“Joaquín?”
“I heard. I’ll meet you there in a moment.”
She only waits for me to hang up before she starts babbling. “There must have been a mistake, Mr. Guillermo. She wouldn’t do this.”
As crazy as I feel right now, I need to find out what’s going on, and to do that, I must calm her down. “Tell me what happened.”
“She was leaving when one of the staff accused her of stealing her wallet.”
“What do you mean?”
“One of the junior’s wallets ended up in Olívia’s bag. Charlotte, the girl whose wallet was stolen, said she saw Olívia taking it but didn’t say anything so they could catch her red-handed. I really don’t know exactly what happened, but within minutes, a crowd had gathered in the lobby. The security guard arrested her in front of everyone. That’s not protocol.”
“Damn it!”
She flinches at my outburst.
“Go to the filming room. Don’t let anyone touch anything, understood? No one should touch the recordings, not even those in the control room.”
“Yes, sir.”
We step out of the elevator, and as I walk towards where I think Olívia might be, Melissa continues on her way to carry out my orders.
I still can’t see Olívia, but there’s a crowd of employees on the third floor, some pointing their phones and filming.
I’m overcome with anger. There’s no doubt they set her up, and I have a good idea of who did it.
As I approach, I hear Joaquín’s voice.
“Did she resist?”
“Mr. Joaquín, what are you doing here?”
I can sense the tremor in the man’s voice, even from a distance.
“Let’s turn the tables. Answer my question first: did she resist when you said you’d check her bag? And after that, maybe you can explain to me why the hell you laid hands on my sister-in-law inside my family’s hotel.”
As I get closer, I notice he’s already pulled Olívia into his arms. She doesn’t hug him back, but her face is buried in his chest.
After my brother’s statement, a deathly silence settles in, and upon my arrival, the crowd parts like a corridor.
“Olívia.”
She lifts her head to look at me, and I don’t see anyone else. I extend my hand in invitation, and she doesn’t hesitate. When I have her close to me, I wrap my arms around her and speak only to Joaquín. “I’ll go up with her, but no staff should leave the hotel until everything is clarified. Whoever was involved in this will pay.”
Chapter 38
As we’re leaving, I hear my brother ask, “Who ordered her to be detained?”
Before the security guard can respond, the door of the private elevator opens and I step in with her.
Olívia hasn’t said anything so far, although she’s sticking to me, clinging to my arms. She cries softly, her body shaking so much that I wonder whether she’s in shock. “I didn’t do it, Guillermo. I never stole anything in my whole life. Not even when I barely had anything to eat.”
Damn it!
I make a pact with myself that whoever is responsible for this will pay.
“Do you believe me?”
