The attic disappeared. I looked at Veronica. She was reading my face, too. \u201cWhat proof?\u201d I asked. Her lips trembled. \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t lie to me.\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know, Valentina. I swear.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t swear to me!\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood up as best I could. The photos scattered beneath my feet. One fell face up. Mariana holding me. I was a few months old. She was thin, tired, but smiling. In the corner of the photo, barely visible, was Veronica looking at her. Not with tenderness. With sadness. Or guilt. I didn\u2019t know how to tell the difference anymore.<\/p>\n
I kept reading. \u201cI also discovered something else. Mariana\u2019s life insurance should never have been cashed out the way it was. There was a change of beneficiaries that I didn\u2019t sign. My signature appears, but it isn\u2019t mine. And there is a witness: Veronica Salcedo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slowly raised my eyes. Veronica ran out of breath. \u201cNo,\u201d she whispered. \u201cYour signature is on my mother\u2019s insurance.\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t know what that paper was.\u201d I laughed. A broken laugh, identical to a sob. \u201cHow convenient.\u201d \u201cIt was a document Elena put in front of me at the hospital. Mariana was in therapy. Your dad was with you. They told me it was to authorize medical expenses. I signed as a witness.\u201d \u201cMy maternal grandmother?\u201d Veronica nodded, weeping. \u201cShe hated Julian. She said he had stolen her daughter. She said you should grow up with the Navarros, not the Morales.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last name hit me. Navarro.<\/i> My maternal family. The family I never saw. \u201cYou told me it hurt them to see me.\u201d Veronica covered her face. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what your dad told me at first. Later\u2026 later it was too late.\u201d \u201cToo late for what?\u201d She didn\u2019t answer. That was her answer.<\/p>\n