Chương 9
“He protected me in this.”
“He said you did not know everything.”
“I did not.”
“Did you know about the drugs?”
“No.”
“Did you suspect?”
His silence lasted too long.
“That means yes.”
“It means I knew Esteban had begun dealing with men I would not work with.”
“Why not?”
“They were careless.”
“Not cruel?”
Adrián looked at her.
“I would like to give you a better answer.”
“But it would be a lie.”
“Yes.”
Renata entered carrying the black overcoat, now dry and folded badly.
“Do you need this?”
Adrián turned toward her. “No.”
“We do not either.”
Mariana heard the accusation in the child’s voice. Renata had seen the news. She had heard enough conversations to understand that Adrián had helped hide something about her father.
She set the coat on the chair beside him.
Adrián touched the collar.
“Your father once broke my nose,” he said.
Renata blinked.
Mariana stared at him. “That is what you choose to tell her?”
“He asked if I had ordered men to follow you. I had. He objected.”
“By breaking your nose?”
“Eventually.”
Renata looked interested despite herself. “Did you hit him back?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He was correct.”
“You still followed us.”
“Yes.”
“Then he should have done it twice.”
Adrián nodded. “Probably.”
Renata left the room.
Mariana folded her arms. “Do not make yourself human to her with charming stories.”
“It was not charming when it happened.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
Rain began tapping against the kitchen window, lighter than the storm at the mansion.
Adrián looked at the copied letter.
“Esteban will know you found the depot.”
“Tomás may tell him.”
“Tomás will not.”
“How can you be certain?”
“I asked Diego to move him.”
Mariana’s chair struck the wall as she stood.
“You did what?”
“To a hotel. With his agreement.”
“You cannot keep moving people around the city because you are afraid.”
“I can when the alternative is leaving an old man alone where Esteban can reach him.”
“You could have told me.”
“You were reading your husband’s confession.”
“That does not remove me from my own life.”
Adrián stood too, then deliberately stepped back.
“You are right.”
She was tired of hearing it after the fact.
“What do you want?”
“To keep you alive long enough to decide what to do with those records.”
“I have a lawyer.”
“You have evidence that connects my organization, the Alcázars, and men Esteban has paid for years. A lawyer is necessary. It is not the same as protection.”
“Protection is how Beatriz described control.”
The words stopped him.
Mariana picked up the coat and held it out.
“You should take this.”
He did not reach for it.
“The girls may need it.”
“They need a mother who can tell the difference between help and ownership.”
“Can you?”
The question was quiet.
Mariana’s grip tightened on the wool.
“I am learning.”
He accepted the coat.
At the door, he paused.
“If you hand the records to authorities, Javier’s name will not survive intact.”
“I know.”
“The girls’ trusts may be seized or frozen.”
“I know.”
“You may lose the money Beatriz offered.”
“I know.”
“And if you hide the records?”
Mariana looked toward the hallway, where Lucía was singing tunelessly to her rabbit.
“Then Beatriz was right about me.”
Adrián left without arguing.
The emergency custody petition arrived the next morning.
Beatriz claimed Mariana had removed the children from their established home, exposed them to armed criminals, disrupted their education, and demonstrated emotional instability following Javier’s death. Attached photographs showed security vehicles outside the mansion and Adrián’s car outside the apartment building.
Someone had been watching.
The hearing was set for Monday.
Camila read the petition at the kitchen table while Mariana paced.
“She does not have an automatic advantage,” Camila said.
“She has money, the house, the school board, and a photograph of Adrián carrying my daughter.”
“She also has a police complaint for assault.”
“Which she says was a minor family dispute.”
“A judge may dislike that sentence.”
“A judge may dislike Adrián more.”
“Yes.”
Mariana stopped pacing.
Camila capped her pen. “You need independent housing in your name, evidence of financial access, a plan for school, and distance from Valdés.”
“I have no account she cannot freeze.”
“We will seek temporary support from the estate.”
“Esteban controls the estate.”
“Then he can explain under oath why a widow with three minor beneficiaries has no direct access to funds.”
The thought of a courtroom frightened Mariana less than it should have. Perhaps because Beatriz’s power depended on rooms she owned. A courtroom belonged to rules, imperfect and slow, but not written by her alone.
By Friday, the school allowed the girls to return with a private arrival arrangement.
Renata refused.
“I do not want everyone looking.”
“They may look.”
“They will ask questions.”
“You do not have to answer.”
“That makes them ask more.”
Mariana sat on the edge of Renata’s bed. The room still contained framed photographs of Teresa’s sister’s grandchildren, strangers smiling at a beach.
“We can change schools.”
“Then Grandmother wins.”
“Not every choice is winning or losing.”
“That is what people say when they are losing.”
Mariana looked at her daughter.
“Who taught you that?”
“Grandmother.”
Of course.
On Monday, Renata wore her dusty-pink dress because most of her uniforms remained at the mansion. Emilia’s skirt was too short. Lucía insisted on carrying the yellow rabbit until the school gate, then shoved it into Mariana’s arms without explanation.
Parents watched from their cars.
One mother approached and touched Mariana’s elbow.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
“For what?”
The woman glanced around. “Everything.”
It was kind, perhaps. It also required nothing.
Inside, the director greeted the girls too brightly. Renata walked past her.
The custody hearing lasted forty-two minutes.
May you like
Beatriz sat with Esteban and two attorneys. She wore gray and no diamonds. The bruise on Mariana’s cheek had faded to yellow at the edges, but Camila had printed the photographs in color.
Beatriz’s attorney argued that the children’s connection to Adrián created an immediate risk. Camila asked whether the Alcázar family had maintained a business relationship with him.
