Chapter 12 - CARMEN'S TRUTH

“Why?”

It was the only word I could say.

Carmen looked smaller than I had ever seen her.

“I was afraid.”

“Of me?”

“Of losing my son.”

I almost laughed.

“You thought making him believe his wife cheated would keep him close?”

“You changed him.”

“No. Adulthood changed him.”

“You don’t understand mothers.”

“I am a mother.”

Her eyes flicked away.

I stepped closer.

“You convinced your son to secretly test his newborn daughter because you were jealous of his wife?”

“I had been everything to Daniel.”

“That is not love, Carmen.”

“You came along and suddenly he listened to you.”

“Apparently not enough.”

She flinched.

Good.

“I thought if there was doubt between you—”

“You could stay important.”

She nodded slowly.

For the first time, she looked ashamed.

I wanted to scream.

Instead, I asked,

“Did you ever love Camila?”

Carmen began crying.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes, I did.”

“You starved her.”

“I didn’t starve her.”

“She lost almost two kilos.”

Her face crumpled.

“I thought you spoiled her.”

“You were punishing me through my daughter.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

I stepped closer.

“You couldn’t control my money. You couldn’t control my career. You couldn’t make Daniel successful.”

Her jaw tightened.

“So you found someone smaller.”

“That’s not true.”

“A three-year-old.”

“Stop.”

“Someone who couldn’t fight back.”

“Stop.”

“Someone who had to ask permission to come inside her own home.”

Carmen covered her mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

Those words should have mattered.

They didn’t.

“I don’t forgive you.”

She stared at me.

“Not today.”

Her face broke.

“Maybe not ever.”

She whispered,

“She’s my granddaughter.”

“Then spend the rest of your life understanding what you did to her.”

I walked away.

Carmen called after me.

“Mariana.”

I stopped but didn’t turn.

“There’s something else.”

Of course there was.

“There’s always something else with this family.”

She wiped her face.

“Daniel didn’t start DVA because he wanted a business.”

I turned.

“What are you talking about?”

“He wanted money quickly.”

“I know.”

“No.”

She shook her head.

“You don’t.”

“Then tell me.”

Carmen looked terrified.

“He wanted to leave you.”

That didn’t surprise me.

What she said next did.

“He was planning to leave with another woman.”

My stomach dropped.

“Who?”

Carmen hesitated.

“Isabel.”

I knew the name.

Isabel Cortés.

Daniel’s former coworker.

The woman he had told me moved to Guadalajara.

“When?”

“Last year.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know.”

“You know.”

“Almost two years.”

The room tilted.

Two years.

While I worked.

While I paid his bills.

While I funded his family.

While my daughter sat outside with stale bread.

Daniel had been building a company to finance a new life with someone else.

Then Carmen whispered,

“She wasn’t just his girlfriend.”

I stared at her.

“What do you mean?”

Carmen looked at the floor.

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