I watched her unpack in her old room, the same one where she had slept during her teenage years, and I could see the humiliation in her every move. She had gone from living in a luxurious apartment to holing up in the room of her youth. “Mom, I found this in the apartment,” she said, showing me an envelope. It was among Eduardo’s things. It has your name on it. It was another envelope from Roberto.
My heart raced, but I kept my composure. My name. How strange. “Yes, look,” she showed me the envelope. Sure enough, it had my name written in Roberto’s handwriting, but this envelope was different from the one I had found in my dresser. This one was smaller, newer. “Maybe Eduardo found it among Dad’s things when he died and forgot to give it to me,” Angela said. “
It’s possible. I can see it.” I opened the envelope in her presence. Inside was a short letter and a small key. The letter read, “Antonia, if you are reading this after I gave you the main envelope, it means our daughter is going through a difficult time.”
This key opens a safety deposit box at the Central Bank, downtown branch. The number is 247. There’s something in there that can help you help her, but use it wisely with eternal love. Roberto. Angela read the letter over my shoulder. A safety deposit box. Dad had a safety deposit box. I had no idea. I lied. Your father never told me about this.
Do you think we should go see what’s in it? I don’t know, honey. Maybe it’s best to leave things as they are. But Mom, maybe there’s something important in there. Documents or I don’t know, maybe something of value that could help us. The desperation in her voice was palpable. Angela was clinging to any possibility of finding a way out of her situation, and I was going to let her cling on a little longer before showing her the full truth
Okay, I said after a calculated pause. We can go tomorrow. That night, Angela and I had dinner together for the first time in months. She had cooked, trying to be helpful, but the food tasted of guilt and despair. She told me more details about what had happened in Europe, and each story was worse than the last.
Eduardo lied to me, about everything, Mom, not just about the business, but about the debts too. I thought he only owed a little money, but it turns out he owes more than 100,000 pesos. And the worst part is that he used my name for some loans without me knowing. How is that even possible? He forged my signature. When I married him, I gave him some documents to handle the banking for our joint account.
I never thought he would use them for this. Do you have any way to prove you didn’t know? I don’t know. It’s all so complicated. The banks say that since we were married, I’m responsible for all his debts anyway. And the divorce. I don’t even know where Eduardo is now. He’s completely disappeared. Her phone is off. She’s not answering emails. Nothing. It’s like she’s vanished.
Perfect. Eduardo had run away like the rat he’d always been, leaving Ángela to face the consequences of his actions alone. In a way, he’d done me a favor. Now, my daughter was experiencing exactly what I’d felt when he abandoned me.
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