The morning of March 15th, 2013, dawned gray and overcast in Barcelona, the Mediterranean sky reflecting the somber mood that had settled over Mateo's world.
The contract renewal meeting that should have been a celebration of his exceptional development had instead become a carefully orchestrated trap, designed to force his departure while maintaining the club's public image as a nurturing institution.
The System had warned him that this day would come, but the reality of institutional betrayal was more devastating than any analytical prediction could have conveyed.
The administrative building at Camp Nou felt different as Mateo and Don Carlos approached the imposing glass structure.
Where once it had represented opportunity and dreams, it now loomed like a courthouse where his future would be decided by judges who had already reached their verdict.
