Chương 2
They blended into ordinary days.
“Why are you telling me this?” Isabel asked.
Mariana hesitated.
“Because when he poured that water on you, everyone looked away.”
She touched the edge of the papers in her hands.
“And I hated myself for doing the same thing.”
Isabel looked at her.
Guilt was not the same as courage.
But sometimes guilt was where courage began.
“Come with me,” Isabel said.
Mariana looked confused.
“Where?”
“Back outside.”
The young woman’s face changed immediately.
Fear returned.
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I really can’t.”
Isabel softened her voice.
“I’m not asking you to be fearless.”
Mariana said nothing.
“I’m asking you to be honest.”
A few minutes later, they stepped back into the hallway.
The office grew quiet again.
Julián was still there, explaining something to another manager as if nothing unusual had happened.
When he saw Isabel return, his smile faded slightly.
“You should have taken the hint.”
Isabel walked past him and placed her wet blazer over the back of a chair.
Then she looked at the employees gathered nearby.
“I would like everyone who witnessed what happened this morning to remain available.”
Julián crossed his arms.
“Are you threatening my employees?”
“No.”
She looked directly at him.
“I’m giving them a chance to tell the truth.”
His expression hardened.
“You don’t work here.”
A small pause followed.
Isabel reached into her handbag and removed a simple leather folder.
She placed it on the table.
Inside was a document with a familiar name.
The employees leaned forward.
Julián did not move.
Not yet.
Because he had not understood what he was seeing.
But everyone else had.
The name at the bottom of the page was not a stranger.
It was the name that appeared on every major decision in the company.
Isabel Fuentes.
Owner and chief executive officer of Altavista Group.
The room changed before anyone spoke.
Not because they suddenly respected her.
Because they suddenly realized they had been watching someone they should have listened to.
And Isabel knew the hardest part was still ahead.
Because exposing Julián was easy.
Finding out how many people had been hurt while he believed he was untouchable would be much harder.
The following hours revealed that the water on Isabel Fuentes' clothes was the smallest problem inside Altavista Group.
By noon, the story had already moved through the building in whispers, messages, and nervous conversations behind half-closed doors.
Some employees believed Julián Mena had finally been exposed.
Others believed Isabel had created a trap and was preparing to punish everyone who had remained silent.
Both reactions told her something important.
Fear had become so normal that even justice looked threatening.
Isabel sat in a small conference room usually reserved for department meetings.
The room had no windows, only a long table, a whiteboard covered with old numbers, and a coffee machine in the corner that made a terrible sound before producing a drink nobody actually liked.
She noticed the machine because she needed something ordinary to focus on.
Her hands were still cold from the water.
Mariana sat across from her with a folder pressed against her chest.
“You don't have to protect me,” Mariana said.
Isabel looked up from the documents on the table.
“I didn't say I was protecting you.”
Mariana looked surprised.
“Then what are you doing?”
“Trying to understand.”
The young woman lowered her eyes.
“That is what executives always say before they make a decision.”
“And you think I already made mine?”
“I think people with power usually make decisions before they hear the whole story.”
The honesty caught Isabel off guard.
Most people around her spent their careers trying to sound agreeable.
Mariana sounded exhausted.
There was a difference.
“I used to think listening was enough,” Isabel said.
Mariana glanced at her.
“And now?”
“Now I think listening is the easy part.”
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
The building continued outside the room.
Footsteps passed.
Elevator doors opened and closed.
Someone laughed too loudly in the hallway and immediately became quiet after remembering what had happened that morning.
Mariana opened the folder she had been holding.
Inside were printed emails, complaint forms, and handwritten notes.
Isabel did not touch them immediately.
“Where did you get these?”
Mariana hesitated.
“Some were sent to HR.”
“Some?”
“The rest were ignored.”
“By whom?”
Mariana rubbed her thumb against the edge of a page.
“That is the problem.”
She pushed the documents forward.
“There isn't one person.”
Isabel began reading.
The first complaint described a supervisor who threatened employees with termination for taking medical appointments.
The second involved a manager who changed schedules as punishment.
The third was about someone being publicly insulted during a team meeting.
Different departments.
Different names.
The same pattern.
Nobody had acted.
“Why didn't HR investigate?” Isabel asked.
Mariana gave a small, humorless laugh.
“Because sometimes HR was told to make problems disappear.”
The sentence sat between them.
Isabel turned another page.
A signature appeared at the bottom of an internal review.
She recognized it.
Not because she knew the handwriting.
Because she knew the position.
The director of human resources had approved a report claiming there were no workplace concerns.
Three months later, another complaint had arrived.
Then another.
“Who is the current HR director?” Isabel asked.
“Daniel Cross.”
Isabel leaned back slightly.
She knew the name.
Daniel had worked at Altavista for eleven years.
He was not famous.
He was not loud.
People like Daniel were often difficult to judge because they rarely became the center of anything.
They survived by staying useful.
“Was he involved in today's incident?” Isabel asked.
“No.”
Mariana paused.
“But he will hear about it soon.”
That answer carried more meaning than she said aloud.
Isabel closed the folder.
“Call him.”
Mariana looked alarmed.
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“He won't come.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody summons Daniel.”
Isabel almost smiled.
May you like
It was the first real expression of amusement she had shown all day.
“Then today can be his first experience.”
