The cabin chime rang as the aircraft taxied to a halt, but the sound felt miles away. Alejandro held his phone tightly, the screen illuminating his tense jaw.
“Who is asking about me?” Valeria whispered, pulling Sofia closer to her chest. “I don’t know anyone in Mexico City except my cousin in Iztapalapa. Nobody even knew I was on this flight.”
“Your ex-husband knows,” Alejandro said, his grey eyes locking onto hers with absolute seriousness. “My security detail monitors the airport’s manifest and arrival gates. They just intercepted a notification. Rodrigo Salinas didn’t just freeze your accounts, Valeria. He filed an emergency child abduction report in Jalisco, claiming you fled the state with Sofia without his consent. He has federal police waiting at the public arrival terminal to seize your daughter.”
Valeria’s heart dropped to her feet. The breath left her lungs in a sharp, agonizing gasp. Rodrigo didn’t want Sofia; he wanted control. He wanted to punish her for leaving, to break her completely by using the law as a weapon.
“No…” Valeria choked out, tears finally spilling over her eyelids. “He changed the locks. He threw us out. I have nowhere else to go.”
“You’re not going to Iztapalapa today, Valeria, and you’re certainly not going to a holding cell,” Alejandro said, standing up as the seatbelt sign clicked off. He smoothly slipped on his navy blue jacket, his entire posture shifting from a tired passenger into a commanding force. “You helped me block the press for two hours. Now, let my team handle your storm.”
The cabin door opened, but instead of the usual rush of passengers down the jet bridge, two massive men in dark suits and communication earpieces stepped directly into the first-class cabin. The flight attendants stepped back respectfully, blocking the aisle.
“Mr. Montenegro,” the lead guard said, bowing his head slightly. “The private tarmac transport is ready. But the federal agents at the gate are refusing to clear the family manifest unless Mrs. Hernandez steps forward.”
“Tell the station commander that Mrs. Hernandez is traveling as part of my personal executive delegation,” Alejandro ordered, his voice echoing through the quiet cabin with a cold, absolute authority. “If they want to question my guests, they can file a formal injunction with the Montenegro Group’s legal division. Let’s move.”
PART 3: The Boardroom Shield
Thirty minutes later, the roaring engine of a private armored SUV cut through the heavy rain of Mexico City. Valeria sat in the leather interior, staring out the tinted windows as the endless steel towers of the capital blurred past. Sofia was fast asleep in her lap, completely oblivious to the fact that her father had tried to tear her away at the border.
THE NEXT BELOW…
