Chapter 7 - Alejandro’s Begging Knees In The Corporate Lobby And The Final Termination Letter
Driven to utter madness by hunger, panic, and the realization that his entire existence was collapsing, Alejandro committed the fatal mistake of violating the court order.
At 2:00 p.m. that afternoon, Alejandro disguised himself in an oversized gray hoodie, sunglasses, and a surgical face mask, taking the metro all the way to the Ruta Norte Logística headquarters.
He bypassed the subterranean garage and slipped through the crowded main public entrance during the afternoon shift change.
Once inside the grand lobby, he ripped off his mask and hood, sprinted across the polished marble floor toward the glass-enclosed executive reception area, and threw himself against the glass partitions.
“Mariana!” Alejandro screamed, his voice echoing through the five-story atrium. “Mariana! I know you’re up there! Please, look at me! I’m begging you!”
Dozens of employees, truck fleet captains, and visiting foreign logistics partners stopped in their tracks, watching in stunned silence as their former high-and-mighty Vice President broke down into hysterical sobs.
Four armed Titan security guards swarmed him instantly, forcing him face-down onto the cold marble floor and securing his arms behind his back.
“Call the DA!” the security supervisor ordered into his radio. “We have an active restraining order breach!”
“Wait! Don’t arrest me!” Alejandro wailed, twisting his neck to look up at the mezzanine balcony overlooking the lobby. “Mariana! Just give me five minutes! Please!”
The elevator doors on the mezzanine opened with a soft chime.
I walked to the glass railing, looking down at him from thirty feet above. I was flanked by Sofia and our chief security director.
I looked down at the man who had allowed his mother to step on my dignity in my own home.
“Alejandro,” I said, my voice amplified clearly through the lobby’s central public address system.
The entire atrium went dead silent. Even the security guards paused.
Alejandro looked up, tears and snot streaming down his flushed face, his body trembling violently against the marble tiles.
“Mariana... please,” he sobbed, his voice cracking with pathetic desperation. “I made a mistake! I was stupid! I was weak! My mother has always been overbearing and crazy—you know how she is! I only stayed quiet to keep the peace between you two! I love you, Mariana! We can fix this! We can go to counseling! I’ll never let my mother speak to you again!”
I looked down at him, my expression unyielding as granite.
“You stayed quiet to protect your own ego, Alejandro,” I replied, each word echoing with razor-sharp clarity. “You stayed quiet because you liked watching her humiliate me. It made you feel powerful. It made you feel like the master of a castle you never built.”
I signaled to Sofia, who stepped up to the microphone.
“Mr. Alejandro Gomez,” Sofia announced. “Your final termination documents have been officially filed with the Ministry of Labor. Your claims for executive severance have been denied under the gross misconduct clause. In addition, the forensic audit of your corporate embezzlement has been submitted to the National Banking and Securities Commission.”
Sofia looked down at the document in her hand.
“Your current outstanding restitution debt owed to Ruta Norte Logística stands at $412,000 USD, plus eighteen percent annual compound interest. If this amount is not satisfied within thirty days, our corporate legal division will initiate immediate asset forfeiture proceedings against your family’s private properties in Querétaro.”
Alejandro’s eyes went completely wide. “No... not the family ranch! My grandfather left that to us!”
“Then you better find a job that pays very well, Alejandro,” I said softly into the microphone. “Because I will collect every single cent you stole from my workers.”
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I turned my back on the balcony and walked away.
The lobby doors burst open, and four municipal police officers marched in, taking custody of Alejandro for felony violation of a restraining order. As they dragged him through the revolving doors in front of the flashing phone cameras of every employee he had ever mistreated, his screams of regret faded into the roaring noise of city traffic.
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