Mr. Antonia, I have the full report on Eduardo's debts. The situation is worse than I thought. How much worse? He owes more than 200,000 pesos to several banks and also has debts with private lenders. What's more concerning is that he used forged documents with his daughter's signature for some of these loans.
That means Angela is responsible. Legally, it's complicated. If we can prove that she didn't know, we could release her from some of the debts. But it's going to be a long and expensive process. How expensive? For a good lawyer specializing in these types of cases, probably 50,000 pesos, and there's no guarantee of success. I understand
What if she simply pays the debts? If she has the money, it would be the quickest solution. But I doubt she has access to that amount. Jorge, I want you to prepare all the necessary documents to free my daughter from these debts, but don't tell her anything yet. You're going to pay, Mrs. Antonia.
I'll do whatever it takes to protect my daughter, but this has to be handled in a very specific way. When I hung up, I found Angela in the living room looking at the jewelry with a sad expression. She looked lost, like a child who had broken her favorite toy and didn't know how to fix it. What are you thinking about, daughter? About Dad, about how disappointed he would be in me if he could see what I've done with my life. Your father loved you very much, Angela. He would understand.No, Mom. He taught me to be responsible, to value family, to not be selfish. And I did the exact opposite. I abandoned my mother for a man who turned out to be a liar. I sold my family's heirlooms for money. I ruined everything he built. For the first time since I'd returned, I heard genuine remorse in her voice.
It wasn't just regret for the consequences of her actions, but a true acknowledgment that she had done something morally wrong. People make mistakes, honey. The important thing is to learn from them. But how do I learn from this, Mom? How do I repair the damage I've done? There was the question I'd been waiting for.
Angela was finally ready to face the truth about her actions and their consequences, but it wasn't yet time to reveal my final card. First, I had to let her hit rock bottom completely. The next few days were crucial to my plan. Angela decided to sell most of the jewelry, keeping only the engagement ring Roberto had given me and a small necklace that had belonged to her grandmother.
I watched her prepare to go to jewelry stores, research prices, negotiate with buyers. It was painful to see her reduce decades of family history to business transactions, but necessary for her to understand the true weight of her decisions. “Mom, I got 180,000 pesos for the jewelry,” she told me one afternoon, counting the bills on the kitchen table. “
It’s less than I expected, but it’s enough to pay off the most urgent debts.” “Are you sure you want to do this?” “I have no choice. If I don’t pay something soon, they’re going to seize everything. Even this house could be at risk if they prove I have any kind of legal connection to the properties.” How ironic the situation was.
Ángela was worried about losing a house I owned, paying off the debts of a man who had abandoned her with money from jewelry that had belonged to the same man who had created the fortune that could save her. “And how are you going to decide which debts to pay first?” “I spoke with a free financial advisor at the bank.” She told me to prioritize debts with real guarantees, because those are the ones that can affect property or lead to immediate liens. Ángela had matured a lot in these few weeks.
The woman who had sold my things without consulting me was now carefully investigating every financial decision. The suffering had made her more responsible, but also more fragile. That night, while she was organizing the debt documents on the table, I received a call from Jorge.
Mrs. Antonia, I have important news. We managed to locate Eduardo. Where is he? In Paris, as your daughter suspected. But here's the interesting part. He's trying to get French residency through a sham marriage with that young woman your daughter mentioned. A sham marriage. Yes. Apparently, the girl needs papers, and he needs a way to stay in Europe without being deported.
But the most important thing is that we found evidence that he deliberately forged your daughter's documents with the intention of fleeing the country. That means Ángela can be free of her debts. With this evidence, we can prove fraud and coercion. Your daughter wouldn't have to pay for anything Eduardo did behind her back. It was perfect.
I had a way to legally save Ángela from all her debts without her suspecting that I had the money to do it. "Jorge, I want you to start the legal process immediately," I tell your daughter. “No, I still want the process to be completely finished before I tell you anything. I don't want to give you false hope.
” “Understood! This is going to take about three weeks, maybe a month. Perfect.” When I hung up, Angela looked at me curiously. Who was Mom? A woman who was asking for Doña Mercedes, the neighbor on the corner, had the wrong number. Lying had become easy.
