One Week to Claim It All

by Adriana Herrera

  “She forged a paternity test,” her mother said numbly. “That was after Patricio agreed to pay for your master’s at NYU. She knew you were getting an education that could put you in a position to take over the company someday, and like the vicious bitch she is, she tried to sabotage you.” Esme sank into one of the armchairs in the office, reeling from what her mother had just told her.

  “I don’t even understand. My father just took her word for it?” She was fighting to get the words out at this point.

  “I’m not going to make up excuses for Patricio, because he should’ve known better, but apparently she had papers. Rodrigo was the one who discovered she’d faked it all.” And there went her heart, trying to gallop out of her chest again. “I still don’t know how he figured it all out. He dug around and discovered the laboratories that supposedly ran the test didn’t exist. And your father, who hated nothing more than looking foolish, was furious with Carmelina.” Ivelisse laughed bitterly at that. “He was mad at everybody. He did walk back the eviction, though. But by then Rodrigo had helped me get into this building and that was that.” Esmeralda heard another long and heavy sigh, as she tried to process what her mother had just told her.

  “Mija, Rodrigo ensured Carmelina could never pull something like that again. That boy stood up to your father, and risked losing his job to make sure your place as Patricio’s daughter was never questioned again. Rodrigo’s not perfect, but I don’t believe the man who did that for us could ever betray you like that. And especially not with that woman.”

  Esmeralda felt like she was floating, her mind almost unable to take in everything she’d learned in the past five minutes. The resentment and the hurt she’d held on to for ten years had been based on a lie. Rodrigo had not been on her father’s side, he’d been helping her mother. He’d been looking out for her.

  “Why did no one tell me? Why did he break up with me?” she asked, a real sob escaping her lips.

  Her mother sighed. “He begged me not to tell you he helped, and about the break-up, I don’t know, honey. He was in such a tough spot. You have to remember he was just starting to get ahead at the studio. He was fresh out of graduate school, had loans. His mother was sick and Patricio was still helping him get out from under all the debt that bum Arturo had racked up. Who knows what all went down between the two of them? Patricio was not a man to take people standing up to him well, and he would’ve seen Rodrigo dating you behind his back and helping me as an affront. Maybe he distanced himself from you to appease your father. I just don’t know.”

  “Even if that’s true, why didn’t he tell me? It would’ve hurt to lose him, but at least I would’ve understood!”

  Her mother made a comforting sound. “It will be all right, mija. I know you two will figure this out.”

  She was openly crying now, her mind like a tornado, thoughts swirling so fast she felt light-headed. “I have to figure out what’s going on then. I have to find Rodrigo.” Esmeralda felt numb, like her emotions had shut down.

  “I think that’s a good idea. And remember, sweetheart, you have a right to be there and you have people on your side. Never forget that.”

  She felt completely alone in that building, like there wasn’t a single person on her side, but hearing her mother’s words was a small comfort. A call came in right as she was about say goodbye and when she looked at the screen she frowned at the unknown number. “Someone’s calling me, Mami.”

  “Call me as soon as you hear something.” After promising she would, she picked up the other line.

  “Esmeralda Sambrano-Peña,” she said briskly.

  “Talk to Jimena Cuevas.” The voice on the phone sounded female, but they were obviously trying to muffle it to avoid being recognized.

  “Who is this?” Esme asked tersely. “Why do I need to talk to Jimena?”

  “She’ll tell you what you need to know,” the muffled voice said, but offered nothing else.

  “Please, who am I talking to?” she asked urgently, but after a few seconds she realized there was no one on the other end. Without pausing to consider if this was just someone else trying to mess with her, she took the elevator to the legal counsel’s office. Jimena’s executive assistant tried to stop her, but Esmeralda barreled right into the woman’s office.

  “Esmeralda.” If Jimena was surprised to see Esme crashing into her office unannounced, she did not show it. “Come in, please.” Her tone was friendly, and she almost seemed glad to see her. Esme would just add it to the growing list of bizarre occurrences of the day.

