Chapter 9 - THE PERSON THEY BLAMED
Inés contacted the event customers whose information appeared in the records.
She explained that ownership and authorization were disputed.
She also made clear that I had not received their deposits.
Some believed her.
Some didn’t.
A man called me eighteen times in one afternoon.
“You people took our money.”
“I didn’t take it.”
“Your house. Your husband. Your problem.”
I understood his anger.
Understanding it didn’t make the words hurt less.
Mercedes posted a video from her living room.
She wore black.
Her voice shook at carefully chosen moments.
“Sometimes the person you welcome into your family destroys everything out of spite.”
She never said my name.
She showed the house.
That was enough.
Comments appeared beneath my business page.
Refund them.
Scammer.
Shame on you.
Elena wanted to answer every one.
Inés told us to save them first.
I turned off notifications and went to work on a translation about industrial pumps.
I completed one sentence in forty minutes.
Then Lucía called.
“I saw the video.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
I didn’t know.
“Mercedes sent us a contract before we paid,” she continued. “I checked it again. Your company isn’t on it.”
“What is?”
“Rivas Events. Her name. Her bank details.”
“Will you send it to Inés?”
“Already did.”
For the first time all day, I took a full breath.
That evening, we met at a café with Tomás and two other customers who had agreed to compare paperwork.
No speeches.
No plans for revenge.
Just receipts spread between coffee cups.
Different promises.
Different payment deadlines.
The same pressure to act fast.
A woman named Sara had been told the house was owned jointly by Mercedes and Javier.
A retired couple had been told I was merely the property caretaker.
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
Then Tomás opened a folder.
“I found this behind the site plans.”
It was a removal order for furniture.
My mother’s dining table.
Her bedroom dresser.
Two lamps she had brought from her first apartment.
The collection had been scheduled for the following morning.
Buyer paid in full.
I called the house’s neighbor, Pilar.
She answered breathlessly.
May you like
“Clara, I was about to call you.”
A truck was already outside my mother’s gate.
