Chapter 17 - THE PEOPLE UNDER THE FAMILY

The domestic employee audit uncovered twenty-one cases.

Unpaid overtime.

Medical coercion.

NDAs tied to family incidents.

One nanny paid to leave after witnessing Beatriz strike a child.

A driver fired after questioning Javier's medication.

A nurse threatened with licensing complaints.

The Reyes family did not have one secret.

It had a system.

Then he signed a restitution plan.

Jonah warned him.

"This could cost eighty million."

"Then eighty million."

The board pushed back.

Rosa did not.

She had one condition.

"Don't call it charity."

"Restitution."

"Yes."

Recovered trust money and executive clawbacks funded it.

Carmen's compensation was frozen.

Beatriz's too.

Marco surrendered his bonus.

Rosa directed her seven-percent voting block into a permanent employee protection trust with independent management.

At first Marco came too.

Then Dr. Chen told him to leave.

"She needs a relationship with Rosa that isn't supervised by your comfort."

That hurt.

On the third Saturday, Valentina stayed for dinner.

On the fifth, she fell asleep on Rosa's couch.

Rosa did not move for an hour because she was afraid waking her would end the moment.

When Marco arrived, he saw them.

Rosa whispered, "Don't take a picture."

"Okay."

Again: permission.

Small.

Necessary.

Rosa did not correct her.

One evening Valentina asked Rosa, "Are you jealous?"

"Sometimes."

"Of Mom Isabella?"

"Sometimes."

"Is that bad?"

"No."

"What matters is what I do with it."

Valentina considered that like serious law.

Then she asked, "Can I have two moms?"

Rosa's eyes filled.

"You can love as many people as make you safe."

The next morning, Marco received Carmen's indictment.

Among the charges:

Conspiracy relating to Javier's death.

The prosecutor would argue Carmen created the conditions and Beatriz administered the fatal dose.

Carmen requested to see Marco before arraignment.

He went.

"Do you hate me?"

"No."

"But I don't trust you."

That hurt her more.

Then Carmen asked, "Will you bring Valentina?"

"No."

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