Renata looked at me in surprise.
“You already distrusted them?”
I swallowed.
“Doña Graciela had been saying for a year that the house was ‘her family’s inheritance.’ I knew that one day she would try to take it from me.”
That same afternoon, Renata called Attorney Ángela Murillo, a specialist in domestic violence. We sent her the camera videos, the 911 call, the firefighters’ report, and the bank charges.
Ángela only asked:
“Is the property solely in your name?”
“Yes.”
“Then today we close that door to them.”
As night fell, while Emilia slept beside me, I received a motion alert from the front door camera.
A man was standing in front of my house with a toolbox.
And behind him, Renata was holding a huge document she was going to tape to my door.
PART 3
The man on the camera was the locksmith.
Renata arrived at my house with my power of attorney, the deed, my ID, and the hospital reports. They changed the main lock, reinforced the back door, installed a digital lock, and activated new cameras at the entrance, the patio, and the garage.
Then they froze my cards.
Every purchase made in Cancún after Mateo left me locked inside was reported as unauthorized use. Every video where he locked the doors was backed up. Every call, every scream, every minute of abandonment was saved.
The next day, the movers arrived.
They didn’t touch my things or Emilia’s. They only packed Mateo’s, Doña Graciela’s, and Ivonne’s belongings: suits, perfumes, shoes, expensive bags, watches, dresses, personal documents, and suitcases. Everything was photographed, inventoried, and sent to a storage unit paid for 30 days.
Nothing was impulsive. Nothing was illegal. Everything was precise.
On the third day, Attorney Ángela taped the notice to the door:
PRIVATE PROPERTY. ACCESS REVOKED. PROTECTIVE MEASURES IN PROCESS. ANY ATTEMPT TO ENTER WILL BE REPORTED.
