The woman hugged her six-month-old baby tightly as she held the phone to her ear. Her cheek was still red from the slap, but the fear had vanished from her eyes.

Valeria didn't wait for the shareholders' meeting. The next day, she invited Alejandro De la Vega to a private lunch at the most exclusive restaurant in downtown Madrid, a place where businessmen ruined lives between glasses of wine.

Alejandro, a sixty-year-old man in an impeccable tailored suit with a fatherly smile, sat across from her.

"Valeria, my dear. What a joy to see you've put that wretch of an ex-husband of yours in his place," Alejandro said, feigning empathy. "Your father would be proud to see how you've defended the family name."

Valeria gave him an icy smile before taking a sip of water.

"Oh, really, Alejandro? Do you think Dad would be proud to see how money from our Geneva subsidiary financed the smear campaign against me?"

Alejandro's smile froze for a split second, but he immediately regained his composure.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Business in Switzerland is complicated...

"Stop beating around the bush, Alejandro," she interrupted, throwing a copy of the forensic report onto the table. "Your signature authorized the funds that bailed out my ex-husband's family, on the condition that they remove me from the presidency and have me legally declared unfit with that fake postpartum depression. You wanted total control of the parent company without getting your hands dirty."

Alejandro's paternal expression shifted to a grimace of utter contempt. He leaned back in his chair and looked at her with cold eyes.

"You're just as stubborn as your father, Valeria. But he knew when to step down. Yes, I signed that. So what are you going to do? Those documents demonstrate a dubious financial transaction, nothing more. At Monday's meeting, the shareholders will support me. A single mother, unstable and traumatized by a divorce, is not what the market is looking for to lead an empire." Keep your trust fund and stay home with your son if you don't want to end up like your father.

Valeria felt a pang in her heart.

"What did you do to my father, Alejandro?"