Chapter 1
Christmas Eve dinner had barely been underway for twenty minutes when Mauricio raised his wine glass in a toast before the entire family.
"To Daniela," he said with the smile of a perfect husband. "Once again, she did everything so the rest of us only had to show up and sit down."
Some people laughed.
Others applauded without even getting up from the table—as they always did.
Daniela answered with a tired smile.
She had been cooking since 6:00 that morning, preparing marinated roast pork, salt cod, apple salad, and romeritos for eighteen guests.
Not a single person had chopped an onion or washed a dish.
Mauricio drained his glass in one swallow.
Almost instantly...
His expression changed.
He dropped the glass, clutched his chest, and collapsed sideways onto the table.
Plates shattered.
A chair toppled over.
He fell to the floor beside the family Nativity scene, his body convulsing.
Daniela rushed toward him.
But her mother-in-law, Ofelia, grabbed her by the hair.
"You put something in his drink!" she screamed. "You wanted him out of the way so you could keep the house!"
Before Daniela could react, Ofelia slapped her.
Then she slapped her again.
The ring on the older woman's finger split the skin across Daniela's cheekbone.
Her sister-in-law, Lorena, didn't call for an ambulance.
Instead, she stood up, pointed at Daniela, and shouted in front of uncles, cousins, and neighbors:
"I saw her pour that glass! She was alone in the kitchen. Nobody else touched the wine."
The accusation came too quickly.
Too perfectly.
Dizzy from the blows, Daniela looked at Mauricio lying on the floor.
The most frightening thing wasn't his condition.
It was the fact that Ofelia hadn't even gone to check on her own son.
Her first instinct had been to create a culprit.
At last, one of Mauricio's cousins called 911.
An ambulance arrived alongside a municipal police patrol.
A few minutes later, investigators from the prosecutor's office cordoned off the dining room of the family's home in Valle Real.
The paramedics stabilized Mauricio and rushed him to a private hospital.
The moment Ofelia saw the officers in uniform...
She completely changed her performance.
She fell to her knees, sobbing dramatically.
"Take her away! My daughter-in-law wanted my son's company... and this house!"
Daniela let out a bitter laugh.
The company wasn't Mauricio's.
Eight years earlier, Daniela had founded a successful architecture firm.
She had also paid for the house.
Her husband's car.
Lorena's debts.
And two surgeries for Ofelia.
Mauricio had simply allowed his family to believe that he was the one supporting everyone.
A forensic investigator searched beneath the table.
He found half of a wine-colored capsule, damp and coated with a pale powder.
"Does anyone here take heart medication?" he asked.
Ofelia stopped crying.
Lorena pressed her lips together.
Daniela took a slow, steady breath.
"My husband doesn't take any medication," she said. "But my mother-in-law keeps capsules that color locked inside a drawer."
Ofelia immediately began shouting that Daniela had stolen them.
The lead investigator ordered the entire house searched.
Daniela asked for only two things.
"Test Mauricio's wine glass," she said.
"And preserve every broken piece as evidence."
Then she quietly gave them a password.
"Look for a folder named 'December.' It's been recording everything for the past thirty days."
The moment Ofelia heard those words...
The color drained from her face.
And Daniela realized...
May you like
The real nightmare had only just begun.
❤️ Thank you for taking the time to read Part 1 of this story! 🙏📖