With each passing day, I grew more comfortable with this double life I was leading. On one hand, I was the poor, abandoned mother Angela believed I was. On the other, I was a wealthy woman, quietly orchestrating her daughter's salvation and education. For the next two weeks, I watched Angela struggle with decisions she'd never had to make before: how to stretch money for food,
how to negotiate with creditors, how to find a job when your credit history is ruined. It was a cruel but necessary education. "Mom, I went to three job interviews today," she told me one afternoon, arriving home with swollen feet and a tired face. "At two of them, they told me they couldn't hire me because of my pending legal issues.
At the third, they offered me a part-time job cleaning offices at night. Are you going to take it?" "I have no choice. It pays very little, but it's better than nothing. And I can work nights and keep looking for something better during the day." Seeing my daughter, who had lived a comfortable life for over 40 years, preparing to clean offices at night broke my heart, but it also filled me with pride.
She was finally facing reality without waiting for someone else to solve her problems. "Are you sure you can handle so much physical work?" "I'm going to have to learn. I can't keep being a burden to you, Mom. It's enough that you let me live here without paying anything. This is your house, Angela."
"No, Mom, this is your house and I'm here because of your generosity, but I'm not going to abuse that forever." One night, while Angela was on her first cleaning shift, Aurora came to visit. She sat in the kitchen with me, drinking tea and looking at the family photos that adorned the walls. "Antonia, I have to ask you something.
You knew Angela was going to come back in this condition." "What do you mean?" "Well, it's just that when she left she seemed so self-assured, so arrogant." She talked about the great life she was going to have in Europe, about how successful Eduardo was. And now she's back completely broken, working as a cleaner, living with you again. Life takes many turns, Aurora.
Yes, but there's something else. I've been watching Ángela these past few days, and she seems different, not just sad, but humble, as if she's learned something important. Aurora has always been very perceptive. What do you think she learned? I think she learned the value of things she'd taken for granted, like having a mother who loves her unconditionally.
Perhaps, Antonia, can I tell you something? When Ángela left and treated you so badly, many of us thought you'd never forgive her, but here you are taking care of her again, giving her a home when she has nowhere else to go. She's my daughter, Aurora. Yes, but not all mothers would do what you're doing, especially after being treated the way you were.
If Aurora knew the whole truth, that I had the power to solve all of Angela's problems, but was choosing to let her suffer a little longer so she would learn the full lesson. Do you think I'm doing the right thing? I think you're doing what a good mother would do, but I also think Angela needs to fully understand what she lost when she left you.
What do you mean? I think she needs to value you not just as the mother who rescues her when she's in trouble, but as the strong woman who built a stable life for 45 years. She needs to respect you, not just need you. Aurora had hit the nail on the head. That was exactly the point of my whole plan. I didn't want Angela to come back to me out of desperation. I wanted her to come back out of genuine respect and mature love.
And how do you think that can happen? I think it's already happening. I've seen her these past few days, Antonia. The way she talks to you now is completely different. She's no longer the daughter who bosses you around or treats you like you're a burden. She's now a grown woman who is genuinely grateful to have a mother like you.
That night, when Angela returned from work, I saw her arrive tired, but with a newfound dignity. She had earned those few pesos through her own effort, and that meant something to her. How was your first day? Difficult, but not as bad as I thought. The other ladies who work there helped me a lot.
One of them, Doña Carmen, taught me the tricks for cleaning more efficiently. Doña Carmen, yes, she's 60 years old and has been cleaning offices for 20 years. She told me she started after her husband left her with three small children. She says it's not the job she dreamed of, but it gave her independence and dignity. She sounds like a wise woman. She is. She told me something that made me think a lot.
What did she tell you? She told me there are two types of people who end up doing this job. Those who are there because they didn't have opportunities, and those who are there because they ruined the opportunities they did have. She asked me which group I was in. And what did you answer? I told her the truth: that I'd had every opportunity in the world, a loving family, a stable home, an inheritance, and that I ruined it all by following a worthless man.
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