Episode 5

...Sofia ...

After putting Luna to bed, I went for a glass of water and a pill for the terrible headache I had. I was about to bring the glass to my mouth when someone knocked on the door. That caught my attention since no one but the man who collected the rent for the small house ever came by. I didn't have any friends. After what happened, I understood that friendship didn't exist; they only use you for your social status and nothing more. After my father kicked me out of the grand mansion, they all refused to speak to me. Poor idiots.

I looked out the window and almost choked on the pill I was taking. I spat everything out, including the water, when I saw who was on the other side of the door. My mother was clutching her designer handbag tightly while looking around with terror. I didn't know if she was scared of the bad neighborhood I lived in or that someone would see her and tell my father.

She was alone, without the chauffeur or bodyguards. I didn't understand how she found me or how she managed to get here alone.

Reluctantly, I opened the door. She looked at me for a few seconds before taking off the sunglasses that covered almost her entire face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, annoyed. It seemed a bit late to remember she had a daughter.

"I, I came to bring you this," she said, taking an envelope of money out of her purse.

I looked at her, not understanding what she was trying to do. After so many years, was she coming to my house as if nothing had happened to bring me money? I wasn't going to accept it, not after all the damage they had done to me. As much as I needed it, I also had dignity.

"I don't want your charity," I said and tried to close the door, but Ana Lucia, my dear and distinguished mother, prevented it.

"Don't be proud, Sofia. We both know you need it. I don't know how you can be living in this pigsty," she said with a disgusted expression. "You're my daughter, and even though you failed us in that way, I want to help you. Please take the money."

"I failed you? You as parents failed me. You kicked me out onto the street like a dog without even listening to me, you mistreated and abandoned me when I needed you most, and I'm the proud one? As far as I'm concerned, you don't exist anymore. After tonight, I understood that I don't have parents. You died for me."

"What did you expect your father to do if you made him look so bad in front of his partner and best friend? Everything had been said for years. You would finish high school, go to study in London, and upon your return, you would marry the youngest of the Marques, but you ruined everything."

"You know what, Ana Lucia, I don't intend to keep talking about this with you. It's clear that you're always going to defend your husband. I don't know why you do it when we both know he doesn't deserve your loyalty, but that's not my problem anymore." I closed the door and leaned against it, letting out all the air my lungs had been holding. I looked out the window and could see how the woman who was my mother got into her high-end car and drove away.

Ana Lucia de Zambrano is a supremely beautiful woman, tall, blonde with blue eyes just like mine. At first glance, anyone could believe she's my older sister. Despite being almost fifty years old, she appears to be in her thirties, I suppose it's due to the dozen surgeries my father has forced her to have and the hundreds of beauty treatments she does daily. My mother studied architecture but never practiced since upon marrying him, he didn't let her work. According to my father, it's not well seen for a woman to work; that's what she has a husband for.

Half of the women admire her and wish to be like her, while the other half envies her to death. Everyone who sees her thinks she's the woman with the most perfect and happy life in the world, surrounded by luxuries, jewelry, servants, and the best designer clothes. But what they don't know is that Ana Lucia is the best actress in the world with the saddest life that can exist.

I still remember when I was a child hearing them argue for hours, and the next morning my mother would usually appear with dark glasses or countless bruises, always saying that she had slipped in the shower or bumped into some furniture. It was obvious that her husband inflicted those blows. Other times she couldn't even get out of bed for days, but still, she never left him...

"Mommy, what are you thinking about?" my little one asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"That soon everything will be alright and you will have everything you want, my love."

"I don't want anything expensive, Mommy. I just want you to be happy and not cry when you think I'm asleep," Luna says, leaving me in shock. Is this girl really six years old? My eyes fill with tears, and I can only lift her off the floor to hug her and cover her with kisses.

After making Luna something to eat with the little I had in the fridge and putting her to sleep, I sat down with the card that man gave me at the hospital, and after thinking about it for hours, I made a decision. For my daughter, I would do anything, even marry a stranger for money, so that she's well.

I picked up the phone, and with trembling hands, I dialed the number on the card.

After talking to that man, who seemed to be too happy with my decision, I lay down next to Luna, although I couldn't sleep all night thinking about whether I made the right decision or not...

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