Black Jewel

Chapter 46 - Esteban's Revenge

Maritza returned to New York after a week. She was anxious to get her money and be done with Esteban for good.

She drove up to her building and attempted to enter, but was prohibited. When she started making a scene, Esteban came out with two police officers. He was about to unleash his wrath on her.

"What the hell's going on, Esteban?" she asked. "The doorman won't let me in."

"That's because you don't live here anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Immediate occupancy was one of the conditions when the property sold. The new owners were eager to occupy their unit. She had twenty four hours to contest the contract after signing, if she didn't agree or changed her mind. Since she didn't, the sale proceeded. So, she was no longer welcomed there. Also, a restraining order was issued against her in case she caused any problems. She was not to be within 300 feet of the building or new occupants.

"I don't give a shit who bought it. I just want my money and my stuff," she said.

He pulled out a document from the envelope he was holding. It was a statement for ten dollars. The actual check went to her attorneys for legal fees.

"What the fuck is this?" she asked sarcastically.

"This is your half from selling the penthouse," he said smiling.

"BULLSHIT! You're missing a whole lot of zeros. I want my money, Esteban...NOW!" 

He pulled out a copy of the contract and told her to look closely. What she thought said twenty million really said twenty dollars. In the description, it read "Twenty & million 00/cents", not "Twenty million & 00/cents". She hadn't paid close attention to the "&" sign. Also, what she thought were commas in the number value were actually decimal points. So it read, "20.000.000.00", instead of "$20,000,000.00". It equaled twenty dollars, regardless of the number of zeros.

"You FUCKIN' BASTARD!!!" she yelled.

Then, he handed her two more statements. One for $10 and another for $105. The actual checks also went to her attorney.

As per the divorce settlement, Maritza was awarded half the amount in their joint bank account. The ten dollar statement reflected her half. Esteban cleared their account to pay his attorneys and other household expenses first, leaving twenty dollars.

The statement for $105 was from her investment portfolio. It sold for $210 and Esteban took his half, as awarded by the court. Her attorneys received the other half.

"And with regards to your stuff..." he said smiling like a Cheshire cat. "It's all mine."

Seeing that the attorney only received $125 from her share of the divorce settlement, Esteban worked out a deal with her attorney. He'd pay all of her legal fees in exchange for all her personal belongings, gifted items and car since he had a lien on her property. So technically, Esteban owned her stuff.

Her credit cards, cell phone and other joints accounts were cancelled. The debt was separated and she now had to apply for her own accounts and pay her own credit card debt.

He didn't stop there. He informed her that he was the new owner of the vacation home in Punta Cana. He filed an injunction in court the day after Darlene got back from assessing the properties. He proved it was an endangerment to sell the property due to the damages and negligence on her behalf. He used the assessment reports from the architects and submitted several estimates of how much it would cost to correct those mistakes. Esteban was willing to pay the price for the repairs upfront, but wanted to be reimbursed out of her share of the profits. The court agreed and gave him ownership of her 25% portion since the cost of the repairs was more than her share was worth. He showed her that document as well.

Then, he added that there really was no buyer. He just needed a signed contract demonstrating that she'd sell the property even at the risk of others. But the best part was that he paid the architects to write those reports as evidence for the court. The architect she hired was the brother to one of the architects he hired. So, they told the same story and got paid.  The house was really worth $2.3 million. 

She started cursing him out, but Esteban didn't care. He just kept on adding insult to injury.

When she blabbed about Carlos in front of everyone, it created witnesses. So, he filed another injunction to obtain their prestigious hotel and two restaurants since it had all been acquired with his money. It now belonged to Esteban along with the collection of cars, money from bank accounts and the home in Cabarete. Police seized everything once she got on the plane to come back.

"You Mother Fucker! I HATE YOU!" she yelled.

Esteban laughed as he kept cutting into her.

He admitted that he has known about her and Carlos for a while. He had them investigated when she accidentally said some things trying to hurt Esteban. But he wasn't sure she knew everything about her beloved Carlos. For instance, he'd been married for ten years and has three kids. He was also a very ambitious man and acquired nine income-generating properties throughout D.R. over time. He had a secret bank account with five million dollars in it from the income of those properties. Carlos also purchased his family a gigantic home in Santo Domingo, a yacht and a hair salon for his wife. But his latest venture that was generating lots of income was his hotel on the Cayman Islands. Carlos franchised his hotel and branched out.

"You're lying! You're a liar!" she said screaming and yelling.

Apparently, Maritza had no clue. So, he politely handed her an envelope with pictures showing it all. He even showed her copies of the ownership records with his name on everything. It was all seized as well.

But Esteban wasn't quite done. He revealed that he purposely opened a branch office of his accounting firm in the Dominican Republic once he found out. He had the General Manager of the firm reach out to Carlos and persuaded him to do business with them. That was how he knew about all of their businesses, the three off-shore accounts mentioned in court and the money coming in from the rental house in Punta Cana. All of their money was handled by his firm.

He saw that Carlos was a smart man when it came to business. So, Esteban sat back and watched Carlos make him richer.

"And by the way, you really didn't make bad investments. I just made it look like you did. I actually made $148,000 on you," said Esteban laughing.

Last, he put the icing on the cake. He waved his fingers for Darlene and Lola to come out.

He started with Darlene. He put his arm around her and kissed her. It felt so good telling Maritza that Darlene was his woman. He traded Maritza's car and bought Darlene a new one. He also gave her all of the jewelry in the bank safe. But it felt great telling her that he and Darlene moved into the mansion on East 70th Street that he just purchased.  Maritza got really angry because she'd always wanted him to buy it for her, but he never would.

Then, he put his other arm around Lola hugging her tight. He shared that Lola was his missing child with Amelia and that she purchased the penthouse for twenty dollars. He just had it remodeled as a gift to his daughter and two sons who now called it home. He spent over $1 million on upgrades.

"You Son of a Bitch!!!" screamed Maritza over and over.

"Oh...and your boyfriend had to give up his brownstone in Brooklyn. Wouldn't you know it...he couldn't afford it without you," said Esteban laughing.

She just lost it. She lunged at him, but was on the floor before she realized it. The officers intervened pushing her down to the ground. Once she was in handcuffs, she was pulled up to her feet. Esteban had one last thing to tell her.

He got really close to her and whispered in her ear, "I'm richer than you can imagine" and told her his worth.

She went to kick him, but Lola blocked it. He stepped back and said, "You've hurt, used and lived off me and our kids for the last time. You've made our lives a living hell and now I hope I can return the favor. So as EJ would say....step off BITCH!" he said walking away with his two favorite girls.

But Lola turned around and did it. "And this is for my mother," she said spitting in her face.

Maritza went crazy as she was carted off to jail.