My husband invited his boss to our house, but just before he arrived, he looked at me with disgust and whispered, “Stay in the bedroom. I’m ashamed to have you seen like this. If my boss sees you, you’ll ruin my promotion.”

left at our house,” Teresa told her son. “I turned it on looking for a contractor’s number.”

Alejandro lunged toward it. “Give me that!”

Teresa pulled away, her face grim. “Explain to Mariana what you wrote about Lucía.”

The hallway went silent.

“What did he write?” Mariana asked.

Teresa handed her the phone.

A text thread between Alejandro and Chloe from the previous year filled the screen.

Mariana scrolled until she found her daughter’s name.

Alejandro: “After Lucía died, she was completely destroyed. In the beginning, she couldn’t even leave