Margarita thanked everyone for the messages.
Although she was still ashamed of what had happened, she began to understand that she didn’t have to feel guilty.
Two days later I received an email from Esteban.
It contained a provisional list of expenses.
The main contracts corresponded to services that we had authorized.
But the extensions presented important differences.
Part of it was never loaned out.
Another one had been requested by Vanessa.
And some authorizations appeared accompanied by the same image of my signature.
I opened the files.
I observed them closely.
I recognized the original document from which that image could have been obtained.
It was a contract I signed months before, when we booked the estate.
The signature looked exactly the same.
He even had a slight slant that he didn’t always repeat when writing.
I felt my hands go cold.
“This is a copy,” I muttered.
Margarita was sitting next to me.
He looked at the screen.
“Thomas, what does it mean?”
I took a deep breath.
“It appears that someone has used my signature from a previous document.”
My wife put a hand to her chest.
“¿Vanessa?”
I looked at her.
“We still need to verify who prepared the files.”
Margarita lowered her head.
“I don’t want to think it’s come to that.”
I stroked his hand.
“Me neither.”
But the documents were there.
And I could no longer ignore them.
That same afternoon Daniel arrived home.
We’ll show you the information.
My son noticed the signatures.
Then he began to breathe with difficulty.
“Dad, that’s the photograph I sent to Vanessa.”
I felt my heart pounding in my chest.
“You’re sure?”
He nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Why did you send it to her?”
My son started to cry.
“He told me the coordinator needed to confirm some information.”
I observed him.
“Did he explain to you that he was going to use the signature on new documents?”
He denied it.
“No.”
I took a deep breath.
“Then you’ll have to tell Elena exactly what you sent and when.”
Daniel nodded.
“I will do that.”
Margarita watched him.
“Daniel, does Vanessa know we’re looking into this?”
Our son lowered his head.
“Yeah.”
I felt an immediate unease.
“What did he say to you?”
Daniel took a deep breath.
“If we keep insisting, she’s going to say that Dad promised to pay for all the wedding expenses.”
I remained motionless.
“I never promised that.”
“I know.”
My son remained silent.
“But he says he has a message where you state that you would take care of everything.”
I felt a chill.
I recalled several conversations during the preparations.
In one of them I had said that Margarita and I would cover the expenses of the agreed celebration.
I never imagined that Vanessa could interpret that help as unlimited authorization.
“Daniel, I want to see that message.”
My son nodded.
He took out his phone.
He showed me a screenshot.
It was an old conversation.
I recognized my words.
“Don’t worry, Margarita and I will take care of paying for the wedding we’ve organized.”
I felt a deep sadness.
Vanessa had cropped the message.
The previous lines where we talked about the approved budget were missing.
And also the later ones, in which I asked that any expansion be consulted with me before contracting it.
“This conversation is incomplete,” I said.
Daniel lowered his head.
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“Do you have the full version?”
He nodded.
“Yeah.”
I took a deep breath.
“Then I want to keep it.”
My son sent me the original screenshots of the conversation, with the parts before and after.
When I finished reviewing them, I felt a momentary relief.
But then Daniel said something that left me completely speechless.
“Dad, Vanessa is also saying that Mom’s pearl bracelet belongs to her and that she doesn’t intend to give it back.”
Margarita slowly raised her head.
He said nothing for several seconds.
Then he whispered:
“I gave it to him.”
I looked at her.
“I know, my love.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“It belonged to my mother.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Vanessa says she doesn’t want us to ask her for anything.”
I felt a deep sadness.
The bracelet was a gift made with love.
Margarita had decided to hand it over voluntarily.
She couldn’t recover simply because Vanessa had behaved cruelly.
But that jewel had a meaning that my daughter-in-law had never understood.
“What did she do with him?” Margarita asked.
Daniel took too long to respond.
I felt something closing inside me.
“Son, answer me.”
My son started to cry.
“Vanessa told me she took it to a jewelry store to find out its value.”
Margarita remained motionless.
“My bracelet?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yeah.”
My wife started trembling.
“Because?”
