« May I ask Mr. Salgado a question? » he said quietly.
Margaret rolled her eyes.
—Go ahead, “darling”.
Aitana looked directly at Roberto.
—In your presentation you said “magna cum laude”, but you mispronounced it. The correct stress falls on the penultimate syllable according to the Latin pattern. And when you said “the best lawyers should trust us”, your sentence was constructed backward: the logical subject is “we should trust the best lawyers”.
The room fell silent.
Aitana added calmly:
—And Mrs. Fuentes… you said “those people” twice. My mother taught me that when someone says “those people,” they usually mean “people I don’t respect.”
Margaret opened her mouth and nothing came out.
David rested his elbows on the table.
—Now… are we going to continue underestimating the person who is warning us, or have we learned our lesson?
The partners looked down as if their notebooks had suddenly become fascinating.
The final signing was scheduled for that afternoon, but it was no longer a signing: it was a trap.
Aitana sat in a corner with a tablet, “playing” with a drawing app. To anyone else, she was just a little girl coloring. To David, it was a system of signals: red dot, lie; blue dot, key fact; green dot, partial truth.
Omar entered with his team as if nothing had happened.
« Mr. Harrison, » he said, his expression one of silk and steel. « We’ve brought the final contracts. Non-negotiable. »
While speaking in English, he murmured confidently in Arabic to his assistant:
« They don’t understand. In thirty days the project is ours. And when they try to break up, we’ll charge them two hundred million. »
On the tablet, Aitana drew a little house with « 30 » and « 200M » next to it. Red dot.
David smiled calmly.
« Interesting… » he said aloud. « Could you clarify the penalty structure of section 73-C of the Arabic text? »
Omar froze. His smile barely broke.
—What… penalty?
Aitana scored red and blue, quickly.
Omar began to sweat. His eyes scanned the room like a predator searching for the one who was betraying him. He saw lawyers, assistants, partners… and his gaze settled on Aitana.
He approached her, crouching down to her level.
« What are you drawing? » she asked, in sweet English.
« A rainbow, » Aitana replied without looking up.
Omar uttered a trap phrase in Arabic, slowly.
-You understand?
Aitana made a perfectly confused face.
« Excuse me? I don’t speak… » She looked at Keisha. « Mommy… »
Omar almost believed her own act. Almost. But he saw a microsecond pause in Aitana’s finger. A tiny tremor.
It straightened up like a whip.
« I want that girl out of the room, » he said, now without his mask. « Now. »
David clenched his jaw.
—He’s staying.
Omar picked up his papers.
—Then there’s no deal.
The air grew tense. Five hundred million hung on that decision. The future of the firm. David’s reputation. Keisha’s life.
David looked at Aitana. She looked back at him. Not with fear. With that dangerous calm of someone who has already chosen to do the right thing.
—Aitana—David said, of course—. Please… tell Mr. Omar, in Arabic, exactly what you heard him say about the two hundred million clause.
The silence fell like a stone.
Aitana stood up. She was small, yes. But at that moment, she looked enormous.
He looked him in the eyes.
And he spoke in perfect, crystal-clear Arabic, without hesitation:
—You said the actual text gives you complete control after 30 days, and that when the Americans try to stop you, they’ll pay 200 million in penalties. You also said they’re going to take away housing for the poor and build resorts for the rich.
Omar stepped back as if he had been hit.
—This… this is impossible…
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