Chapter 2 — The Blue Notebook
Samuel pulled open the bedside drawer with trembling hands.
There it was.
A worn blue notebook, its corners bent and its cover faded from months of being handled in secret.
The first page was dated six months earlier.
"If you're reading this, Samuel, it means I was right to be afraid."
His heartbeat stopped.
Every page documented another incident.
"February 11 — Valeria switched my blood pressure pills. She smiled when I became dizzy."
"March 3 — She told me no one would believe an old woman whose memory was fading."
"April 18 — She whispered that this house would finally belong to her once I was gone."
Each entry grew darker.
Doña Teresa had written every conversation, every threat, every unexplained illness.
Tucked between the pages were photographs.
One showed bruises on her wrist.
Another showed her medication bottles arranged differently after Valeria had insisted on "organizing" them.
The final envelope contained something Samuel never expected.
A small digital voice recorder.
With shaking fingers, he pressed PLAY.
Valeria's voice filled the silent hospital room.
"You're already old. Nobody questions it when old people die."
"Samuel will cry for a few weeks... then everything will finally be ours."
Samuel felt his knees weaken.
The nurse standing beside him covered her mouth in horror.
Before anyone spoke, two police officers entered the room.
One of the nurses had already called hospital security.
Valeria, who had been waiting confidently in the hallway, smiled the moment she saw Samuel.
That smile disappeared when he silently held up the blue notebook.
May you like
For the first time...
She looked afraid.
