A gasp moved through the church.
“Thirty-eight million pesos disappeared into gambling debts, luxury purchases, vacations, and political favors.”
People who had once bowed their heads respectfully toward Doña Teresa now stared at her as if seeing her for the first time.
She had not only hated me.
She had not only tried to erase my child.
She had stolen from sick children while wearing pearls and speaking of family honor.
“My son was mentally unstable!” she cried, desperate now. “He was grieving! He was paranoid!”
But the dead cannot be interrupted.
Julián answered from the screen with chilling calm.
“No. I simply realized too late how dangerous my own family had become.”
Fernanda stepped backward, shaking her head.
“I didn’t know he had all this,” she whispered.
Arturo turned his eyes toward her.
“He had more.”
The screen changed again.
Security footage appeared.
The garage of our home.
The timestamp showed three nights before the accident.
A woman wearing gloves entered the frame. She moved toward Julián’s car, crouched near the brakes, and worked quickly.
Then she looked up toward the hidden camera.
The church erupted.
It was Doña Teresa.
My blood turned cold.
I pressed both hands over my stomach as if I could shield my son from the truth.
Julián had not died because of a mountain road.
He had died because his own mother wanted him gone.
“I discovered brake fluid leaking from my vehicle,” Julián said. “At first, I thought it was mechanical failure. Then I installed cameras.”
Doña Teresa stumbled backward.
For the first time that morning, she looked afraid.
Chapter 4: The Phone Call That Ended Everything
Doña Teresa screamed toward the assistants.
“Turn it off!”
No one moved.
Arturo raised one hand.
“There is one final section.”
The screen flickered.
Julián’s face returned.
This time, he looked older than I had ever seen him.
“And now,” he said, “everyone will hear the phone call where my own mother ordered my death.”
The recording began.
Doña Teresa’s voice filled the church.
“It has to look like an accident.”
