--- Missed Part 1? Read it here before moving on. ---
As Altagracia and Braulio exit the shopping mall site, they are met by a mob of angry tenants who have received a notice of eviction. The landlord, Jaime Aguirre was informed of Altagracia’s visit to the construction site and gathered everyone to protest against the injustice.
“I am not going to let you evict us and take down this tenement. This is my property! My property!”, Jaime screamed at Altagracia as she was about to step into her car.
Altagracia does not utter a word but her bodyguard, Matamoros who is holding the door open for her, immediately cocks his gun and points it at Jaime.
“There’ll be no need for that.” Altagracia says to Matamoros.
She looks over at Jaime and the tenants and says, “You’re encroaching on private property. You’ll have to deal with the authorities if you don’t comply.”
“This is my property! You can’t get away with this!”, Jaime keeps screaming as Altagracia gets into her car and drives off.
Jaime and the tenants keep showing a brave face but in their hearts they know that anything is possible with this woman. After all, they’d heard of tenements like theirs being taken over by these big construction companies. Sandoval Construction Company was no different and probably even worse, they thought. Altagracia had her hands in every sector of the country and could get away with anything.
On her way home, Altagracia starts a conference call with her trusted allies - Valeria Padilla, the city Judge and Braulio’s wife. Rafael Cabral, her public image consultant and Leticia Cabral, wife of Rafael, a renowned newscaster across the country. Apart from these close connections, with her deep pockets, Altagracia pays off anyone to get what she wants. She had attempted to pay off Jaime Aguirre to take ownership of his property but he wasn’t letting her have it.
“Valeria, I want you to issue an arrest warrant for Jaime Aguirre. He has refused to get off my property.”
“Leticia, make sure you cover his arrest. Let the people know that I have been generous with this man and yet he takes me for granted.”
“Rafael, you know what to do. Assist Leticia with everything you’ve got to boost my image in all of this.”
“Yes, La Doña. Consider everything done”, they reply.
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At the tenement, Azucena, Jaime’s wife picks up the phone.
“Saúl, Saúl. You need to come home. We’re facing a huge problem right now, son.”
Jaime interrupts, “Don’t disturb the poor boy, Azucena. Can’t you see he's busy with work?”
Saúl Aguirre is a lawyer who fights for victims of sexual assault and abuse. Over his career of ten years, he has handled over twenty pro-bono cases, defending helpless women and bring their perpetrators to justice.
Saúl is currently in Veracruz defending a rape victim in jail who had been put there by her assaulter after the young girl filed a report.
Raping young girls had become a norm in Veracruz and nobody was giving a listening ear to victims of sexual abuse, well, except Saúl and only a few others. The rapists wore their crimes on their chest like a badge and always had the last laugh. Saúl was on a personal mission to make these criminals pay as he had failed to save the person he’d have given his life for, if he could.
Years before he went to law school, he’d lost his elder sister to the violent hands of a rapist. He kept beating himself up because he couldn’t see the signs in the so-called marriage she found herself in. Martin Preciado, his sister’s husband, had abused her emotionally, sexually and physically until she ended up dead. With his high-ranking status and connections within the country, he was acquitted of all accusations that the Aguirre family had laid against him. The court ruled Saúl’s sisters death as an accident.
Saúl in his thirst for justice then took it upon himself to find solid evidence against Martin Preciado and other rapists who see women as preys.
---- Part 3 coming soon ---