But the girl shook her head.

“No.

It was the first time he had openly disobeyed his father.

Valeria slowly crouched in front of her.

“What did you mean by that, my love?”

Camila hesitated.

He looked at his father.

Then he looked at Valeria again.

“Nothing,” he murmured.

Ricardo stepped forward.

“The girl is confused,” he said firmly. It’s too late. You should leave.

But something inside Valeria had ignited.

An instinct he couldn’t ignore.

For two years I had taken care of that little girl. He had listened to their fears, their laughter, their dreams.

And at that moment he knew something with absolute certainty:

Camila was not inventing anything.

Valeria gently took the girl’s face in her hands.

“Camila… tell me the truth.

The girl’s eyes filled with tears again.

“Dad always says it was an accident,” he whispered.

Silence fell like a stone over the room.

“But I heard my aunt say that it wasn’t.

Ricardo tapped the table with the palm of his hand.

“Enough!

Camila was startled.

Valeria felt a chill run down her spine.

I had never seen Ricardo like this.

His voice was harder… colder.

“The girl doesn’t know what she’s saying,” he went on. She’s repeating things she heard when she was little.

But Valeria no longer looked at him with the same eyes.

Now I watched him as if he were a stranger.

“How did your wife die, Ricardo?”

It took him a few seconds to answer.

“I’ve told you that many times. A car accident.

“And Camila was there?”

Ricardo clenched his jaw.

“No.

Camila spoke in a low voice.

“Yes, I was…

Valeria’s world tilted.

“I was in the back seat,” the girl said. And I heard Mom crying before the car crashed.

Ricardo walked towards them.

“Camila. To your room.

The girl hid behind Valeria.

Valeria felt that something dark was emerging from the man she thought she knew.

“Ricardo,” she said slowly. What really happened that night?

His eyes turned cold.

“It’s none of your business.

That was the moment when Valeria understood that staying in that house was no longer an option.

But he could not leave without knowing the truth either.

That night he didn’t argue anymore.

He left.

She returned to her mother’s house in another neighborhood of Puebla, her mind full of questions that kept her awake at night.

For weeks he tried to forget everything.

He worked in the center’s flower shop.

He arranged bouquets for weddings, anniversaries and birthdays… while his own life seemed like a withered garden.

But something constantly haunted her.

Camila’s gaze.

The fear in their eyes.

A month later, he received a call.

She was the principal of Camila’s school.

“Valeria… I know you don’t live with them anymore, but Camila asked to speak to you.

Valeria felt her heart tighten.

He agreed to meet the girl in the park in front of the school.

When Camila saw her, she ran to her and hugged her tightly.

“I thought I would never see you again.

Valeria hugged her too.

“I’m always going to be there for you.

The girl hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

“Dad has been angry since you left.

“Has he done anything to you?”

Camila shook her head.

But his eyes said otherwise.

“Valeria,” he whispered. Mom didn’t die in an accident.

Valeria felt the air become heavy.

“What did you see that night?”

Camila took a deep breath.

“Dad was arguing with Mom in the car.

“About what?”

“About another woman.”

Valeria closed her eyes for a moment.

Everything was starting to fall into place.

“Mom wanted to leave the house,” Camila continued. Dad was very angry.

“And then?”

The girl began to tremble.

Dad turned the steering wheel very hard.

Valeria froze.

“Did you do it on purpose?”

Camila nodded slowly.

Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

“After the crash… Mom didn’t move anymore.

Valeria felt her stomach churn.

“Did you tell this to anyone?”

“To my aunt…” But Dad said I was confused.

Valeria then understood the magnitude of what she was hearing.

If Camila was telling the truth… Ricardo was not only a liar.

He could be a murderer.

That night Valeria did not sleep.

She thought about reporting him.

He thought about forgetting everything.

But every time he clos