For a moment, you almost invite her in for coffee.
Then you do.
Her name is Marcela.
She sits at your kitchen table and cries into one of Lupita’s old napkins. Luis, to his credit, does not make the moment about himself. He stands near the sink looking like a man realizing he was not even the villain in the story he thought he controlled.
He was also a fool.
Marcela gives Arriaga more messages.
Daniel and Karla had discussed the house openly. Their plan was ugly but simple: push Luis to pressure you into a residence, get access to the house, use the pregnancy to force him into naming Karla as partner in future claims, then later separate from him and fight for support.
You almost admire the cruelty for its ambition.
Almost.
Luis reads the messages and vomits in the bathroom.
You hear him.
You do not go to him.
By the end of thirty days, Luis has two suitcases.
He finds a rented room in Portales, small and ugly, near the warehouse. The rent is more than he thought rent should be, which tells you everything about how long he has lived inside fantasy.
On moving day, he stands in the doorway.
No Karla.
No guests.
No laughter.
Just your son, thinner than before, holding the bags he should have packed years ago.
He looks at you.
