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"Does your mom know yet?"

"Yes, I told her. It seemed better than letting her find the bloodstained clothes in the trash—that would have given her a heart attack," Laia says.

"How did she take it? She must hate me."

"She didn't take it any particular way. It was an accident, Claudia. You didn't want it to happen," she insists, trying to reassure her.

"No, I didn't. But it happened because of my stupidity, and I'm sorry." She adds quickly, glancing toward her empty pressing board, "I have to get back. See you."

Laia watches her walk away and heads out of the floor to go to her office, but first she gets a coffee from the machine by the entrance, because she already knows today is going to be a very long day—and that's confirmed when it's barely ten in the morning and Elvira walks into her office, closes the door behind her, and plants herself in front of her desk.

"Is there anything you want to tell me? Anything you might have forgotten when we talked earlier?" she asks, hands in her pockets, a stance that reminds Laia of Claudia.

Laia's mouth goes dry and her stomach drops to the floor. When Elvira arrived she went to her office as she does every morning to brief her on everything going on at the factory, but obviously she didn't mention the accident, so now she has to do the same thing and cross her fingers that Elvira is asking about something else.

"No."

Elvira stares at her for several seconds, and Laia feels a chill run down her spine, because this woman sometimes looks at you in a way that is genuinely frightening—you can never tell whether she's analyzing your answer or simply thinking about the fastest way to make you disappear.

"Perfect, then," she says, her voice flat. "Because my sister and brother-in-law are in my office right now, furious. Apparently, Claudia rented a car this morning because hers had to be towed last night after an accident. But if you don't know anything about it…"

Laia's mouth falls open and she starts to stammer something, but Elvira raises a hand and cuts her off.

"Go get Claudia and come to my office, both of you."

She leaves and closes the door, and Laia stands frozen for a moment, feeling a surge of adrenaline before she forces herself up and heads to the stairs to find Claudia.

"Your parents are upstairs. They know about the accident," she says without softening it when she finds her.

Claudia lifts the iron, removes the garment, and sets it aside as she processes what she's just heard.

"How did they find out?" Laia asks, anxious.

Claudia closes her eyes and clicks her tongue.

"The rental car, probably. Or the body shop where the tow truck dropped mine off. My dad knows everyone, and sometimes I feel like I can't do anything without him finding out. I figured they'd call him eventually, just not this soon, or that they'd actually show up here."

"Well, they're upstairs, and your aunt wants us both in her office."

Claudia swears under her breath and follows Laia until they reach the stairs, where Laia stops.

"Remember—I was driving. Don't say anything different, or we'll both be in trouble."

"I shouldn't let them blame you for something you didn't do."

"You already did." Laia starts climbing. "Don't change the story now."

Claudia's feet stay rooted to the floor for a moment and she runs a hand over the back of her neck to steady herself before saying something she doesn't want to say—because it was Laia who came up with the idea of switching seats, Laia who insisted on saying she'd been driving, and it doesn't seem fair that she's throwing it back at her now. But given everything Laia puts up with on her account, she tells herself she has no right to be angry.

They walk into the office and both stop just inside the door. Elvira is behind her desk, her face tight with discomfort, arms crossed. Enric stands by the window. Blanca sits in a chair with her legs crossed and her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Enric says, his tone sharp.

"Nothing."

Laia blinks and looks at Claudia when she hears her, wondering what she's playing at.

"Nothing? Did you think we weren't going to find out? Do you know how long it took for the body shop to call me?"