Both indicated that he retained his ability to understand and make decisions, despite some physical difficulties related to his age.
These findings contradicted the image of severe mental decline that Lucía had constructed.
Javier took the USB stick.
Then he went back downstairs, the box in his hands.
His wife was waiting for him in the kitchen.
When she saw the recorder, her expression changed.
“What is it?”
Don Ernesto answered before Javier could speak.
“The voice of your friend Víctor.”
Lucía takes a step back.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And yours.”
Javier put the recorder on the worktop.
“We will listen.”
Lucía rushed to him.
“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!”
Javier pushed the device aside.
“Why?”
“Because it’s a violation of our privacy!”
Don Ernesto answered calmly.
“I was present during this conversation. And I recorded it to remember what you were telling me. »
Lucía devint livide.
Javier pressed the play button.
At first the sound of a door was heard.
Then the voice of Víctor.
“We can’t sell the property if Ernesto doesn’t give his consent.”
Lucía replied:
“Then we will have to get his consent.”
Víctor continued:
“He has already refused twice.”
Then came the sentence that took Javier’s breath away.
“If we can convince Javier that his father is incapable of making decisions, it will be much easier to pressure him to accept what we need.”
Javier looked up.
Lucía didn’t move.
The recording continued.
And what they heard next completely changed the course of history.
CHAPTER 10. THE VOICE THAT EXPLAINED EVERYTHING
“I don’t want any problems with the law,” Víctor said in the recording.
“Then do your job properly,” Lucía replied.
“We have no guarantee of getting the property.”
“We will get them. Javier trusts me. His father has no one else. »
A slight knock was heard on a table.
Then Don Ernesto spoke.
“And what happens if I refuse to sign?”
A few seconds of silence followed.
Lucía replied in an artificially soft voice:
“Papa Ernesto, no one wants to force you to do anything. We are simply looking for the best for everyone. »
The old man asked:
“For me too?”
Victor intervened:
“Especially for you.”
The conversation continued for several minutes.
Víctor was trying to convince the old man that a sale would solve alleged financial problems.
Lucía insisted that the mansion had become a burden.
Don Ernesto asked why they wanted to sell a house that was not encumbered by any mortgage.
Neither gave a clear answer.
Finally, the recording ended with the old man’s voice:
“I won’t sign anything.”
Javier stopped the audio.
He looked at Lucía.
“You told me that my father wanted to sell the house.”
She swallowed.
“Because he had thought about it.”
“I just heard him refuse.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What is not simple? The pressures? The lies? Or the fact that he made me believe that my father was losing his mind? »
Lucía began to cry.
“Javier, please. You don’t know what I had to put up with. »
He watched her without moving.
“Explain to me.”
“Your father always wanted to control everything. He never really accepted me. »
Don Ernesto opened his eyes wide.
“I welcomed you into my home like a girl.”
“BUT YOU NEVER GAVE ME A REAL PLACE!”
“I offered you to live here.”
“LIVING HERE IS NOT THE SAME AS OWNING SOMETHING!”
This sentence revealed a resentment that had been growing for years.
Javier spoke in a low voice.
“So it all came down to money.”
Lucía shook her head.
“No.”
“What did you want?”
She looked at the worktop.
“Safety.”
“Security?”
“You’re constantly traveling. Your father may change his mind. If one day he decides to kick me out, what will I have left? »
Javier felt a deep disappointment.
“We could have discussed our future.”
Lucía laughed bitterly.
“And what would you have done? Would you have asked your father’s permission? »
Don Ernesto intervint.
“Lucía, I would never have put you on the street on a whim.”
“That’s what you’re saying now.”
“I said it from day one.”
Lucía did not answer.
Javier took the box.
“We’re going to call Elena.”
« NON ! » cria Lucía.
He turned around.
“Why not?”
She seemed desperate.
“Because when the lawyers intervene, our family will be destroyed.”
Javier looked at his father.
Then he turned to her again.
“Our family began to destroy itself the day you decided to humiliate a man who had opened the doors of his house to you.”
Lucía tried to touch his arm.
He drew back.
“Don’t touch me.”
And for the first time since they met, Lucía understood that Javier was no longer willing to believe her explanations.
