Chapter 10 - NORTHLINE
The real motive became visible only when investigators obtained the partnership agreement for NLC Partners II. Sebastian’s family trust had invested $12 million through a feeder vehicle five years earlier. That alone was not illegal. The hidden problem sat in a performance clause.
If Northline completed the Vega Hospitality acquisition below a specified valuation, certain early investors received an additional profit allocation.
Sebastian made more money if Vega Hospitality sold cheaply.
During the same five years, he had helped manufacture instability inside the family controlling it.
The siblings’ public fights depressed confidence.
Governance disputes delayed hotel developments.
Medical-capacity concerns gave Northline leverage to argue that current leadership was unreliable.
Every crisis Sebastian “managed” weakened the seller and strengthened the buyer in which he held an interest.
Alejandro read the agreement twice. “He has been getting paid to make our problems worse.”
Lucia corrected him. “He has been getting paid when our problems make the company cheaper.”
That distinction was uglier.
The financial motive also explained why Mateo’s trust mattered. Even if Alejandro and Lucia were temporarily removed, Sebastian still needed the eleven-percent block held for Mateo to guarantee the sale. As co-adviser, Sebastian already possessed limited administrative rights, but he needed a legal finding that Alejandro could not act as Mateo’s guardian regarding corporate votes.
The false medical record supplied that route.
Valeria asked whether Sebastian could seek custody of Mateo.
Alejandro’s face changed.
His attorney explained that ordinary custody was different, but Sebastian could argue for an independent fiduciary over Mateo’s financial interests if Alejandro was medically impaired.
Sebastian did not need to take the child.
He needed to separate Mateo’s shares from his father.
The emotional stakes and financial stakes had been engineered to look like different problems.
They were the same problem.
Alejandro ordered Mateo removed from the Vega Grand Hotel and moved with trusted security to Lucia’s home. The decision surprised everyone, especially Lucia. Their relationship was still damaged, but Alejandro now trusted her more than any family structure Sebastian controlled.
Mateo asked why they had to leave the hotel.
Alejandro told him only that adults were fighting over business and that he wanted Mateo somewhere quieter.
Mateo looked toward Valeria. “Is it because of the food?”
“In part.”
“Did Aunt Lucia put something on it?”
“No.”
Mateo seemed relieved.
Then he said something Alejandro had not expected. “The man with gray hair told the waiter Dad had a special dinner.”
Alejandro crouched. “What man?”
“The one who came in when you were outside.”
Mateo described Sebastian.
Nobody had asked the child whether Sebastian entered the private dining room before Alejandro returned.
Restaurant security footage showed no such visit.
But one camera covering the corridor had a nine-minute gap because its network connection dropped.
Mateo remembered Sebastian standing near Valeria while she was looking at her phone. He told the waiter, “Mr. Vega’s plate is the special one,” then left.
Valeria had not seen him because her back was turned.
The six-year-old witness Sebastian assumed mattered only because he saw Valeria touch the plate had seen something else too.
That gave them a new connection but not enough for court.
Children’s recollections could be challenged.
They needed adult evidence.
Sloan proposed a trap.
They would let Sebastian believe the original restaurant plate contained something linking him directly to the sedative and that Alejandro planned to present it at Monday’s hearing.
In reality, the police already possessed the plate.
If Sebastian moved to destroy or alter evidence he thought still existed, they could watch who he used.
Alejandro agreed.
Valeria did not.
“You’re building another plan where everyone thinks secrecy is justified because the outcome matters.”
Alejandro stopped.
She was right.
This time they told Lucia, the attorneys, law enforcement, and every person whose cooperation the trap required exactly what they were doing.
No hidden protectors.
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No manipulated family member.
Sebastian would be the only person operating without the full truth.
