Chapter 2 - Ten O’Clock
At 9:58 the next morning, Mateo was standing beside the window.
“He’s here.”
Mariana stopped wiping the table.
Carmen stood near the stove.
Esteban remained seated, his hands folded over a stack of documents.
Outside, a black sedan pulled up.
Not the family truck.
That vehicle belonged to someone else now.
A moment later, Andrés stepped onto the sidewalk.
He wore a charcoal suit and carried a leather briefcase.
He looked exactly like the man Carmen knew from photographs posted online: successful, polished, confident.
Then the passenger door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Young.
Carefully dressed.
Brenda.
Carmen’s expression hardened.
Mariana whispered, “He brought her.”
Esteban did not move.
“Let them come.”
The knock came at precisely ten.
Andrés entered first.
He stopped when he saw his mother.
For one brief second, shame crossed his face.
Then it vanished.
“Mom.”
Carmen stared at him.
He looked healthy.
Well fed.
Expensive watch.
Fresh haircut.
New shoes.
She thought of Mateo’s worn sneakers beside the door.
“You lied to me.”
“Can we sit down?”
“You lied to me every Sunday for eight months.”
Andrés glanced at Mariana.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. I knew she’d turn it into—”
“Don’t.”
The voice came from Esteban.
Low.
Andrés immediately stopped.
Brenda entered behind him.
Mariana had seen her photographs before, but seeing the woman in the apartment was different.
Brenda looked around with open discomfort.
Not pity.
Discomfort.
Like she had entered somewhere she did not want her clothes touching.
Carmen noticed.
“Why is she here?”
Andrés placed his briefcase on the table.
“Because some of the accusations involve property connected to her family.”
Mariana almost laughed.
“Accusations?”
“Claims.”
“You moved our cabin into her mother’s name.”
“It wasn’t legally yours.”
Mariana opened her mouth.
Esteban raised one hand.
“Sit.”
They all did.
Except Carmen.
She remained standing.
Andrés opened his briefcase.
“I came because I knew this would become emotional.”
Carmen looked at him as if seeing a stranger.
“You left two children in this apartment.”
“I did not leave them here. Mariana chose this location.”
“Because you froze our joint account,” Mariana said.
“I protected funds that were subject to dispute.”
“You withdrew almost everything.”
“It was legally accessible to me.”
Esteban’s jaw tightened.
Andrés continued, speaking like he was in court.
“The marriage had already broken down. I took steps to protect assets that were mine before the relationship.”
Mariana pushed a bank statement across the table.
“The Querétaro down payment came from both our salaries.”
“That doesn’t determine ownership.”
“This invoice has my name.”
“An invoice doesn’t determine ownership.”
“This contractor message says we both approved the work.”
“Again, irrelevant.”
Carmen stared at her son.
He sounded almost bored.
Then Sofía appeared behind the curtain.
“Daddy?”
Everything stopped.
Andrés looked toward her.
His face changed.
For the first time, the lawyer disappeared.
“Sofi.”
She did not run to him.
That hurt more than if she had cried.
She simply stood there.
Andrés smiled awkwardly.
“Come here.”
Sofía looked at Mariana.
Then at Carmen.
Then shook her head.
Andrés swallowed.
“You’ve gotten taller.”
No response.
Mateo appeared behind her.
“Where were you on my birthday?”
Andrés stared at him.
“Mateo—”
“You said you were coming.”
“I had a hearing.”
“You told me your car broke down.”
Carmen turned slowly toward her son.
Andrés closed his eyes.
“It was complicated.”
Mateo laughed bitterly.
“No, it wasn’t.”
Mariana stood.
“Kids, please.”
“No.” Mateo’s voice trembled. “I want him to answer.”
Andrés looked toward Esteban for help.
He found none.
“I made a mistake.”
“One?”
The boy’s question cut through the room.
Andrés looked down.
Mariana took the children back behind the curtain.
When she returned, Andrés had recovered his courtroom composure.
He pulled several documents from his briefcase.
“This is the reality.”
He spread them across the table.
Divorce filings.
Property records.
Transfer documents.
Loan agreements.
And something Mariana had never seen.
She reached for it.
Andrés stopped her.
“That’s a certified copy.”
“Of what?”
“A loan.”
Mariana read the page.
Her face changed.
“What is this?”
Carmen leaned closer.
The document claimed that six years earlier, Andrés had loaned Mariana 400,000 pesos.
There was a signature at the bottom.
Her signature.
Mariana went completely still.
“I never signed this.”
Andrés sighed.
