“Enough,” Mateo tried, but his voice came out thin.
“You brought us here to humiliate us,” the boy countered. “To feel superior. But you didn’t expect there was something I know that you don’t.”
“And what could you possibly know that I don’t?” Mateo sneered.
The boy smiled—not childish, but edged with painful wisdom.
“I know how to open your safe.”
The sentence fell like a death knell.
The businessmen went absolutely still.
“You’re lying,” Mateo said—but fear leaked into his voice.
“Want me to prove it?”
“That’s impossible!” Gabriel burst out. “It’s a three-million-dollar military-grade safe. A street kid can’t—”
“A street kid,” the boy repeated, voice carrying raw emotion now. “That’s what I am to you.”
He turned to his mother.
“Mamá, can I tell them?”
Elena nodded, eyes blazing with pride and terror.
The boy inhaled deeply.
“My name is Santiago Vargas Mendoza. My father was Diego Mendoza, chief security engineer for Continental Bank for fifteen years. He designed systems in twelve countries and wrote three manuals universities still use.”
The words hit like thunder.
Rodrigo frantically searched his phone. His eyes widened.