Rosa arrived at the market carrying an empty shopping bag and a gray shawl covering half her face.

Get inside while Daniel was out at a meeting and speak to Valeria face-to-face.

The opportunity came the next day.

Rosa opened the service door.

I found my daughter sitting on the bedroom floor, hugging her knees.

She was thin, exhausted, her hair uncombed.

She didn’t look like the cheerful woman I remembered.

—Mom… —she said, as if she wasn’t sure I was real.

I rushed toward her, but she raised her hands.

—You can’t be here. Daniel said you want to take my house away.

—Sweetheart, I just want to know if you’re okay.

I showed her the dinner message.

Valeria read it and frowned.

—I didn’t write this.

Behind me, Rosa let out a breath.

Don Ernesto placed the documents on the bed.

—Valeria, they’re using your name to steal from your mother.

My daughter began to tremble.

She touched the papers, saw her signature, saw my forged one.

—Daniel told me they were insurance papers…

At that moment, the landline phone rang.

Valeria went pale.

She answered.

—Yes, love… I’m alone… no, nothing’s happening…

Then she looked toward the door.

—He’s coming back.

For the first time in years, my daughter looked at me the way she did when she was little and used to hide from thunderstorms.

—Mom… take me with you.

We ran out through the garage, but at the end of the street Daniel’s black SUV appeared.

And Valeria whispered something that froze my blood:

—If he catches me, this time he won’t let me stay alive.

What do you think Daniel was still hiding?

Because the worst thing wasn’t the forged documents…

It was what Valeria was about to confess.