—Eduardo, she’s obsessed! She wants to destroy us!
But it was too late.
Mariana entered the room dripping wet, her hair plastered to her face and her hands clenched into fists. Beside her, peeking out from the kitchen doorway, stood Magali, pale but resolute.
Eduardo looked at her. The last time they had seen each other, he had allowed her to be dismissed like a criminal. Now, seeing her like this, in front of him, with the same look she had when she calmed her children, disarmed him.
—I only ask one thing—Mariana said, her voice trembling but clear—: that you look at something before you sign.
He took the red USB drive out of his pocket. Renata took a step forward.
—Don’t listen to it, Eduardo. It could be anything. A made-up video, a—
“Then you shouldn’t worry,” he interrupted, with icy calm. “Put it on.”
Mariana plugged the USB into the living room television. The screen turned on.
At first, the image was shaky, like it was from a cell phone. The angle showed the baby’s room from a stuffed animal in the corner. Those present recognized the place immediately.
They saw Renata enter the room, take out the dark bottle, and put drops in the baby bottles while humming a light song. They saw her tamper with the notebook. Break the vase. Take the receipt out of Mariana’s jacket.
Dr. Salazar put a hand to his mouth.
Then the video call appeared. Renata, in Eduardo’s office, talking to Camilo, the lawyer.
“Three hundred million,” she repeated. “In less than a year, we’ll have everything in our name. He’ll think the best thing is to get rid of the children. I’ll make sure he feels like a bad father.”
When the video ended, nobody breathed for several seconds.
Eduardo’s eyes were glassy, his jaw clenched. On the screen, he could still see the smiling face of the woman he thought he loved.
“That…” Renata stammered. “That’s been manipulated. It’s illegal. It’s a setup!”
“It’s your voice,” said the lawyer, pale.
“It’s your face,” added the doctor, his face contorted.
Eduardo stood up, swaying slightly. He walked to the table, picked up the admission papers, and without saying a word, tore them to pieces in front of everyone. Then he took off his engagement ring and dropped it on the table with a thud.
“Get out of my house,” he said, without raising his voice. “Now.”
Renata tried to approach, crying, pleading, promising explanations. But this time no one believed her. The guards escorted her to the door as she hurled threats about lawyers and lawsuits.
The door slammed shut.
The silence that remained was only interrupted by the crying of the triplets upstairs.
Eduardo looked at Mariana. In his eyes there was shame, gratitude, and deep pain.
“Forgive me,” she whispered, and fell to her knees. “For not believing you. For letting them humiliate you. For not taking care of my children.”
Mariana leaned forward, unsure what to do. She didn’t touch him, she only said:
—The children…
That was enough. He nodded. She ran upstairs. When she entered the room, all three were crying uncontrollably. She picked them up, one by one, repeating the same scene as the first night. Three trembling little bodies, three small hearts that calmed with the sound of her breathing.
Three months passed.
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