Chapter 13 - THE PERSON AT CAMILA’S DOOR
Everyone assumed Teresa had sent someone.
I did too.
Then police pulled traffic camera footage.
The person leaving Camila’s street drove a silver pickup.
Registered to Mateo’s father’s old company.
A company now controlled by Teresa.
But the driver wasn’t Teresa.
It was Diego.
When Rachel told me, I felt sick.
“He came to the house?”
“That’s what police believe.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
Diego turned himself in the next morning.
I expected another lie.
Instead, he asked to speak through attorneys.
“I wasn’t breaking in.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You entered through a back door after midnight.”
“I had a key.”
“To Verónica’s house. Not Camila’s.”
“I thought it worked.”
I almost laughed.
“That’s your defense?”
He looked at me desperately.
“I was trying to warn you.”
“By terrifying our daughter?”
“I didn’t know she’d wake up.”
“What warning?”
He took out his phone.
A text from Teresa.
Bring Veronica home tonight. If you don’t, I’ll finish this myself.
Another:
You created this mess. Fix it.
Another:
I know where Sofia sleeps.
My hands went cold.
“Why didn’t you call police?”
“Because I thought she was bluffing.”
I stared at him.
“You always think she’s bluffing until someone gets hurt.”
He looked away.
“I panicked.”
“You came into Camila’s house.”
“I wanted to talk to you before Mom did something crazy.”
“You could have called.”
“You blocked me.”
“Then call Rachel. Call the police. Call literally anyone.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
That sentence defined our marriage.
He wasn’t thinking when his mother belittled me.
He wasn’t thinking when he forged my signature.
He wasn’t thinking when he cheated.
He wasn’t thinking when he planned to take Sofía.
At some point, “I wasn’t thinking” becomes “This is who I am.”
Police still charged him for the unauthorized entry.
Teresa was served with a stricter protective order.
Then investigators searched her home.
What they found ended everything.
A locked filing cabinet.
Inside were copies of my Social Security card.
Sofía’s birth certificate.
Elena’s tax returns.
Gabriel’s banking records.
Diego’s mortgage information.
Dozens of signatures.
Dozens of financial documents.
And one notebook.
Every page listed names.
Amounts.
Passwords.
Account numbers.
Plans.
On one page, beneath my name, Teresa had written:
Too independent. Reduce options.
Under Sofía:
Attached to mother. Correct early.
When the detective showed me, I couldn’t breathe.
My daughter wasn’t a granddaughter to Teresa.
She was a problem to be managed.
The detective turned another page.
Then stopped.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“There’s an entry dated the day before Gabriel died.”
My heart started pounding.
“What does it say?”
May you like
He read it aloud.
Gabriel knows. Meeting tomorrow. End problem before Elena finds out.
