Chapter 4 - The Price of Being Family
Sofia remained in the hospital for four days.
The burns began healing, but doctors confirmed that a scar would likely remain along the left side of her cheek.
Camila listened carefully as the specialist explained future treatments.
Silicone dressings.
Laser therapy.
Sun protection.
Possible reconstructive procedures when Sofia was older.
Daniel asked about every option.
He wrote down every instruction.
But none of it changed the fact that his daughter would carry evidence of his family’s cruelty on her face.
The day before Sofia was discharged, Teresa requested a meeting.
Her attorney contacted Daniel directly.
“She wants to apologize,” he said.
Daniel almost ended the call.
Then the attorney added, “She is prepared to offer financial compensation.”
Daniel’s voice became cold.
“For what?”
“Medical expenses, future treatment, emotional distress.”
“She wants us to remain silent.”
“She wants to avoid further damage to the family.”
Daniel looked through the hospital window at Camila holding Sofia.
“The damage is already on my daughter’s face.”
The attorney mentioned a number large enough to change many lives.
Daniel refused before he finished speaking.
That evening, Teresa arrived at the hospital anyway.
Security stopped her in the lobby.
She called Daniel repeatedly.
He ignored the first six calls.
On the seventh, he answered.
“You cannot keep me from my granddaughter,” Teresa said.
“You kept yourself from her when you watched her burn.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You ordered Camila out of the house.”
“I was protecting Iker.”
“From what?”
Teresa did not answer.
Daniel continued.
“You were already collecting lies about my wife and child.”
“That file was precautionary.”
“You planned to replace them.”
“I planned to protect you.”
“By destroying my family?”
“Camila has made you ashamed of where you come from.”
“No, Mother.”
Daniel’s voice was steady.
“You did that.”
Teresa lowered her tone.
“You think this woman will stay once the lawsuits begin? Once the newspapers print our name? She will take Sofia and everything you own.”
“Camila has never asked for what belongs to you.”
“She married you.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
There it was.
The belief beneath every insult.
Camila could not possibly love him.
She had to be using him.
Because Teresa understood relationships only through ownership and advantage.
“I am filing a legal order preventing you from contacting Camila or Sofia,” Daniel said.
Teresa laughed bitterly.
“You cannot erase me.”
“No.”
He looked toward his daughter.
“But I can stop you from reaching them.”
He ended the call.
The temporary protective order was granted the next morning.
Daniel also removed his parents from the list of people authorized to collect Sofia from daycare, access her medical records, or enter their home.
He changed the locks.
He replaced the security system.
Then he resigned from his father’s company.
Arturo came to Daniel’s office immediately after receiving the resignation letter.
“You are destroying your future,” Arturo said.
“I am removing you from it.”
“You have worked fifteen years for this company.”
“And you believed that entitled you to ignore what happened to my daughter.”
Arturo sat across from him.
“I did not throw the coffee.”
“You tried to erase the video.”
“I was protecting Mariela.”
“Why?”
“She is my daughter.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“So is Sofia family only when it is convenient?”
Arturo’s face hardened.
“She is Camila’s child.”
The words remained between them.
Daniel stared at his father.
Sofia had been born three years after Daniel and Camila married. Daniel had held her minutes after birth. He had chosen her name. He had spent nights walking through the house with her sleeping against his shoulder.
Yet Arturo spoke as though she belonged only to Camila.
As though Daniel’s marriage had never made them a family.
As though a granddaughter born to the wrong woman was not truly his blood.
“Thank you,” Daniel said.
Arturo frowned.
“For what?”
“For finally saying it clearly.”
Daniel slid a folder across the desk.
Inside were documents transferring his company shares into an independent trust for Sofia.
Arturo opened the folder and went pale.
“You cannot do this.”
“They are my shares.”
“The company belongs to this family.”
“And Sofia is my family.”
“If you transfer those shares, Mariela and Iker lose their future.”
Daniel understood then that money had always been at the center.
Arturo and Teresa expected Daniel, who had built much of the company’s recent value, to remain childless or eventually have a son they approved of.
When Sofia was born, they began treating Iker as the unofficial male heir.
Camila and Sofia threatened that expectation.
“They were never entitled to my future,” Daniel said.
Arturo stood.
“You will regret choosing them over us.”
May you like
Daniel looked at him calmly.
“There was never supposed to be a choice.”
