Chapter 4: What Mateo's Mother Knew
Her name was Claudia.
I called her back at ten past ten, sitting on the guest bed with the door closed and the lamp off, speaking quietly so Daniel wouldn't hear.
"Thank you for calling," she said.
Her voice was careful.
Controlled.
The voice of someone who had rehearsed this.
"How did you get my number?"
"Mateo.
He found it in Teresa's address book months ago and memorized it.
He's been waiting for a reason to give it to me."
I thought about Mateo in the living room that afternoon.
The way he had put the doll down when I asked.
The way he had flinched.
"He's a good boy," I said.
"He is." A pause.
"He came home tonight very upset.
He told me what happened with Sofía.
He told me about the belt."
"Did he tell you what Teresa said to her?"
"He told me enough."
I waited.
"Verónica, I was married to Teresa's other son.
Rodrigo.
Mateo's father.
We divorced four years ago."
"I didn't know Daniel had a brother."
Silence.
"Daniel has never mentioned Rodrigo to you?"
"No."
A longer silence this time.
"Then there is more you don't know than I realized," Claudia said quietly.
"Tell me."
She took a breath.
"Rodrigo and Daniel were both named in their father's estate when he died eight years ago.
The estate included property, savings, and a business interest.
Teresa was the executor."
I sat very still.
"Rodrigo received almost nothing.
Teresa told him the estate had debts.
That most of the assets had to be liquidated.
He believed her for two years.
Then he found documents — similar to what it sounds like you found tonight — showing that large sums had been redirected.
Not to pay debts.
Into accounts she controlled."
"How much?"
"By the time Rodrigo's lawyer finished, it was close to three hundred thousand dollars."
My chest tightened.
"What happened?"
"Teresa threatened him.
She told him that if he pursued it legally, she would make sure Mateo never saw his father again.
She had connections — a family lawyer who had handled everything, who had notarized documents that Rodrigo believed were falsified.
Rodrigo was exhausted.
He had a young son.
He backed down."
"And Daniel?"
"Daniel knew," Claudia said.
"Not everything.
But he knew his mother had managed the estate in a way that wasn't equal.
He chose not to ask questions."
I pressed my hand flat against the bedspread.
"Claudia, the document I found tonight — the real-estate transfer — it had what appeared to be my signature on it.
I never signed it."
"I know.
That's why I'm calling." Her voice dropped.
"Teresa has used the same notary for years.
A man named Fuentes.
He has been notarizing documents for her for over a decade.
Some of those documents — Rodrigo's lawyer believed at least three — contained signatures that were not genuine."
"A notary who f0rges signatures."
"Who certifies them.
There's a difference legally, but the effect is the same."
I stood up and walked to the window.
"Why are you telling me this now?
After four years?"
"Because Mateo came home tonight crying," Claudia said.
"And because I have been carrying this long enough.
And because—" She stopped.
"Because Rodrigo tried to fight her alone and it broke him.
I don't want that to happen to you."
Outside, a car passed slowly on the street.
Daniel's office light was on.
I could see it reflected faintly on the driveway.
He was on the phone.
"Do you still have Rodrigo's documents?" I asked.
"I have copies of everything his lawyer compiled."
"Can you send them to me?"
"That's why I called."
I gave her my email address.
"Verónica." Her voice was careful again.
"Teresa is going to find out you know.
Maybe not tonight.
But soon.
When she does, she will move quickly.
She always does."
"What does moving quickly look like for her?"
Claudia paused.
"Last time, she called Rodrigo's employer.
She told them he had a dr*g problem.
He didn't.
But it took him eight months to recover professionally."
I looked at Daniel's light on the driveway.
"I have a daughter upstairs," I said.
"I know." Claudia's voice was steady.
May you like
"So did Rodrigo.
That's exactly what Teresa counted on."
