Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
Back at the Reyes estate, the illusion of perfection was beginning to crack.
By Monday morning, Dolores expected Michael to call, begging for forgiveness and asking for his house key back. She sat at her antique mahogany desk with a cup of black coffee, waiting for her phone to ring.
It didn't ring.
Instead, at ten o’clock, Sofia arrived at the house, looking flustered and carrying a stack of dry cleaning.
“Mom, did Michael call you?” Sofia asked, kicking off her heels in the foyer.
“Not yet,” Dolores said coldly, adjusting her reading glasses. “He’s letting his pride run hot. Give him twenty-four hours. A man like Michael cannot survive without family structure.”
“Well, his wife isn't answering her phone either,” Sofia said, tossing her designer bag onto the sofa. “And more importantly... who is going to organize the charity luncheon this Thursday? Clara always handles the catering contracts and the guest lists.”
Dolores waved a dismissive hand. “You can do it, Sofia. It’s simple administrative work. How hard could it be?”
As it turned out, very hard.
By Tuesday afternoon, the cracks in the Reyes household widened into chasms. Sofia quickly realized that what I had done every week—managing the household staff, coordinating repairs, handling Dolores’s endless medical appointments, and balancing the estate ledger—was a full-time job.
Furthermore, when Sofia tried to charge the household expenses to the family account, the credit card was declined.
Confused, Sofia called the bank.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Reyes,” the automated voice and subsequent customer service representative informed her politely. “The primary cardholder, Michael Reyes, has restricted spending on this secondary account and frozen the household trust pending a legal audit.”
Sofia’s jaw dropped. She called Dolores immediately.
May you like
Within an hour, the matriarch of the Reyes family discovered a truth she had spent decades refusing to acknowledge: Michael wasn't just a dutiful son who worked for the family construction firm. He was the one who managed the backend finances, negotiated the corporate contracts, and kept their lifestyle afloat.
And he had just cut them off.
