Yuraima Contreras has been working as a housekeeper for 12 years at the home of the multimillionaire couple Palmira Rodríguez and Sergio Hoffman. Both trust her, they consider her as family. A terrible event would happen at the Amanecer Mansion, which would change the course of Yuraima's life.
February 14th, 2010
Palmira and Sergio were celebrating 25 years of marriage. They decided to have a simple party with their family and closest friends. That day they placed on the mahogany table the elegant white tablecloth, hand embroidered with Palmira's favorite colors, blue and white. She had bought that tablecloth during her honeymoon trip to Portugal. It brought back beautiful memories... She would include the Bohemian glassware, the silver cutlery and the blue and white Rosenthal china, inherited from her paternal grandmother. A famous chef did the entire buffet.
The guests gradually arrived at the mansion. When all were gathered they toasted with fine Perignon champagne. At the end of the toast Yuraima warns Palmira about a call on her cell phone. Palmira answers the phone. An unknown voice tells her to go up to her room immediately, otherwise her husband will be kidnapped. Palmira turns pale, her legs weaken to the point that Yuraima helps her to sit down so she doesn't fall. She feels lost, she does not know what to do. She never knew Sergio had enemies. Her happiness is cut short. She ponders. Thoughts gallop rapidly in her head. They give her no respite...
-Breathe, breathe, concentrate on your breathing, said Yuraima.
Palmira obeyed. She breathes slowly, several times, until she recovers. She decides to comply with the order. Fear makes her thin hands tremble. She remembers the small pistol she keeps in the secret drawer of the library. He decides to go for it. Then he enters the room... he is surprised...
-Martin, what are you doing in my room? Have you gone crazy?
Martin Chacon is her husband's partner. She decides to quickly explain to him what she has just found out:
- The famous Napoleón Quesada is going to take revenge... We did not want to support him to transport illicit substances. He is extorting us. We already gave him the money he was asking for. We decided not to give him any more.
-Can you tell us the reason for his extortion? My husband is an impeccable man. Palmira answers.
-Yes, but you never knew his past in his country of origin. There, when he was a teenager, he was involved in drugs and kidnapping people of money and power. That's why he fled his country. It's true, here he is blameless.
At that moment the lights go out in the house. Someone enters stealthily... Footsteps are heard. When they reach the hallway, they call Palmira. She feels a shiver run through her body. Her heart beats fast. Someone opens the door handle and enters. Martin, in the half-light, recognizes Indira Hill, a hired assassin hired by Napoleon.
Palmira in her nervousness fires the gun but, the bullet only grazes Indira. Indira responds. Palmira falls to the ground. Indira manages to flee. In that confusion Martin, realizing that she is dead, decides to leave the mansion. Now it is Yuraima who feels she does not know what to do.
In his mind he sees a scene of bars and loss of freedom. Fear runs through her body. Although she didn't do anything... she is afraid of being implicated in a crime she didn't commit. Think ....... Others can get out of jail if they fall in prison and me?...Palmira dead and Sergio with a dark past. No one will save me. Suddenly a light shines on her. She remembers that Sergio once got her false documents in case something happened...He never explained, nor did she ask. So, she immediately took her passport and left, through the secret passage that the mansion has.
She arrived at the airport and took a flight to the Cayman Islands. No one would get her there. Upon arrival she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. As she was fluent in three languages, she decided to look for a job in a casino. Coincidentally, they were looking for an elegant and educated hostess. Requirements that Yuraima met perfectly. She was immediately accepted to work. She demanded that her face be covered by a mask and she would speak only with an Anglo-Saxon accent. No one would know her name, she would only be identified as "The Casino Lady". The owners found the proposal interesting and accepted. Every night, the lady of the casino was one of the attractions at the roulette and betting tables.
A year went by without a hitch. It seemed as if that fateful day was already buried in their memories. But, on September 15, an Interpol commission arrived to meet her. They had found her whereabouts. Yuraima thinks the worst and tries to escape, but the casino is surrounded. That simple mistake makes her a suspect... She is taken into custody. She cannot control herself. She bursts into tears. After calming her down, they explain to her that she has to testify as a witness to solve the crime. All is confusion until the detective, in charge of the case, explains to her:
-Mrs. Yuraima, Mr. Martin Chacon was detained as a suspect. He testified and said that you were with him that night at the crime scene. You have to give us your version of the facts. Come with us.
Yuraima arrives at the airport still perplexed and stunned. She doesn't know what to do or who to turn to. She thinks this is her doom. The next day she would go to court to testify. When she arrives at the courthouse she does not notice Sergio and Martin in the last row. Her nerves are still getting the better of her. After the deposition there was a recess. Then the judge gave his verdict, acquitting Yuraima. All the evidence pointed to Indira Hill as guilty of murder. But Yuraima, like Sergio, was arrested for falsification of documents.
The Lady Of The Casino by María del Carmen Sánchez Copyright © 2022
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)