“Mariana.”
“I never signed this.”
“You did.”
“No.”
“It was during the initial Querétaro purchase.”
“No.”
Brenda folded her arms.
Esteban took the document.
He read every line.
Then he looked at Andrés.
“Where is the original?”
“With the notary records.”
“Which notary?”
Andrés named one.
Esteban wrote it down.
Mariana stared at the signature.
“It looks like mine.”
“It is yours,” Andrés said.
“No.”
Carmen finally sat.
“What does this mean?”
Andrés spoke carefully.
“It means a substantial portion of the money Mariana claims she contributed to the house was actually borrowed from me before the marriage property arrangements became relevant.”
Mariana looked up.
“You created this.”
“Be careful.”
“You forged my signature.”
“Be very careful.”
The threat in his voice was subtle.
Esteban heard it.
“Are you threatening the mother of your children?”
“I’m advising her not to make criminal accusations she cannot prove.”
That was when Mariana stood.
She walked to a small cabinet.
Opened the bottom drawer.
Removed a worn envelope.
And placed it on the table.
“I was wondering when you’d use that.”
For the first time, Andrés looked uncertain.
“What?”
Mariana opened the envelope.
Inside was an old receipt.
Yellowed slightly at the edges.
She placed it in front of Carmen.
400,000 pesos.
Same amount.
Different purpose.
The receipt documented a payment Mariana had made six years earlier toward the house.
And beneath the amount was Andrés’s signature acknowledging receipt.
Carmen stared.
Then Esteban picked it up.
He compared the dates.
His face hardened.
“This predates your alleged loan by eleven days.”
Andrés said nothing.
Mariana’s voice remained calm.
“I found it last month in a box of old tax files.”
Brenda shifted uncomfortably.
Mariana continued.
“You forgot I kept financial records before I became your wife.”
Carmen looked at the receipt.
Then the alleged loan agreement.
Then at her son.
It was not merely marital deception anymore.
If the loan was fabricated, notarized, and knowingly presented as genuine, Andrés had crossed into territory he could not explain away as divorce strategy.
Esteban placed both documents side by side.
“Did you forge this?”
Andrés’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Then someone did.”
“No one forged anything.”
“The dates contradict your explanation.”
“They can be reconciled.”
“How?”
“I’d have to review the accounting.”
“You brought the documents.”
“I didn’t memorize every transaction from six years ago.”
Mariana almost smiled.
Andrés hated that.
He stood.
“This is exactly what she wants. Everyone attacking me before reviewing the facts.”
Carmen rose too.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“This is what you wanted.”
Her voice shook.
“You wanted everyone to believe you were smarter than they were.”
“Mom—”
“You lied to your children.”
“That’s between Mariana and me.”
“No. It isn’t.”
Carmen pointed toward the curtain.
“Those children are standing five meters away listening to their father explain why abandonment is paperwork.”
Andrés flinched.
Brenda touched his arm.
“Maybe we should go.”
Carmen looked at her.
“Did you know?”
Brenda froze.
“Excuse me?”
“Did you know my grandchildren were living here?”
Andrés stepped between them.
“Leave her out of this.”
Carmen’s eyes narrowed.
“That wasn’t my question.”
Brenda looked at Andrés.
That hesitation answered enough.
She knew some things.
Perhaps not everything.
Andrés gathered the documents.
Esteban put his hand on the alleged loan agreement.
“This stays.”
Andrés stared at him.
“It belongs to me.”
“It concerns Mariana.”
“It is a certified legal copy.”
“Then get another.”
“Dad.”
Esteban leaned forward.
“For thirty years, men tried to intimidate me by speaking louder, carrying rank, or hiding behind paperwork.”
His gaze did not move.
“You are none of those men.”
Andrés’s face reddened.
He released the document.
“Fine.”
He grabbed his briefcase.
At the doorway, he stopped.
“You all think Mariana is helpless because this apartment looks terrible.”
Mariana stared at him.
Andrés continued.
“You have no idea what she has done.”
“What does that mean?” Carmen asked.
Andrés smiled without warmth.
“Ask her about the company account.”
Mariana’s face drained.
Esteban noticed immediately.
Andrés did too.
He opened the door.
Brenda followed.
Before leaving, he looked back.
“Ask her where the missing money went.”
Then he disappeared down the stairs.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Carmen slowly turned toward Mariana.
“What money?”
Mariana remained standing by the table.
Her hands were trembling now.
May you like
Not because Andrés had lied.
Because for the first time since Carmen arrived, he had said something that Mariana truly feared.
