Chapter 12 - HER VOICE, MY NAME
I didn’t hear the verification recording that day.
Inés requested the relevant records through the proper process.
Waiting became its own kind of punishment.
I waited for calls.
For statements.
For people to decide whether the signature I hadn’t written belonged to me.
Meanwhile, Javier sent photographs from our honeymoon.
Me laughing on a balcony.
His hand around mine.
A little restaurant where we had split a dessert because we couldn’t afford two.
Remember us?
I did.
That was the problem.
I remembered him bringing soup when I worked late.
I remembered how carefully he had held my mother’s coat outside the hospital.
Those memories didn’t disappear because he hurt me.
They sat beside the wineglass and made everything harder.
One night, I typed I miss you.
Then I deleted it and called Elena into the room.
“Please stay here until I stop wanting to answer him.”
She sat beside me without asking questions.
A week later, Javier requested a meeting through the lawyers.
Inés asked whether I wanted to attend.
I said yes, provided she stayed with me.
He looked thinner.
His lawyer placed a revised proposal on the table.
No acknowledgment of the financing.
No demand that the events proceed.
But Javier wanted a joint statement describing the situation as a family disagreement.
“No,” I said.
His jaw flexed.
“I’m trying to make this easier.”
“For whom?”
“Clara, my mother will lose everything.”
I looked at him.
“What did you think I would lose?”
He looked away.
Inés asked about the verification call.
His lawyer touched his sleeve.
Javier spoke anyway.
“She knew your information.”
The room went still.
“Your mother?” I asked.
“She handled the application.”
“And you gave her my documents.”
He didn’t answer.
I didn’t need him to.
He pressed his palms against the table.
“It was supposed to be temporary. Once the events came in, the loan would be paid.”
“You gambled with my name.”
“I thought you’d understand.”
“You never asked.”
For a moment, he looked genuinely confused by the distinction.
Then his phone lit up beside him.
MOM.
He turned it over.
May you like
Before he could stop her, a preview appeared across the screen.
If Clara won’t cooperate, send the original messages. She knew enough.
