-Nothing.
I will never forget the silence that followed.
Andrés seemed unable to breathe.
—I am your only son.
—That’s precisely why I’m even more embarrassed to hear you counting down the months I have left.
Andrés started shouting that I had taken advantage of his father’s illness, that I had invaded his privacy, that I wanted to steal what was rightfully his.
Then Daniela appeared in the hallway.
—Is Dad leaving?
We all kept quiet.
My daughter looked at the suitcase.
—Is that why you’re never here anymore?
Andrés didn’t know what to answer.
Don Alejandro spoke in a low voice:
—Look closely, son. That’s your family there. Not my shares.
Andrés took his suitcase and left.
I thought I would run straight to Juliet.
He did it.
But the welcome was not what he expected.
When he told her that he had been cut out of the will, she immediately asked:
—Can’t you challenge it?
—My dad is alive.
—But he’s sick. You can say Elena manipulated him.
Andrés looked at her in surprise.
Then he told her that he needed to stay a few days at her apartment.
Julieta refused.
—You promised me a different life. Not living together in a one-bedroom apartment while you fight with your wife, your dad, and your lawyers.
That same afternoon, the great love story for which I had destroyed our marriage came to an end.
Andrés ended up in a hotel.
I initiated the divorce.
He asked for time to “reconcile” us, but privately he offered me a deal.
—Give up what my dad left you and I won’t fight for the apartment.
I laughed.
—I inherited the apartment from my aunt before we got married. You can’t use it as a bargaining chip.
Then another battle began.
Andrés visited lawyers.
I asked Daniela how many times we went to her grandfather’s house.
I wanted to know what medications Don Alejandro was taking, who was with him, and what documents he was signing.
Meanwhile, his father’s condition worsened.
I started helping him with recipes, appointments, and food. Not because I expected an inheritance, but because he had been my family for sixteen years.
One afternoon I found Don Alejandro lying next to the kitchen.
I called an ambulance.
Andrés did not answer my three calls.
He didn’t arrive at the hospital until the next day.
He didn’t ask about the diagnosis first.
Asked:
—Did you sign anything while you were here?
It was the first time I saw Don Alejandro cry.
Not in front of your son.
After.
“I still hoped I had been wrong about him,” she confessed to me.
Three months later, the doctors told us that there was no longer any treatment that could stop the disease.
Andrés came that night.
He sat down next to his father.
—Dad, we can fix this.
—You can still do it with your children —replied Don Alejandro—. Perhaps not with me anymore.
—I love you.
—But you wanted more what you were going to receive from me.
The following morning, Don Alejandro died.
During the funeral, Andrés remained silent.
I thought I had finally understood.
I made a mistake.
When the last of the family members had barely left, he approached while I was still standing by the grave.
—Don’t think the company is already yours.
I looked at him.
—What are you saying?
—I’m going to contest the will. I’m going to prove that you manipulated my father.
I looked at the fresh flowers on the ground.
His father had been buried for less than an hour.
And Andrés had already begun the war that Don Alejandro had prepared to face even after death.
But neither of them knew that the notary was keeping a piece of evidence that could change absolutely everything.
PART 3
The lawsuit arrived ten days later.
Andrés stated that his father, weakened by cancer and medication, was not in a condition to fully understand what he was signing.
And he was pointing directly at me.
According to him, I had taken advantage of Don Alejandro’s illness to isolate him, gain his trust, and take over his assets.
Reading that was painful.
Not because I was afraid of losing the money.
But because every afternoon I had prepared soup, every recipe I collected, every night in the hospital, and every conversation with a man I knew was dying now appeared described as part of a plan.
My lawyer asked me:
—Do you want to negotiate?
—What do you propose?
—Andrés wants to get the company and the house back. He says he might allow the children to keep some of the accounts.
I stared at her.
—He is negotiating with things that were never his.
-Exactly.
—Then no.
Don Alejandro had foreseen that scenario.
Before changing his will, he had consulted his oncologist. His medical record stated that, although his illness was serious, he was oriented, lucid, and capable of making decisions.
The notary, Ricardo Villaseñor, had spoken with him alone for almost an hour.
He did not allow me to be present.
Not even her lawyer entered during the main part of the interview.
Furthermore, Don Alejandro had left a written statement explaining the reason for his decision.
I didn’t mention my broken marriage as the main reason.
He was talking about trust.
For the continuity of the company.
And of his fear that Andrés would confuse being the founder’s son with owning everything.
At the trial, Andrés tried to prove that I had isolated his father.
The problem was that too many people appeared saying the opposite.
The operations director explained that Mr. Alejandro continued to participate in business meetings even after modifying his will.
His oncologist confirmed that on that day he was able to fully understand the legal consequences of his decisions.
The notary was even clearer.
—Mr. Alejandro Mendoza personally explained to me what assets he owned, who his family members were, and why he wanted to change his will. I asked him several times if anyone was pressuring him. He replied that they weren’t.
Andrés’ lawyer insisted:
—Did you know that your daughter-in-law visited you frequently?
-Yeah.
—Couldn’t that have had an influence?
The notary looked at him.
—We are all influenced by our experiences. My job was to determine if his will was free and conscious. It was.
Then the statement that Don Alejandro had prepared appeared.
Andrés didn’t know her.
The judge authorized his incorporation.
Part of it said:
“My son is not excluded because his marriage ended. I am excluding him because he expressed, while I was still alive, financial expectations linked to my death and because he stopped showing real interest in my health while increasing his interest in my estate.”
I saw Andrés look down.
Even so, he did not give up.
He presented messages from me with his father’s lawyer.
I wanted to show that we had planned everything.
But the dates showed something different.
Almost all of them were later than the New Testament.
In them we talked about medications, hospitalizations, business procedures and how to prevent the company from being paralyzed if Don Alejandro’s condition worsened.
Even Andrés’ own lawyer ended up telling him outside the courtroom:
—I can’t fabricate evidence that doesn’t exist.
See more on the next page.
