Rodrigo said nothing.
Daniel answered instead.
“Eight-point-two million.”
Every person at the table turned toward him.
Rodrigo closed his eyes.
Patricia stood.
“This should never have happened.”
I looked at her.
“You’re right.”
For one second, relief appeared on her face.
Then I finished.
“Because I should have walked away on my wedding night.”
Patricia pointed toward the speaker.
“You recorded a private conversation.”
“Yes.”
“You planned this.”
“No.”
I looked at Rodrigo.
“You planned this. I simply listened.”
My father had remained quiet through almost everything.
Patricia turned on him.
“You should explain to your daughter that she is destroying a marriage over money.”
My father studied her for a few seconds.
Then he spoke.
“My daughter invested nearly five million pesos inherited from her grandmother into that apartment.”
Patricia blinked.
Rodrigo’s eyes widened.
My father continued.
“And every transfer is documented.”
Rodrigo turned toward me.
“You told me it was savings.”
“No.”
“You said your grandmother left you something.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“That is no longer your concern.”
Patricia understood before he did.
She looked toward my father.
“The Narvarte apartment…”
“It belonged to my mother,” he said.
“And you?”
My father smiled faintly.
“I’m an engineer.”
She clearly expected more.
He offered nothing else.
Fernanda did.
“Mr. Salgado is also a founding partner of Salgado Applied Engineering.”
Gabriel gave a nervous laugh.
Rodrigo stared at him.
“What?”
Gabriel knew the company.
They worked with manufacturing operations across Querétaro, Chihuahua, and the State of Mexico.
For two years, Patricia had assumed I came from a poor family because my father drove an old car.
I had never bothered correcting her.
But none of that was the real point.
