Chapter 2 - The Box
Mauricio moved fast.
"Give me the box."
I stepped back. "Did you forge my signature?"
"Laura, lower your voice."
"There is no one here but us. Answer me."
He shut the bedroom door.
That scared me more than shouting would have.
"My mother owed money," he said. "I was trying to help her."
"With my apartment?"
"The loan wasn't approved."
"Because the bank caught the fake signature."
His jaw tightened.
I kept my phone in my coat pocket, recording.
"How much do you owe?"
"It doesn't matter."
"How much?"
He looked away. "Almost two million pesos."
The room seemed to tilt.
Before I could ask why, the front door opened.
Ofelia marched in carrying a handbag the size of a suitcase.
"You haven't even started cleaning?"
I lifted the box.
Her eyes flickered.
Fear. One second. Then anger.
"You had no right to touch my things."
"They were hidden in my property."
"This place belongs to Mauricio too."
"No. I inherited it before the marriage."
Ofelia turned toward her son.
And then she made the mistake that changed everything.
"I told you," she snapped, "you needed to convince her before she started getting suspicious."
Silence.
Mauricio stared at his mother.
Ofelia realized what she had said.
I did too.
"Convince me to do what?" I asked.
Neither answered.
Then I noticed another folder beneath the loan papers.
May you like
Across the tab, in black marker, someone had written one word.
TOMORROW.
