“Who sent the message, Valeria?” my mother asked, her voice trembling as she grabbed my phone.
I couldn’t speak. I just pointed to the screen. My mother read the text aloud: “Your baby was not the first.”
The room went still again. Aunt Patricia’s face turned from pale to a sickly grey.
Suddenly, the door to the office opened again. A girl walked in. She was a senior, someone I barely knew—Lucia, the quiet girl who sat in the back of the library. She was holding a stack of old journals.
“I recorded it,” Lucia said, her voice steady despite the tears in her eyes. “I’ve been following Mrs. Rivas for two years.”
She walked over to me and took my hand. Her palms were sweating, but her grip was like iron.
“Two years ago, it was my sister,” Lucia said, looking directly at Mateo. “She was fifteen, just like Valeria. She was pregnant with Mateo’s baby. Your mother didn’t offer us money, Mrs. Rivas. She sent Patricia to ‘counsel’ us. She gave my sister those same ‘calming teas.’ My sister lost the baby… and then she lost her mind. She’s in a facility now. She doesn’t even remember my name.”
The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place with a terrifying snap. Aunt Patricia wasn’t just my mother’s sister; she was a fixer. She used her position of trust in the community to “clean up” the messes made by the wealthy families in town.
The Breaking Point
“You monster,” my mother breathed, stepping toward Patricia. “She is your niece! My daughter! My grandchild!”
Patricia finally spoke, her voice sharp and devoid of the sweetness she usually used at home. “The ‘grandchild’ would have been a burden! We are poor, Sofia! Do you know what that money could have done for us? It would have paid off the mortgage. It would have sent Valeria to a better school where no one knew her. I was saving this family!”
“By killing my child?” I finally found my voice. It was small, but it cut through the room. “You were giving me those teas every night. You told me they were for my nerves.”
I reached into my backpack and pulled out the small thermos I had carried with me. I had been about to drink it before the meeting. I handed it to the principal.
“Test it,” I said.
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