Three days later, I was sitting in a waiting area with wood-paneled walls and air that smelled like expensive paper.
The office was on Paseo de la Reforma. Tall windows. Quiet power. The kind of place Derek would’ve called “his world” if he believed he belonged there.
My hands were folded in my lap.
I was calm.
I had no idea I was about to watch karma unfold like a movie.
The door burst open.
Derek walked in wearing a suit that looked brand new and painfully overconfident. Too sharp for a man who didn’t own real ambition. Like a costume.
He was talking loudly, laughing, making sure the assistant could hear him.
“Yachts,” he said. “Cancún. Maybe a villa in Tulum. And I’m definitely hiring staff—real staff. Not… you know.”
Then he saw me.
His smile twisted into something mocking.
“What is she doing here?” he asked, pointing like I was a stain. “This is family business.”
A man stepped out of the inner office.
His name was Vincent Rodríguez, the attorney. Silver hair. Serious eyes. The kind of calm that comes from watching people destroy themselves for decades.
He didn’t smile at Derek’s performance.
“Your father insisted Joanna be present,” he said.
Derek scoffed. “Yeah, well, my father’s dead. So let’s get this over with. I’ve got a meeting with a broker.”
Vincent gestured to the chair.
Derek dropped into it like he owned it.
I stayed silent.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I could feel something strange in the air.
Like the universe had been waiting for this moment.
Vincent opened a folder slowly—almost respectfully.
And began to read.
“I, Theodore James Harrison,” he said, “being of sound mind…”
Derek leaned back, smug.
Vincent continued.
“…leave to my son, Derek Harrison…”
Derek’s grin widened.
“…the sum of five thousand dollars…”
The room snapped into a silence so heavy it felt like gravity changed.
Derek blinked once.
Then again.
His smile didn’t fall at first—like his brain refused to accept the words.
“—and my old fishing gear.”
Derek sat forward.
“What?” he said, laughing like it was a joke. “No. No, no. That’s—”
He stood so fast his chair scraped the floor.
“Where’s the company?” he barked. “Where are the properties? Where’s the seventy-five million?”
Vincent didn’t flinch.
He adjusted his glasses and looked directly at him.
“Derek,” he said, voice calm as a blade, “did you actually read the will?”
Derek’s face drained of color.
And in that moment, I realized something:
Derek hadn’t heard about the inheritance from the lawyer.
He’d heard it from his own ego.
He’d built a fantasy… and kicked me out based on a rumor inside his head.
Vincent turned a page.
“The remainder of the estate,” he read, “including Harrison Construction, all properties, investment accounts, and assets…”
Derek’s mouth fell open.
Vincent paused.
And then he said the words that made Derek’s eyes flick toward me like he’d just seen a ghost.
“…goes to the person Theodore considered his true family.”
Derek’s voice cracked. “Who?”
Vincent turned the document slightly.
“A woman who worked with honor,” he said, “who cared for him during illness, who showed up when others didn’t.”
Then he read:
“To my daughter-in-law, Joanna… I leave full control of my assets.”
Derek didn’t just look shocked.
He looked afraid.
Because for the first time, he understood he’d made a fatal mistake—
and I was the one holding the consequences.
4) WHEN A MAN WHO THINKS HE’S POWERFUL SUDDENLY HAS NONE
Derek’s knees literally hit the floor.
His expensive suit wrinkled against the wood like a humbled flag.
“Joanna,” he whispered, voice breaking, “please… I didn’t mean those things.”
I stared down at him.
No hate.
No rage.
Just clarity.
He reached for my hand.
I stepped back.
Vincent watched without expression. Like he’d seen this exact moment coming since Theodore’s first hospital visit.
“Joanna,” Derek begged, “I was grieving. I was confused. I thought—”
“You thought you were rich,” I said quietly.
He swallowed.
“And the second you thought you were rich,” I continued, “you revealed your real face.”
His eyes flickered, searching for the version of me that used to forgive.
That version was gone.
I looked at Vincent. “Is everything finalized?”
Vincent nodded. “Per your father-in-law’s instructions. The ownership transfer is prepared. The board has been notified.”
Derek’s head snapped up. “Board?”
Vincent’s voice stayed calm. “Your father didn’t only write a will. He built protection around it.”
Derek’s mouth opened. “You can’t—”
Vincent raised a hand. “Theodore documented everything. Years of behavior. Missed obligations. Financial irresponsibility. He left clear instructions.”
Derek turned to me again.
“Joanna, baby—listen—”
I sighed.
“Derek,” I said, “the will gave you five thousand dollars.”
He nodded desperately, like that was still something.
“Use it,” I said, “to pay for the hotel you slept in after you kicked my suitcase down the stairs.”
His face twitched.
“And don’t forget to pick up the fishing gear,” I added, voice level. “You’re going to have a lot of free time.”
Then I turned and walked out.
Not because I wanted him to suffer.
But because I was finally done suffering for him.
5) THE PART DEREK DIDN’T EXPECT: THE WILL HAD ONE MORE LAYER
Most people think that’s where the story ends.
It didn’t.
Because karma didn’t just slap Derek.
It cornered him.
Two days after the reading, Vincent called me.
“There’s something else,” he said.
My stomach tightened. “What?”
“A clause,” he explained. “Theodore included an additional condition… in case Derek tried to contest the will.”
I felt my pulse quicken. “And?”
Vincent’s voice was steady. “If Derek files to challenge the inheritance, he loses even the five thousand.”
I blinked. “He can do that?”
“He can try,” Vincent said. “But Theodore anticipated it.”
My throat tightened.
I remembered Theodore’s tired eyes in the hospital.
The way he’d squeeze my hand and whisper, “Thank you for staying.”
He wasn’t just leaving me money.
He was leaving me a shield.
6) DEREK’S NEXT MOVE: HE TRIED TO RUIN ME
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