Seconds later, it rang again.
Annoyed, exhausted, and emotionally numb, she answered.
“Miss Mariana Rivas?” a man asked in refined accented Spanish.
“Yes?”
“My name is Laurent Keller. I’m calling from Zurich. We’ve been trying to contact you for weeks.”
Mariana nearly laughed.
A scam.
Obviously.
“If this is fraud,” she said bitterly, “you chose the wrong woman. I have absolutely nothing left.”
There was a pause.
“That,” the man replied calmly, “is precisely why we became concerned someone was intercepting our communication.”
Mariana sat upright.
“What?”
“Several letters addressed to you were returned or blocked by staff connected to Mr. Luján.”
Her stomach tightened instantly.
“What letters?”
The man inhaled slowly.
“They concern the passing of your great-uncle, Henri Rivas, in Lyon.”
For illustrative purposes only
Silence.
Her father had always insisted the European side of their family had vanished decades ago.
“You are listed,” Laurent continued carefully, “as the sole heir to the Aurora Trust.”
Mariana stopped breathing.
“I’m sorry… what?”
“The inheritance includes assets in Switzerland, France, and Germany. After taxes, the estimated value is approximately eight hundred fifty million euros. There are also vineyards, real estate holdings, and controlling shares in a logistics corporation.”
The phone nearly slipped from her fingers.
Her vision blurred.
“This can’t be real.”
“It is very real, Miss Rivas.”
Mariana pressed a trembling hand against her mouth.
Her entire body shook.
Not from excitement.
