Silence returned.
But this time…
Nobody dared to laugh.
Camila took a step back.
—You… you wouldn't dare…
I tilted my head slightly.
—After yesterday?
A break.
Her hands began to tremble.
—You're going to destroy everything…
I stared at her.
-No.
I shook my head slowly.
-I don't.
And I dropped the last sentence.
Affable.
But enough to break everything.
—You did it… the day you decided I was worthless.
The silence that followed was not like the others. It wasn't awkward or tense. It was final. Like when something breaks and you know, without even touching it, that there's no way to put it back together the same way.
Camila didn't sit down again.
His eyes darted from the papers to my face, from my face to the phones that kept vibrating on the table. Each incoming call seemed to take a little more of his breath away.
Anatomy
—This… this is illegal…—he stammered. You can’t do this…
I looked at her calmly.
—What's illegal... is what you did with that money.
Her breathing quickened.
—I invested it! I made it grow!
"With documents in my name," I replied. "No contract. No refund. No clean record."
Break.
—Do you want me to continue?
She remained silent.
Diego took a step towards me.
—Lucía… we can fix this —he said, his voice no longer firm—. There’s no need to go this far.
I slowly turned my head towards him.
-Arrange?
A small smile formed on my lips. It wasn't joy. It was weariness.
—Five years of asking for it… and now you want to fix it.
He lowered his gaze.
—I didn't know you were keeping all this…
—You were never interested in knowing anything—I replied.
My mother-in-law intervened, agitated.
—Lucía, this is getting out of hand. We're family, we can talk—
I looked at her.
- Family?
The word came out softly, but loaded.
"Family" was what you said when I gave you my money. "Family" was what you repeated every time I asked about it. "Family" was what you used to silence me.
Foreign exchange and currency exchange.
Take a step towards the table.
—Yesterday we were family too… when they threw the soup on me.
No one answered.
Because there was no answer.
My father-in-law cleared his throat, uncomfortably.
—There's no need to exaggerate over one incident…
"It wasn't an incident," I interrupted. "It was the last time."
Camila's phone rang again.
He looked at it as if it burned him.
He didn't answer.
"They're going to seize it..." she whispered. "If this keeps up..."
—It's going to continue —I said—.
