Chapter 4 - LUCY COMES HOME
Lucy Morales arrived from Houston that afternoon.
She was twenty-four and finishing her final year of nursing school.
She entered Teresa’s apartment carrying an overnight bag and a face full of worry.
“Mom.”
Teresa stood from the kitchen table.
Lucy crossed the room and embraced her.
“I saw the news.”
“What news?”
Lucy held up her phone.
A headline filled the screen.
HOUSEKEEPER CLAIMS CONTROL OF CARDENAS FORTUNE AFTER PATRIARCH’S DEATH.
Another headline called Teresa a secret relative.
A third called her a long-term domestic employee who had gained unusual access to Manuel’s final days.
“They make it sound like you hunted him,” Lucy said.
Teresa looked away.
“I did not even know he was my uncle.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because you feel guilty when someone gives you a birthday card with money inside.”
Lucy sat beside her.
Arthur arrived an hour later with a security officer.
Reporters had discovered Teresa’s address.
He recommended moving Teresa and Lucy temporarily to the Cardenas mansion.
Lucy almost laughed.
“The house where they fired her?”
Arthur nodded.
“It is currently owned by Teresa’s trust.”
Teresa did not want to return.
Every room contained years of her labor and someone else’s authority.
Then rocks struck the apartment window.
A group outside shouted that Teresa had stolen from the Cardenas family.
Lucy flinched.
Teresa made the decision.
They entered the mansion through the front door that evening.
Not the staff entrance.
The front door.
Veronica stood in the foyer.
“You have no right to move in.”
Arthur handed her a temporary occupancy order.
“She owns the property.”
“My brothers and I live here.”
“You may remain during the thirty-day transition.”
Veronica looked at Lucy.
“And this must be the daughter.”
Lucy met her stare.
“I have a name.”
Veronica’s eyes moved over her inexpensive jeans and canvas shoes.
“The trust does not make either of you Cardenas.”
Teresa looked toward the family portrait above the staircase.
Manuel stood beside his parents and a teenage Isabel.
Someone had tried to paint over Isabel’s face.
The restoration was incomplete.
Enough remained to reveal the resemblance between Isabel, Teresa, and Lucy.
Lucy noticed it too.
She climbed two steps for a closer look.
“That’s Grandma.”
May you like
Veronica’s expression changed.
She had known exactly who Isabel was.
