Chapter 3 - The Vultures Arrive
I walked slowly to the front door, my chest tightening with a cold, defensive instinct. Through the iron bars of the outer gate, I saw three people standing in the dim light of the alley.
Two men and a woman. They were dressed in clothes that screamed wealth—the older man wore a tailored linen shirt and expensive Italian loafers, while the younger one had a gold watch that gleamed under the streetlamp. The woman, in her late forties, wore a designer trench coat and oversized sunglasses despite the twilight, her face twisted in an expression of deep disgust as she looked at the peeling walls of the house.
"Can I help you?" I asked, keeping my voice steady as I unlocked the inner wooden door but kept the iron gate securely locked.
The older man stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as he took in my faded t-shirt, my dusty jeans, and my worn-out sneakers.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, his voice dripping with authority. "What are you doing in our mother’s house?"
This was them. Carmen's children.
The older man was Eduardo, the eldest son who had reportedly cut off all contact with her five years ago. The woman was Sofia, and the younger, arrogant-looking man was Carlos, her youngest surviving son.
"My name is Diego," I said. "I was Dona Carmen's assistant. I helped her clean and take care of the house."
Sofia let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "An assistant? You mean a thief. We heard from the neighbors that some dirty college kid had been sniffing around here for months, pretending to be a saint. Where is her jewelry, Diego? Where are the old silver sets our father left her?"
"She didn't have any jewelry, senora," I said, my anger beginning to flare. "Her fridge was empty. She could barely afford her blood pressure medication. If you had visited her once in the last year, you would have known that."
Eduardo’s face turned a dangerous shade of red. He stepped closer to the gate, his fingers gripping the iron bars. "Listen to me, you little parasite. We are the legal heirs of Carmen Vega. We have already filed the paperwork to take possession of this property. You have exactly ten minutes to pack whatever trash you brought in here and get out before we have you arrested for trespassing."
"I'm not trespassing," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the certified deed copy Licenciado Herrera had given me. I held it up against the iron gate so they could see the red seal and the legal signatures. "Dona Carmen legally transferred this house to me three weeks ago. It was registered with the notary. This is my property now."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Carlos snatched the paper from between the bars, his eyes scanning the document. As his gaze hit the legal seals and the transfer clause, his face drained of all color.
"This... this can't be right," Carlos whispered, his voice shaking. "She couldn't do this. The house is part of the primary estate. It's worth millions because of the downtown zoning laws!"
"What do you mean?" Sofia screamed, grabbing the paper from her brother's hands. "Eduardo, look at this! She gave the house to the cleaning boy! The senile old bitch gave away our inheritance!"
"Shut up, Sofia!" Eduardo roared, his eyes locking onto me with a hatred so pure it made me take a step back. "This is fraud. You manipulated a dying, mentally incompetent old woman into signing over her assets, Diego. We will tie you up in court for the next ten years. We will ruin your reputation, we will have you expelled from your university, and we will make sure you spend the rest of your life in a state penitentiary."
May you like
"She was completely sane, Eduardo," I said, my voice rising with a confidence I didn't know I possessed. "She was just lonely. And she knew exactly what you were. Now get off my property before I'm the one who calls the police."
I slammed the heavy wooden door, locking it with three separate bolts. Outside, the screams of Carmen’s children echoed through the narrow alley, promising fire and ruin, until the sound of their expensive car engine finally faded into the distance.
