Chapter 4 - THE FAMILY BUSINESS

“Vargas Family Holdings?” I repeated.

Nadia searched the state corporate registry.

The filing appeared almost instantly.

Manager: Rosa Vargas.

Members: Diego Vargas. Mateo Vargas.

Purpose: consulting and investment services.

The address was my house.

I leaned back in the hotel chair.

“They created a company out of my home without telling me.”

Nadia kept reading. “And opened a bank account.”

My phone started ringing.

Diego.

I declined it.

Then Rosa.

Decline.

Then Mateo.

Decline.

A text came from Diego.

YOU’RE MAKING THIS WORSE. COME HOME BEFORE LAWYERS GET INVOLVED.

Nadia raised one eyebrow. “Too late.”

The next morning, she obtained the business registration packet. One page made both of us go still.

Vargas Family Holdings had listed a projected first-year capital contribution of six hundred thousand dollars.

“From where?” I asked.

Nadia’s mouth tightened. “That is the right question.”

What he did not know was how carefully the company was structured.

My late father had taught me one rule: never mix romance with ownership.

Before the wedding, I had insisted on a prenup.

Diego complained for two days, then signed.

Now Nadia pulled up a copy.

“Your business is separate property,” she said. “Your premarital savings are separate. Your company shares are separate.”

“So how were they planning to get six hundred thousand?”

She clicked another document.

A commercial loan application had been started in my company’s name.

Not submitted yet.

Started.

Requested amount: $600,000.

Collateral: Cruz Catering Group equipment, receivables, and trademarks.

Personal guarantor: Elena Cruz Vargas.

Secondary guarantor: Diego Vargas.

I stared at the screen.

Nadia whispered, “Elena, they weren’t trying to borrow from you.”

She scrolled to the proposed use of funds.

ACQUISITION OF VARGAS AUTOMOTIVE DEBT AND EXPANSION CAPITAL.

I looked at her.

“What is Vargas Automotive?”

She turned the laptop toward me.

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“It belongs to Diego’s uncle.”

And according to the filing, it was ninety days from foreclosure.