"Where's Ruby? Where did she go?"
Silvia's tears streamed down her face, her voice cracking with desperation.
I told her about how her daughter had secretly drained $800,000 from my account to buy her ex-boyfriend a car.
The words hit her like a physical blow. Her whole body began to tremble, curses spilling from her lips in a torrent of rage.
She nearly had a stroke right then and there.
"That wretched girl!"
"She's determined to destroy herself!"
"Edgar, please—call her for me."
"Of course."
I dialed Ruby's number immediately.
I expected her phone to be off. I wasn't holding out much hope.
But the line connected.
It rang a few times before she cut it off.
"She's not answering, Mom."
"Keep calling. Don't stop until she picks up!"
Silvia's jaw was clenched so tight I could see the tendons in her neck. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks.
"Alright."
I called again. And again.
After she rejected five or six attempts, Ruby finally answered.
The moment the call connected, I hit speakerphone.
"Edgar, have you lost your mind? Is there something wrong with your head?"
"I warned you earlier—do NOT call me again today. The second I turn my phone back on, you're blowing it up like a lunatic!"
"What is your problem?"
"Are you not going to be satisfied until I divorce you? Is that what you want?"
I caught a glimpse of Silvia's expression darkening with every venomous word her daughter spat.
When Ruby finally paused for breath, I said simply, "Your mom wants to talk to you."
"Ha! You never change, do you? The second I mention divorce, you drag my mother into it to guilt-trip me?"
"Today is David's birthday. I don't care if it's my mom—my ancestors could crawl out of their graves and you still wouldn't scare me."
"What kind of thing is that to say?" Silvia's voice thundered through the speaker.
Ruby went quiet.
Then, tentatively: "...Mom?"
"Answer me. Did you take the $800,000 from Edgar's account?"
Ruby didn't answer the question.
Instead, she turned her fury on me.
"Edgar, you pathetic bastard! I used a little money and you ran crying to my parents? Seriously?"
"What did you promise me when we got married?"
"You said everything you earned was mine. That I could spend it however I wanted."
"All I did was hold you to your word. And now you're already whining about it?"
"Hah. Men."
"All talk when it suits you."
"Edgar, you disgust me."
"Shut your mouth!"
Silvia's roar cut through the air. Her voice shook with barely contained rage. "You listen to me. Return that car. Transfer the money back to Edgar. Your father needs it to survive."
"Mom, what did Edgar say to brainwash you?"
"You're actually helping him curse my father?"
Hearing Ruby accuse her own mother through the phone—I let out a disbelieving laugh.
Her first instinct wasn't concern for her father.
No. She assumed her mother and I were conspiring against her.
Silvia stood frozen, trembling so violently she couldn't speak.
"Hmph."
"I'm right, aren't I?"
"Don't treat me like I'm stupid. I'm not a child."
"Dad's perfectly fine. Why would anything be wrong with him?"
"Stop calling me."
Click.
She hung up.
"Call her." Silvia's voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. "Find out where she is."
"I'm going to kill her with my bare hands."
Her eyes glistened with tears—and beneath them, a fury that could burn the world down.