  “Do you know where Rodrigo is right now?”

  “Close the door,” Jimena said. This time her tone was more serious.

  Once Esme did, she launched right into it. “Rodrigo’s trying to stop Carmelina from selling her and her children’s shares to an outside party.”

  “Stopping? But Onyx said—”

  Jimena shook her head, her mouth twisting sourly at the mention of Esme’s sibling. “Rodrigo had to make them think he was in on it. They’re meeting with the buyers in less than an hour at the Peninsula. Hopefully Rodrigo will have what he needs to stop her in time.

  “Here,” she said, jotting something on a sticky note and handed it to Esme. “They’re meeting in this conference room.”

  “I’m going over there.”

  “Good,” Jimena said approvingly. “I’ll have my assistant arrange a car for you,”

  Esmeralda shook her head. “It’s only a few blocks from here, it’ll take longer to drive. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to calm down.”

  Rodrigo’s friend canted her head to the side, as if she were only now really looking at Esmeralda. “You have guts, but you’re not a hothead,” she stated, approval in her voice. “You’ll be good for him.”

  Esme was not going to answer that, and made a move to walk out, but Jimena’s voice stopped her. “He’ll be pissed I told you, but it’s about time Rodrigo learned he can’t do everything on his own.”

  Sixteen

  “I knew you’d come. I told that girl you’re only loyal to yourself.”

  Rodrigo took one deep breath and then another as he walked into the small conference room Carmelina had arranged to sell out her husband’s legacy. He looked at her and could barely keep the bile from rising in his throat. Carmelina had been a beautiful woman when she was young, with her pale skin and striking blue eyes. But she had not aged gracefully. Her face was twisted and swollen from too many procedures. She wore one of her signature Chanel suits in a navy blue with cream on the neck and cuffs. It was expensive and elegant, but on her it looked shabby, ill-fitting.

  “So you’ve taken it upon yourself to sell the studio,” he stated, barely able to contain his anger.

  “Yes, I have.” She looked smug as hell sitting at the head of the conference room table waiting for him. She really thought she had him. After years of trying to manipulate him, she thought she’d managed to find the one thing he would betray Sambrano over. But that had always been Carmelina’s problem—she was too self-interested to ever notice that not everyone was motivated by the same things she was. She’d invited him here thinking she had him in her clutches. She had no idea how badly she’d miscalculated.

  “You didn’t think it was appropriate to consult the board on your plan to sell three-quarters of the company out from under them?” he asked, too incensed at this woman to not demand answers.

  Carmelina lifted a shoulder as she poured packet after packet of sweetener into her iced tea. “I don’t need to consult the board. All I needed was three out of the four majority shareholders on board. I have that,” she said triumphantly. She smiled that cutting, menacing smile and a wave of disgust ran down Rodrigo’s spine. “This isn’t about money. This is about preserving the respectability of our name.”

  “Stop, Carmelina. We both know what this is about—spite and money. You can’t get rid of Esm
eralda, so you’d rather see Patricio’s company destroyed.” He didn’t know if he was expecting remorse or even a flicker of emotion, but it was like talking to a wall.

  “I guess you are smarter than you look, Rodrigo.”

  He ignored the jab as he fought for control. “Do you not care at all about the ramifications of this?”

  “The only thing I care about is making sure I never have to hear or see that girl’s name again.”

  He couldn’t take it anymore. “Esmeralda being a part of the studio was Patricio’s decision. It was his final wish, for goodness sake. Are you so dead inside that you don’t care about your husband’s legacy?”

  “Patricio was always too sentimental. I’m the only one who’s willing to do what’s necessary. This is for the best.” That’s how Carmelina had done it all these years. The woman was so good at persuading people because the truth wasn’t even a concept to her. She sounded convincing because to her, if she said it, it was the truth.

  She looked Rodrigo up and down, her eyes roaming from his face all the way to his shoes, and the expression on her face told him that as always she found him thoroughly lacking. “But that’s something someone like you would never understand.”

