The girl took out the tape recorder.
—Everything stayed here.
Patricia lunged at her.
Daniela ran toward the table, but tripped on the rug. The recorder fell to the floor and slid under an armchair.
Patricia grabbed her by the shoulders.
—You’re an ungrateful brat.
—And you’re a liar —Daniela replied, trembling—. You were also the one who tore up Mom’s portrait.
Emiliano stopped when he heard that.
The portrait of Lucía, his late wife, had been found destroyed four months earlier. Patricia claimed that Martina had thrown it away during a tantrum.
Martina was punished for days, even though she swore it wasn’t her.
Patricia squeezed Daniela’s shoulders tighter.
—Your mother is dead. Get over it.
The living room door burst open.
—Take your hands off him.
Emiliano’s voice made the place vibrate.
Patricia went white.
Daniela stopped fighting. Martina ran towards her father, but stopped halfway, as if she didn’t know if she could trust him.
That small gesture hurt him more than any blow.
Emiliano approached slowly.
—I’m here, my love.
Martina finally ran to hug him.
Daniela didn’t do it.
He just pointed to the armchair.
—The recorder is downstairs.
Ramiro picked it up and kept it as evidence.
Patricia tried to smile.
—Emiliano, this isn’t what it seems. The girls are confused. Rosa manipulated them.
—I saw you hide the bracelet.
The smile vanished from his face.
