Chapter 5 - THE CONFRONTATION IN THE KITCHEN
I walked quietly across the hardwood floor, keeping my footsteps light, until I stood just behind the sheer curtains of the living room sliding door.
Sergio gave the screwdriver one final, violent shove. The latch snapped with a sharp crack, and the glass door slid open. He stepped into the dark living room, breathing heavily, smelling faintly of cheap whiskey and desperation.
"Mariana?" he whispered into the dark, thinking the house was empty. "Mariana, I know you're here. We need to talk about this. You can't just lock me out."
I flipped the wall switch.
The overhead chandelier flooded the living room with brilliant, blinding light.
Sergio jumped, spinning around with a guilty start, the screwdriver still clutched in his sweaty hand. When he saw me standing there in the middle of the room with my arms crossed, wearing a calm, expressionless face, his shoulders slumped.
"What are you doing, Sergio?" I asked, my voice cutting through the quiet room like glass. "Breaking and entering? Is that the new strategy your mother suggested?"
"I live here!" he shouted, his voice cracking with sudden, unhinged frustration. "This is my house too! You can't just throw me out like trash because my mother wanted to have a party!"
"You tried to forge my deed," I reminded him, taking a slow step forward. "You tried to steal the roof over my head to please a woman who treats you like an errand boy. And now you're breaking into my property after being served with divorce papers and a restraining order."
Sergio looked down at the screwdriver in his hand, as if he only just realized what he was holding. He dropped it onto the rug.
"She pressured me, Mariana," he whimpered, his tough-guy facade crumbling into pathetic excuses. "You don't know what it’s like growing up with her. She never lets up. She said if I didn't get my name on the deed, I was a failure as a son. I did it for us... to keep the peace."
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"No," I said coldly. "You did it for yourself. Because you're weak, and you wanted a free ride on my inheritance."
Before he could answer, the front gate intercom buzzed loudly from the kitchen wall panel, followed by flashing blue and red lights spilling through the front windows.
