Chapter 5 - What Teresa Had Been Hiding
“Valeria, step away from the house!” The police surrounded the property. Teresa was in custody. But the officer holding the warrant wasn't there to arrest her for the coffee incident. He was investigating something that had happened to my grandmother before she died.
I walked outside with Marcus beside me.
A detective named Elena Vargas approached.
“Your mother was arrested this afternoon.”
“I heard.”
“She is being questioned about financial fraud and possible coercion.”
“Against whom?”
“Your grandmother.”
I stared at her.
“My grandmother died eight months ago.”
“We know.”
The detective handed me a folder.
Inside were copies of bank transfers.
Teresa had received money from Sierra Azul Holdings.
Some payments had occurred before my grandmother died.
Others had happened afterward.
But one payment was different.
It was labeled:
FINAL SETTLEMENT — AURORA MONTALVO.
My grandmother's name.
I looked up.
“What does this mean?”
“We don't know yet.”
“Then why arrest my mother?”
“Because someone transferred money from your grandmother's account three days before her death.”
I felt sick.
“Was she murdered?”
The detective didn't answer immediately.
“That is one of the questions we're investigating.”
My grandmother had been eighty-one.
Her death had been declared natural.
Heart failure.
No suspicion.
No investigation.
Now everything was changing.
I went back inside.
The house felt different.
Every photograph suddenly looked like evidence.
Every locked drawer felt like a warning.
Marcus found another hidden compartment beneath the study floor.
Inside was a handwritten journal.
Aurora had documented everything.
Teresa's debts.
Julián's visits.
The development proposal.
And something else.
A name.
Gabriel Montalvo.
My father.
I hadn't seen his name in years.
He had died when I was twenty-three.
My grandmother had always said he was a good man who made mistakes.
The journal suggested something different.
Gabriel had discovered the scheme before his death.
He had confronted Julián.
Then he had disappeared from the business world.
Three months later, he died in a car accident.
I read the entry twice.
Then I found the sentence that made my hands shake.
Gabriel told me the accident was not an accident.
I stopped.
Marcus read over my shoulder.
“That's a serious claim.”
“It is.”
“Do you have evidence?”
I turned the page.
Nothing.
The journal ended there.
I called Detective Vargas.
She arrived within an hour.
When she saw the journal, she became silent.
“Did my grandmother ever report this?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Fear, perhaps.”
I looked toward the window.
“What if she was protecting me?”
The detective didn't answer.
Then her phone rang.
She stepped outside.
When she returned, her face had changed.
“We found the notary.”
“Where?”
“He's dead.”
The room went silent.
“When?”
“Last night.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was it an accident?”
“No.”
Marcus immediately moved toward the doors.
The detective continued.
“Someone wants those documents badly.”
I looked at the journal.
Then at the flash drive.
Then at the box.
Everything my grandmother had hidden had become dangerous.
But there was still one question.
Why had my mother agreed to help them?
That night, I visited Teresa at the police station.
She looked older.
Tired.
Broken.
For the first time in my life, she didn't insult me.
She simply stared at me.
“You found Aurora's journal.”
“How did you know?”
“She told me you would.”
“Who is Julián?”
Teresa looked toward the interrogation-room camera.
“Don't say his name.”
“Why?”
“Because he listens.”
“Mom, what did you do?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I signed something.”
“What?”
“I thought it was only a property agreement.”
“Did you know they were forging my signature?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
I didn't believe her.
She leaned closer.
“Valeria, I did terrible things.”
I waited.
“But I never killed your grandmother.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Then who did?”
Teresa opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The interrogation room fell into darkness.
Then a phone on the table vibrated.
Neither of us had brought one.
The screen lit up.
One message appeared.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO WAS IN THE HOUSE THE NIGHT AURORA DIED.
Teresa stared at it.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“It was someone you trust.”
