Chapter 2
The next morning, I asked Daniela to tell me everything that had happened while I was away.
She explained that it all started three weeks prior, when Patricia demanded the keys and title to her car.
“She said the car was going to waste on me, that you had authorized selling it, and that the family needed the money.”
“I never authorized anything of the sort,” I replied firmly.
“I told her that! But Mom swore you’d always side with her no matter what.”
Daniela looked down. She told me her mother had started going through her desk drawers, taking photos of her ID, and pressuring her to sign some documents. When Daniela refused, Patricia threatened to stop helping with her college tuition fees.
“Dad, it wasn’t even about losing the car,” Daniela whispered. “It was the fact that she acted like she had the right to strip away anything that belonged to me.”
I felt a surge of deep shame. Over the past few weeks, I had called home every evening, but Patricia always told me Daniela was busy studying. Now I realized why my daughter rarely picked up when I tried calling her directly.
I left the hospital and went straight home.
Patricia was sitting at the kitchen island, calmly sipping coffee.
“How’s Daniela?” she asked without looking up.
“She has a concussion.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t anything serious.”
I sat down across from her. “Why were you trying to sell her car?”
Her coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth. “Is that what she told you? That girl always exaggerates everything.”
“The car is in her name, Patricia.”
“We bought it! And we are her parents!”
“That doesn’t give you the right to sell her property without her consent.”
Patricia slammed her cup onto the counter. “You have no idea what I’ve had to deal with while you were off traveling for work!”
“Did you push her?” I asked flatly.
She denied it. Then she claimed she had merely brushed past her during a heated moment. Then she said Daniela lost her balance on her own. Every excuse contradicted the last.
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“Show me the car documents,” I said.
“I don’t know where they are.”
