotels himself, hiring Lykaios Systems, one of the largest information security technology companies in the world—and my quick action in asking Melissa to prevent anyone from manipulating the images, my brother now has the evidence we need in hand.
The person I consider the main culprit, however, had already left.
Kathleen.
I know this scheme came from her.
What they did to Olívia was planned, with a precise goal, and now knowing that crazy woman would go this far only makes me want to protect my girlfriend even more.
“The police have arrived. Three accomplices have been detained,” I inform Olívia to calm her down.
She’s lying on the sofa in the room adjacent to my office and doesn’t make eye contact with me, seeming oblivious to everything around her.
I’m still thinking about how to act when my brother enters. Passing me by, he bends down to talk to Olívia.
“Hey, we’re going to sort everything out,” he says, practically repeating my words. Joaquín isn’t a gentle guy, but at this moment, he talks to her the same way he does to Nina. “Look at me, Olívia.”
She turns her face to him. There are no more tears, only apathy. “Everyone saw. They don’t know me. They’ll believe I did it.”
“They won’t,” I interrupt. “No one will doubt you. We’ll clear up this mess. I won’t stop until your name is cleared.”
“It’s the only thing I have. My mother always said that. The only thing we have above any wealth is our reputation. I’m a newcomer here. What are the chances they’ll believe me?”
“Shhhh . . . Everything will be alright,” he says. “Guillermo, come with me for a moment.”
I hesitate before leaving her, but at the same time, I know we need to plan how to act, so after giving her a kiss, I follow him to the other room.
The same lawyer who went to the hospital the night Layla died awaits us, and after greeting him briefly, I get straight to the point. “What needs to be done to clear her name?”
He sits in the armchair I indicate and rests his elbows on his knees. His apparent calm contrasts with how I feel at the moment. “It depends. How far are you willing to go?”
“Whatever it takes. I won’t spare any effort.”
“Well, from what we found out from the cameras, while she was being detained, there was a considerable number of people filming the incident, and I have no doubt that these videos are now circulating on the internet.”
The anger I feel is almost uncontrollable. “Where are the three being detained?”
“They were taken to the police station. The detectives will wait for us to arrive before they start the interrogation.”
“And the footage?”
“I’ll hand it over to the police. I ordered copies to be made first, though,” Joaquín replies.
“What are you thinking?” I know my brother well enough to know he already has a plan.
“We should release them anonymously to the media. That woman, Charlotte, putting the wallet in Olívia’s bag.”
“That could result in negative repercussions for the hotel or even the entire chain. If the employees themselves are capable of such actions, no one is safe,” the lawyer points out.
“No. I have an idea. We know who organized everything, and I have no doubt that her accomplices will start talking quickly once they realize the kind of mess they’re in,” Joaquín continues.
“When we prove that it was Kathleen behind the scheme against Olívia, we’ll sell the story as the act of a jealous woman, which is not entirely untrue, although now I question her mental sanity as well. ”
“How can you be so sure that the press will accept that Miss Freitas is innocent?” the lawyer asks again.
Before my brother can answer, I intervene because I already understand his reasoning.
“Because it’s one thing to set up a young and unprotected girl . . .” I begin.
Joaquín finishes, “. . . and it’s a completely different thing to create a hoax involving the name of the CEO of Caldwell-Oviedo’s girlfriend out of sheer spite.
We might have a substantial amount of publicity in the coming days, but tabloids love a love story.
When Guillermo publicly acknowledges his relationship with Olívia, and as soon as we distribute the footage to specific websites, the whole world will root for them, and her innocence won’t be questioned. ”