  Ten, hell, even five years ago those words would’ve stung. The reminder of his family’s shame, of what his father had done slicing across his pride. Because she was right—there were not enough Brioni or Zegna suits in the world to cover up the fact that if it wasn’t for Patricio’s help his family would’ve ended up on the street. But he was not ashamed of who he was, and his conscience was clean. He’d never taken advantage of anyone to get to where he was. And now he had amassed enough wealth to never have to worry about money again. Rodrigo knew exactly what it took to stay on top when everyone around you wanted to see you fall. And what Carmelina didn’t know was that he was about to beat her at her own game.

  “That must be Deringer and his people.” Carmelina jumped to her feet as the door opened. “And try not to look like you’re about to go to the gallows, Rodrigo, would you?”

  In that moment three men walked into the room—one he recognized as Deringer, the other men he assumed were his attorneys. Deringer’s face was constantly all over the news. The online retail magnate who had turned his interests to television and film, and in the past few years had amassed multiple networks, streaming services and film studios. The disturbing part was that he seemed to transform the programming into nothing but advertisements for his other companies. If Deringer acquired Sambrano he would turn it into a whitewashed Spanish language infomercial.

  “Gentlemen, come in,” Carmelina crowed, all smiles. The introductions were being made when a harried Onyx walked into the room.

  “Ah, my children are here, we can finally get started.” The frown on the younger man’s face and the worry lines bracketing his mouth were a sharp contrast to Carmelina’s overly genial tone. Carmelina kept her eyes on the door to the conference room while Onyx whispered in her ear, as if waiting for someone else to walk in.

  Rodrigo smiled to himself, well aware of what was coming. He caught the exact moment she understood what was unfolding. Her shoulders stiffened and her mouth twisted into a snarl. He could tell she was battling to control herself. That she didn’t want Deringer to figure out there was a problem. And Rodrigo went in for the kill.

  “Perla’s not coming, Carmelina,” he said in her same sickly sweet tone. She pivoted her head up, looking at him suspiciously.

  “Of course she is,” she snapped, and then stopped herself, probably remembering she had an audience.

  “Is there an issue?” asked one of the two men flanking Deringer. The magnate had not looked up from whatever he was doing on his phone, seemingly only there to sign the paperwork and go on with his day. The fact that Carmelina was willing to hand over everything her husband had worked so hard for to someone who only saw it as another pawn in his chessboard galvanized Rodrigo’s anger.

  “Just a little hiccup with my daughter. But we’ll get her over here right away,” Carmelina assured the man as Onyx looked at his mother with a terrified expression.

  “Oh, I’d say there’s more than a little hiccup,” Rodrigo told her. “You no longer have seventy-five percent of the shares to sell.”

  Carmelina laughed hysterically, her eyes wide as she rushed to talk over Rodrigo. “What are you talking about? My children and I are ready to sell to Global Networks. We have three out of four votes as majority shareholders.”

  “No, you don’t,” Rodrigo corrected her as he pulled out the papers from his briefcase. “This morning Perla sold me her shares, and thus her vote, for the sum of two hundred million dollars.” Liquidating practically everything he owned, calling in every favor he’d garnered over the past sixteen years, was worth getting to see the realization dawn on Carmelina’s face that he’d beaten her at her own game. “You don’t have the votes to sell anything to Global Networks,” he told her, eliciting a scream of absolute fury.

  “You can’t do this! You’re nobody, you’re a paid employee. This company belongs to my children!” She looked at Deringer, who was already standing up and packing up his stuff as if he was about to walk out of the room.

  Rodrigo held up a hand to stop her lies. “You’re selling the company because you’re broke. Your father’s investments in the last ten years have completely depleted your family’s fortune, and you’ve been funneling all of Patricio’s money to keep him afloat. And now you’re going to sell what’s left to keep sinking money into a bottomless pit.”

  The door burst open again and Esmeralda walked in with Octavio Nuñez, both of them looking like they were walking into battle. And even if her arrival would only make Carmelina even more vicious, he was glad to see her.

