Chapter 7 - The Final Paper
By Sunday afternoon, the house was completely empty of any trace of the Vargas family. The garden was clean, the grass green and fresh, the jacaranda tree swaying gently in the breeze.
Valeria sat at the marble table on the terrace, the same table where the initials 'R' and 'C' had been placed on the wedding cake.
On the table lay the beige folder she had seen during the wedding: the Transfer of Property Rights.
She opened it. The document was designed to transfer the deed of her grandmother’s house to Rodrigo. But Valeria didn't tear it up. Instead, she pulled out a black pen and wrote in bold, permanent letters across the first page:
PROPERTY DECLARED A PROTECTED HISTORICAL PATRIMONY. INDIVISIBLE AND INALIENABLE.
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She signed her name at the bottom with a flourish.
"Nobody will ever try to take this house again, Abuela," Valeria whispered, her fingers tracing the old stone wall of the terrace.
