“Furthermore,” Samuel went on, turning a heavy parchment page, “on June twelfth, three years ago, Alejandro Mendoza signed personal and corporate lease guarantees for Mendoza Development.”

Alejandro stood frozen near the front bumper of the lead SUV, his chest barely moving as he stared at Samuel’s open ledger.

“Those guarantees pledged the commercial plaza lease rights as debt collateral directly to the Varela Trust,” Samuel said, looking straight at my ex-husband.

“Alejandro signed those papers believing Varela was an inactive shell company run by distant institutional investors.”

Samuel turned another page, his fingers perfectly steady.