Chapter 4 - NOELIA’S REAL REASON
By the next morning, the story my family told everyone was already different from what had actually happened.
According to my mother, I had suffered “postpartum emotional instability.”
According to my father, Mateo had misunderstood a harmless argument.
According to Noelia, I had voluntarily decided to leave.
She even posted a photograph online.
It showed my old bedroom after they had moved my belongings out.
Her caption said:
Finally getting some peaceful family time.
Mateo showed it to me.
I stared at the screen.
Then something in me went quiet.
“Save it.”
He looked at me.
“What?”
“Screenshot everything.”
That was the moment I stopped thinking like their daughter.
And started thinking like the woman who would have to protect Alba from them.
Andrés contacted the property registry.
Mateo contacted an attorney specializing in family and property disputes.
The police requested statements.
The hospital documented my reopened incision.
A nurse photographed the bruising near my scalp.
Every lie my parents told now had to compete with evidence.
At noon, Noelia called me.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
Mateo turned on the recorder after I nodded.
“Hello?”
Noelia didn’t ask whether I was okay.
She didn’t ask about Alba.
She went straight to the point.
“You need to tell Mateo to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Whatever he’s doing with the house.”
I looked at Mateo.
“So you knew.”
Silence.
“Noelia?”
“I knew what?”
“That Grandma left me the house.”
Another silence.
Then she sighed.
“Mom told me yesterday.”
Lie.
I could hear it immediately.
“You came for the bedroom because you knew.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“You needed me out before Andrés arrived.”
Her breathing changed.
“Lucía, listen.”
“No.”
“You listen.”
My voice shook.
But I kept going.
“You watched Mom drag me by the hair.”
“You saw blood on my clothes.”
“And you walked into that room smiling.”
Noelia’s voice hardened.
“You always make yourself the victim.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The sentence you people use whenever reality makes you uncomfortable.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You think Grandma leaving you a house makes you special?”
“No.”
“I think the deed makes me the owner.”
She went silent.
Mateo almost smiled.
Noelia lowered her voice.
“Dad already has a buyer.”
“He doesn’t own the property.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No.”
“It really isn’t.”
“You don’t understand what will happen if this sale falls apart.”
That caught me.
“What happens?”
Noelia said nothing.
“What did Dad do?”
“Nothing.”
“You just said something will happen.”
“I misspoke.”
Then I heard a man’s voice in the background.
Noelia whispered something away from the phone.
I recognized the voice.
Her boyfriend, Sergio.
Then she came back.
“Just sign whatever Dad gives you.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He’ll give you money.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“To stop being difficult for once in your life.”
I looked at Mateo.
He was writing something.
ASK ABOUT THE LOAN.
I swallowed.
“Did Dad borrow money against the house?”
Noelia went silent.
That silence told me everything.
Then she whispered.
“You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
The call ended.
Mateo immediately saved the recording.
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, Andrés called.
Mateo put him on speaker.
Andrés didn’t waste time.
“The buyer isn’t a family.”
“What is it?”
“A development company.”
May you like
My heart sank.
“They’re planning to demolish the house.”
