Chapter 3 - THE PAPERS MARIANA SIGNED
Arturo pulled out his phone.
Nothing more dangerous than that.
At least not yet.
He tapped the screen and held up a video.
Mariana appeared in it.
She sat at a dining table.
Her hair was messy.
Her face was swollen from crying.
A document lay in front of her.
Eulalia stood behind her.
Patricia was filming.
Arturo’s voice came from off camera.
“State your name.”
“Mariana Mendoza.”
“And you agree you are mentally unfit to manage household funds?”
Mariana in the video stared at the table.
“Yes.”
Julian looked at his wife.
Mariana was crying now.
“They made me say it.”
The video continued.
“You also acknowledge that you have neglected your child?”
“Yes.”
Julian shut it off.
“What the hell is this?”
Eulalia replied, “Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“That she was unstable.”
Mariana shook her head violently.
“They took Dieguito.”
Julian turned toward her.
“What?”
“They wouldn’t let me see him unless I signed.”
Her voice broke.
“For three days, they kept him in Patricia’s room.”
“I could hear him crying.”
“I begged.”
“They said if I didn’t sign, they’d call child services and say I abandoned him.”
Julian stared at his mother.
Eulalia’s face remained hard.
“I protected my grandson.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“You protected him by starving him?”
“No one starved him.”
Dieguito whispered, “Sometimes we only ate tortillas.”
Julian closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he looked at Mariana.
“How long?”
She understood.
“How long have you been living outside?”
“Almost two years.”
Julian staggered backward.
Two years.
He had been wiring money while his wife slept beside a boiler room.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mariana wiped her face.
“I tried.”
“How?”
“Emails.”
“I never got them.”
“Messages.”
“Nothing.”
“I called the company.”
Julian frowned.
“What?”
“I called the site office in Riyadh.”
“What happened?”
“A woman answered.”
“She said you didn’t want calls from home.”
Julian felt cold.
“Nobody at my site office would say that.”
Arturo looked away.
Julian caught it.
He pointed.
“You.”
Arturo smiled faintly.
“You’re making accusations.”
Julian stepped closer.
“Did you contact my employer?”
No answer.
Julian grabbed Arturo by the collar.
Guests gasped.
Patricia screamed.
“Let him go!”
Julian shoved Arturo against the wall.
“Did you contact my employer?”
Arturo stared at him.
Then whispered, “You should ask your mother.”
Julian turned.
Eulalia’s mouth tightened.
Mariana suddenly said, “There’s more.”
Julian released Arturo.
“What?”
She pointed toward a narrow storage room.
“Come with me.”
Eulalia moved.
“You will not.”
Julian stepped between them.
“She will.”
Mariana led Julian inside.
The room smelled like mildew.
A mattress lay on the floor.
Beside it sat a dented metal box.
Mariana knelt.
She pulled out a plastic bag wrapped around papers.
“I saved what I could.”
Julian opened it.
Bank receipts.
Copies of money transfers.
Letters returned unopened.
Screenshots of messages.
Then he saw something worse.
A life insurance policy.
His name at the top.
Eulalia was listed as beneficiary.
$750,000.
Julian stared.
“I never bought this.”
Mariana nodded.
“I know.”
“When did you find it?”
“Three months ago.”
“Where?”
“In Arturo’s briefcase.”
Julian looked toward the patio.
Arturo was speaking quietly to Patricia.
Mariana pulled out another document.
A death certificate application.
Julian’s name was typed into the form.
Date of presumed death blank.
His heart slammed.
“What is this?”
Mariana whispered, “They needed you legally dead.”
Julian looked at her.
“For what?”
“So they could sell everything.”
A floorboard creaked behind them.
Julian spun around.
May you like
Patricia stood in the doorway.
And in her hand was a kitchen knife.
