Chapter 5 - The Family Council(Approx. 1,800 words)
That evening, a emergency "family council" was convened at Teresa’s spacious home in the suburbs.
The atmosphere inside the living room was toxic. Teresa paced back and forth across the hardwood floor, her designer heels clicking sharply against the planks. Valeria sat on the armchair, clutching a glass of wine, while her husband, Marco, stared nervously at his phone.
Diego sat on the leather sofa, staring blankly at the thick stack of court documents laid out on the coffee table.
"This is an outrage!" Teresa raged, slamming her palm against the mantelpiece. "How dare that ungrateful girl drag our family name into a public court! Calling me a child abuser?! I raised three successful children! A belt is standard discipline!"
"Mom, shut up for a second," Diego said, rubbing his temples. His voice was hollow, stripped of its usual arrogance. "The judge signed an asset freeze. My accounts are locked. My paycheck next Friday is going to have four thousand dollars deducted automatically before I even see it."
"Can't your lawyer unfreeze it?" Valeria demanded, leaning forward. "Diego, Mateo’s school deposit is due by the end of the week! If that check bounces, he loses his spot in the honors program!"
"I don't have a lawyer yet, Valeria!" Diego shouted, turning on his sister. "Because every reputable family law attorney in Richmond wants a five-thousand-dollar retainer upfront! And I can't access my money because of the freeze!"
Marco, Valeria’s husband, cleared his throat nervously. "Diego... is it true about the bruise on Sofía’s arm? Did your mother really hit her with a belt?"
"She was misbehaving!" Teresa snapped immediately, glaring at her son-in-law. "She disrespects her elders! Verónica has turned that little girl into a spoiled brat! She needed to be taught a lesson!"
"She's six years old, Teresa," Marco muttered under his breath, looking away. "And it wasn't even her fault. Mateo admitted to me last night that he grabbed the doll from her first."
The room went completely silent.
Diego slowly lifted his head, staring at his brother-in-law. "What did you say?"
"Mateo told me the truth," Marco said, leaning back into his chair. "He wanted the new doll because it was expensive. Sofía was holding it, and he snatched it out of her hands. When she reached out to take it back, she accidentally bumped his shoulder. That's when Teresa grabbed the belt from the closet."
Diego turned his gaze toward his mother. "Mom... you told me Sofía pushed Mateo down the stairs."
Teresa’s eyes flickered with a brief moment of nervousness before she quickly recovered her haughty posture. "It doesn't matter who started it! A girl should yield to her brother and her cousins! That is how a proper family functions! You are letting that woman divide us, Diego!"
Diego buried his face in his hands.
For seven years, he had built his entire identity on being the dutiful, obedient son who put his mother’s desires above everything else. He had believed Teresa’s constant narrative that I was an outsider trying to steal his affection and undermine his authority.
Now, looking at the legal papers sitting on the table, the reality was crashing down on him.
He had lost his wife. He had lost his daughter. His bank accounts were frozen. His employer was looking at him with suspicion. And his mother was sitting in her lavish living room, completely unbothered by the destruction she had caused, demanding that he fix her finances.
"I need to call Verónica," Diego whispered, reaching for his phone.
"Don't you dare!" Teresa commanded, stepping over to snatch the phone from his hands. "If you crawl back to her now, she will control you for the rest of your life! You are a Castillo! You hold your head high! Let her spend her little savings on that fancy lawyer. When she runs out of money, she will come back on her knees!"
"She has eight thousand dollars in a private credit union account, Mom," Diego said quietly, looking at his mother with bitter exhaustion. "And her firm just promoted her to senior project manager last month. She isn't running out of money."
Teresa froze, her jaw dropping slightly. "She... she has her own account?"
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"Yes," Diego said, standing up from the sofa and grabbing his coat. "She planned this. She knew exactly what she was doing the moment I told her to apologize to you."
He walked out of his mother’s house, leaving her screaming his name from the front porch.