  “You, this is all your fault.” Carmelina lunged for Esme as Deringer and his people stood up, clearly done with the Sambrano drama. “I won’t let you take what belongs to me. I won’t let you have it! I’d rather sell the studio for parts than let you win. Patricio was only too happy to believe that gold digger when she told him she was pregnant with his brat. I can prove you’re not Patricio’s child,” she screamed frantically, rifling through papers, and he was ready for this, too.

  “Stop lying, Carmelina. It’s over!” Rodrigo roared as he got between Carmelina and Esmeralda. “Here.” He handed the other piece of paper he’d brought with him to one of Deringer’s attorneys. “This is an affidavit signed by Patricio Sambrano confirming that he is in fact Esmeralda’s father.”

  He felt Esmeralda’s legs give out, but he held her up, as he tried to end this farce with Carmelina once and for all.

  “I got you,” he told her, but she seemed too shocked to react. He looked over at his mentor’s widow, who was now frozen in place, her eyes darting between Rodrigo and Deringer. “You’re done, Carmelina.”

  Seventeen

  “What are you doing here?” Rodrigo asked Esmeralda as they made their way out of the room, with Carmelina’s shrieks trailing behind them.

  “I’m here because this also concerns me, Rodrigo.” Esme looked heartbroken, like all of this was beyond what she could bear. “I had a right to know Carmelina was working behind the board’s back to sell the company from under me. From under all of us.”

  He wanted to reach out to her, but he didn’t know how she’d react to that. She looked furious and hurt. Octavio came up to them, his expression bleak. “I wish you would’ve let us know what was happening, Rodrigo, but we’re grateful that you put a stop to this. My cousin has always been like this, selfish enough to destroy everything to get what she wants.” He shook his head, and it seemed like overnight Octavio had aged a decade. “We’re calling an emergency meeting for the day after tomorrow.” Octavio turned to Esmeralda then. “I’m sorry to do this, but we’ll have to cut your preparation time. You will have to present then.” Her face fell, but soon she was nodding.

&
nbsp; “I can do that. I’ll be ready.” His chest swelled with love for her in that moment. His Joya. So strong, always ready to fight, never giving up on her dreams.

  “Thank you for understanding and thank you for alerting me to what was going on.” Octavio looked at Rodrigo as he spoke. He could see the man was not happy to have been kept in the dark, but Rodrigo had no regrets. If he hadn’t talked Perla into selling him the shares without giving Carmelina warning that he was working against her, she would’ve pulled rank with her younger daughter. At this very moment Carmelina would have been destroying the company.

  “Needless to say the board has a lot to consider right now given what has happened.” Octavio’s gaze was fixed on the door to the conference room where presumably Carmelina was still in a rage. But after a moment the man grinned at Rodrigo, clearly curious. “How did you manage to get Perla to sell you the shares?”

  Rodrigo lifted a shoulder and glanced at Esme, who seemed to be waiting for Octavio to be done with him, so she could give him a piece of her mind. It seemed like the initial shock of walking in on Carmelina’s fiasco had worn off and she did not seem happy with him at all.

  Octavio cleared his throat, still waiting for an answer from Rodrigo, and he did his best to focus. “Perla doesn’t trust her mother as much as people thought. A few years ago I helped her hire a financial advisor who was independent from the family. When he told her Carmelina had been trying to gain access to her trust fund, Perla had finally had enough of the scheming. She wanted out.” This he directed at Esme. “She’s never been keen on the games her mother plays. She’s not like Onyx.”

  “Good for Perla and for you,” Octavio said, and with a quick goodbye headed toward the exit of the hotel.

  That only left him and Esmeralda.

  “I hope you’re happy,” she said, her arms crossed over her chest. And once again his body reacted in about fifteen conflicting ways to Esmeralda’s presence. His heart pounded and his body pulsed with the need to have her against the nearest flat surface, and then take her somewhere he could keep her safe and far away from the likes of Carmelina Sambrano.