Chapter 16 - Teresa’s Confession
The recording began with darkness.
Teresa’s voice whispered near the microphone.
“Ricardo, stop.”
Then Valeria screamed.
Not loudly.
A short, frightened sound.
The camera shifted.
Ricardo stood near the ranch cellar door.
Valeria was on the floor.
Blood ran from her forehead.
Teresa held the phone.
“You hit her too hard,” she said.
Ricardo looked toward the camera.
“Turn that off.”
“What if she dies?”
“She won’t.”
Valeria lifted her head.
“Give me my baby.”
Teresa’s breathing quickened.
“You should never have slept with Daniel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Ricardo dragged Valeria toward the cellar.
Teresa followed.
“Why are you recording?” he demanded.
“So you can’t blame me later.”
The video ended.
No misunderstanding.
No panic.
Teresa had recorded the crime to protect herself, not Valeria.
Then she had hidden the memory card inside a toy.
“She kept it as insurance,” Lucía said.
“Against my father,” Daniel replied.
“And she brought it to Elena’s apartment.”
I understood.
“She was planning to trade it.”
“Probably,” Lucía said. “The altered medicine may have been part of the same plan.”
Teresa agreed to speak after learning Ricardo had been arrested.
Her attorney arranged a formal interview.
She entered wearing jail clothing and no makeup.
She looked smaller.
Not kinder.
Daniel sat across from her.
I watched through the glass with Lucía.
Teresa folded her hands.
“Your father forced me.”
Daniel’s face stayed still.
“No.”
“He controlled everything.”
“You helped him.”
“I was afraid.”
“You locked the gate while Sofia screamed.”
Teresa looked down.
“I made mistakes.”
“A mistake is forgetting a birthday.”
“Daniel—”
“You tried to poison my daughter.”
“I only wanted Camila to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Destroying us.”
Daniel leaned back.
“You still think this is her fault.”
Teresa began crying.
The tears looked real.
That didn’t make them innocent.
“I loved you,” she whispered.
“You loved the version of me that obeyed.”
Her face hardened.
There she was.
The real Teresa.
“Camila changed you.”
“No.”
Daniel stood.
“Sofia did.”
As he walked out, Teresa called after him.
“You think Camila will forgive you?”
Daniel stopped.
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
He looked back.
“She shouldn’t.”
Outside the interview room, Daniel handed me a folder.
Divorce papers.
Already signed by him.
“You don’t have to decide now.”
I stared at the pages.
“I’m not asking you to punish yourself.”
“I’m not.”
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you a choice without making you fight me for it.”
Before I could answer, Lucía’s phone rang.
She listened.
Then looked at us.
“The prosecutor has a problem.”
“What problem?”
“Mariela is pregnant.”
“And?”
“She claims the stress caused complications.”
Lucía’s mouth tightened.
May you like
“Her attorney is asking the court to release her before trial.”
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