Chapter 1
Rosa opened the door.
Arturo stood on the porch.
He looked older.
Not old.
Just tired.
His hair had begun to gray at the temples. His face was thinner. His expensive shirt was wrinkled, and for the first time Rosa noticed something she had never seen before.
Fear.
Arturo looked past her.
His eyes immediately found Mateo.
The young man did not move.
“Can I come in?” Arturo asked.
Rosa held the door.
“Why?”
Arturo swallowed.
“I want to talk.”
“You've had five years to talk.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
The words were quiet.
But they struck him harder than a shout.
Arturo lowered his gaze.
“I deserve that.”
Rosa studied him carefully.
For years, she had dreamed of hearing those words.
Now they sounded empty.
Not because they were false.
Because they came too late.
“You can talk here,” she said.
Arturo looked toward the living room.
“Outside?”
“Outside.”
He nodded.
They sat on the porch.
Mateo remained standing near the door.
Arturo kept his hands clasped.
“I know you don't trust me.”
Rosa almost smiled.
“That's not the problem.”
“Then what is?”
“I don't know who you are anymore.”
Arturo looked at her.
“I am your son.”
Rosa shook her head.
“My son was the boy who used to sleep beside me when thunderstorms came.”
Arturo said nothing.
“My son was the young man who cried when his father died.”
His eyes lowered.
“My son was the man I trusted with everything.”
Rosa paused.
“You became someone else.”
Arturo looked away.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Then he pulled a brown envelope from his jacket.
Mateo immediately noticed.
“What is that?” he asked.
Arturo looked at him.
“Something your grandfather left.”
Rosa's expression changed.
“Ernesto?”
Arturo nodded.
“I found it after the house was searched.”
Mateo took one step forward.
“What do you mean, searched?”
Arturo did not answer.
Rosa felt the old fear return.
“What did you find?”
Arturo placed the envelope on the small table between them.
“I don't know if I should give this to you.”
Rosa stared at him.
“You came here to give it to me.”
Arturo nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Then give it to me.”
He pushed the envelope forward.
Rosa reached for it.
But before her fingers touched the paper, Arturo spoke.
“There is something inside that you need to know.”
Rosa looked at him.
“What?”
Arturo took a deep breath.
“Your father didn't leave everything to you by accident.”
Rosa frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Arturo looked toward the house.
“Your father had another property.”
Mateo's eyes narrowed.
“What property?”
Arturo's voice dropped.
“A building downtown.”
Rosa froze.
She had never heard of any building.
Not once.
Not from Ernesto.
Not from the family.
Not from anyone.
Arturo continued.
“And according to the documents, it belonged to your mother.”
Rosa stared at the envelope.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Arturo looked at her.
“Everything.”
Then he said the words that made Rosa's hands begin to tremble.
“Because that property was sold twenty-two years ago.”
Rosa's face went pale.
“And the person who signed the sale…”
Arturo stopped.
Mateo stepped forward.
“Who?”
Arturo looked at his mother.
“Your father.”
Rosa stared at him.
“That is impossible.”
Arturo shook his head.
“No, mamá.”
He pointed to the envelope.
“That is what Ernesto was hiding.”
And inside the envelope was a document that could prove someone had stolen a fortune from Rosa's family.
Someone who was still alive.
May you like
Someone who had been standing beside Rosa all these years.
Someone who had helped Arturo destroy her life.
