“I found her,” he said. “Rosalía is still at the station. I’m sending one of our criminal attorneys there now.”
You closed your eyes.
“Thank you.”
“Héctor, there’s something else.”
Your stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The officer who handled the arrest said your wife insisted on pressing charges immediately. She also requested that Rosalía be barred from contacting the children.”
You opened your eyes.
Of course.
Paulina didn’t just want Rosalía humiliated.
She wanted her removed from Santi and Mati’s lives.
Gabriel continued.
“And she made a statement that Rosalía had been acting ‘unstable’ around the boys.”
You stood.
“She said what?”
“She’s building a story.”
You looked toward the ceiling, toward the room where your sons slept.
“No,” you said. “She’s been building one for a while.”
By morning, you had not slept.
You showered, changed, and went to the twins’ room before sunrise. Santi was curled on one side of the bed, Mati on the other, both still wearing the clothes they had cried in.
Santi woke first.
His eyes were swollen.
“Daddy,” he whispered, “is Nana in jail?”
You sat on the edge of the bed.
“For now, but I’m helping her.”
“She didn’t steal.”
“I know.”
Mati opened his eyes immediately.
“You know?”
You looked at both boys.
“Yes.”
Santi sat up.
“Then bring her back.”
The simplicity of children can be merciless.
They do not understand police reports, legal timing, forged accusations, or adult strategy. They understand only that someone they loved was taken while adults stood by.
“I’m trying,” you said.
Mati’s chin trembled.
“Mom said Nana lied.”
You took a breath.
Your instinct was to protect them from the truth.
But another instinct, stronger now, told you that protecting Paulina’s image would cost your children their trust in you.
“Your mom was wrong,” you said carefully.
Santi stared at you.
“Did she make the police take Nana?”
You did not answer fast enough.
That was answer enough for him.
He turned his face into the pillow and began to cry again.
You placed a hand on his back and felt something inside you harden.
Not against your sons.
For them.
At 8:00, Paulina came downstairs dressed for brunch.
Brunch.
A white linen dress, gold earrings, nude heels, and sunglasses perched on her head. She entered the dining room as if the house had not been torn apart twelve hours earlier.
The twins sat silently at the table.
They did not look at her.
That irritated her immediately.
“What is this mood?” she asked. “We are not having another dramatic morning.”
Santi’s spoon clinked against his bowl.
Mati whispered, “We want Nana.”
Paulina’s face turned icy.
“She is gone.”
Mati looked up.
“Daddy said she didn’t steal.”
The silence that followed was lethal.
Paulina turned to you slowly.
“What did you say to them?”
“The truth.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You have no idea what the truth is.”
You looked at her carefully.
“I’m learning.”
She stood straighter.
“Héctor, may I speak with you in private?”
