Chapter 1
Part 1
Marriage
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Teresa Villalobos's scream echoed through the house just as her son saw his wife empty a boiling kettle onto the old woman's chest.
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Genetics
Resources in foreign languages
Foreign exchange and currency exchange
Alejandro stood motionless in the kitchen doorway. Steam rose from the marble floor. His 71-year-old mother huddled by the island, trying to pull her soaked blouse aside as the skin on her neck began to redden. A few steps away, Renata held the kettle with both hands. She didn't look scared. She looked content.
Bottled water
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—What did you do?
Renata lifted her chin. She was wearing the beige dress she had worn to greet Alejandro at dozens of business dinners, impeccable as always.
Pregnancy and motherhood
—What you never dared to do. Put her in her place.
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Alejandro ran to his mother and called 911. Teresa wasn't crying. She was breathing heavily, but she dug her fingers into her son's wrist.
—Look at the calendar on the refrigerator.
Schedules and calendars
—Mom, don't talk. The ambulance is coming.
—Look at it today. Before she takes it away.
Renata let out a dry laugh.
"He's delusional. He's been making things up since the operation."
Teresa had moved to the San Pedro Garza García residence 19 days earlier, after hip surgery. Until then, she had lived alone in Saltillo, taking care of the candy factory she had built with her late husband. Alejandro had insisted on taking her in. Renata had smiled, prepared a room, and promised to treat her like her own mother.
Alejandro looked at the magnetic calendar. The date was marked with a black circle. Below it, in Renata's slanted handwriting, were two words: LAST MOVE.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
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—What does this mean?
For the first time, Renata's confidence was shattered.
Raising children
—A note from the decorator. They were moving the studio furniture tomorrow.
—The study does not appear in any budget.
The sirens wailed at the end of the street. Renata put the teapot on the counter and held out her hand.
—Give me your phone. You're agitated.
At that moment, the security app sent an alert: “Activity detected in kitchen. Recording stored.”
Renata lunged at him.
—Delete it!
Marriage
Alejandro stepped back. When the paramedics arrived, Renata's expression changed. She covered her mouth, cried, and insisted that Teresa had tripped while they were arguing about the sugar in the coffee. However, the camera showed something else: Renata waited for the water to boil, checked the hallway twice, and placed her cell phone in front of a flowerpot, as if she also wanted to record. Teresa entered, leaning on her cane. There was no struggle. Renata walked forward and threw the water.
A municipal police officer asked everyone to stay inside the house. While Teresa was being attended to, Alejandro remembered that his mother had tried to talk to him all week. Each time, Renata would appear with medicine, an urgent phone call, or a pointless argument. She had also started repeating that Teresa was confusing dates, hiding things, and talking to herself.
When the stretcher crossed the threshold, Teresa held it again.
—Don't sign tomorrow.
Pregnancy and motherhood
—Sign what?
The oxygen mask already covered his mouth.
Renata paled.
Alejandro understood that the attack wasn't just intended to hurt his mother. It was intended to prevent her from arriving conscious and believable at a date he didn't even know existed.
She went upstairs to the bedroom while the agents were questioning Renata. She opened drawers, moved shoes aside, and found a key stuck under the dresser. The key opened a compartment behind the closet. Inside was a blue folder with copies of her will, appraisals of Teresa's factory, a life insurance policy for 80,000,000 pesos, and a power of attorney prepared for the following morning.
On the last sheet, a forged signature looked like his.
Wedding
And in the margin, written in another hand, was a sentence: “When Teresa becomes incapacitated, Renata controls the trust. Alejandro must not arrive at the notary's office with any doubts.”
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Alejandro recognized that handwriting.
It was Mauricio Cárdenas's, her lawyer, her best friend since college and the man who had toasted at her wedding swearing to protect her family.
