Chapter 3 - WHAT VALERIA STOPPED SAYING
Valeria did not speak for nearly twenty minutes after I arrived.
I carried her upstairs, cleaned her face, and sat on the floor beside her bed while Emily brought water and a cold cloth. No one forced her to explain. I asked simple questions.
Did she hurt anywhere?
Was she hungry?
Did she want the door open?
She nodded at the last one.
When I gave her the wrapped doll, she held it without opening the paper.
“Did Camila stay here often?”
Valeria looked toward the hallway.
Then she whispered, “Daddy said she was the new lady of the house.”
The sentence made my stomach turn.
Emily closed the bedroom door halfway and told me what had happened during my absence. Alejandro removed the professional childcare provider after the second week, claiming the expense was unnecessary because Camila would be working from the house. He reassigned Emily to company errands during the day and instructed staff to treat Camila as an authorized family resident.
When Emily protested, Alejandro told her I had approved the change through a secure channel.
He had shown her a message carrying my digital signature.
I had sent no such message.
Valeria said Camila moved her toys from the living room, threw away drawings taped to the refrigerator, and told her that children who asked for missing mothers were embarrassing. On several evenings, Alejandro and Camila hosted company guests while Valeria ate alone upstairs.
The heel incident began because Valeria had knocked a glass of juice onto Camila’s dress while trying to reach the birthday card I had mailed before leaving.
Camila made her kneel and wipe the marble with a towel.
Alejandro was not home when it began.
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But Valeria’s next words removed the small comfort that gave me.
“Daddy said I had to listen to her because she was helping him make everything ours.”
