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"I'm thirty-four, Dad. I don't think I have to give an account of everything I do. It was a minor accident and we're both fine, by the way."

Her father works his jaw and shakes his head.

"That's true," Laia steps in, unable to stand the energy coming off this man or the contempt in his eyes when he looks at his daughter. "My car wouldn't start and Claudia let me borrow hers to get home—"

Enric moves and walks to the desk, positioning himself beside his wife as he looks at Laia like she's beneath his notice.

"She let you borrow her car and sat in the passenger seat to watch you drive? What's the point of that if she still had to drive afterward?" He turns to his daughter. "We all know you don't lend your car to anyone. The only reason you're saying she was driving is because you'd been drinking. You would have tested over the limit, and what I want to know is how much you paid your little whore to lie for you."

"If you call her that one more time—" Claudia snaps, but her father cuts her off.

"What? What are you going to do about it?"

"That's enough." Elvira's voice hits like a thunderclap as she stands, steps around the desk, and crosses her arms in front of her brother-in-law. "I'm done with all of this," she says, her tone ice-cold. "Our arrangement does not include you disrespecting anyone in this building. You should watch your language and your manners, and you might want to take a few classes in basic decency, because it's clear you never learned any."

"How dare you—"

"Be quiet," Elvira continues, unmoved, and turns to her sister. "I told you the last time: if you need to speak with your daughter, you do it outside this building. Leave."

"What? You can't throw us out," Blanca snaps, speaking for the first time.

"Of course I can. You heard me, Blanca. Both of you, out of here, or I swear I'm calling the police."

"Unbelievable," her sister says, rising slowly from her chair.

Laia and Claudia haven't moved from where they're standing by the door—Laia stunned by everything she's hearing, Claudia disconnected, her gaze drifting to the window and seeing nothing, arms hanging slightly away from her sides.

"We'll talk later," Blanca says as she passes by her.

Claudia doesn't hear her. She doesn't hear the door click shut behind them either, or their footsteps fading down the hall. What she does notice is Laia's hand brushing against hers.

"Hey," Laia whispers beside her, while Elvira watches the gesture and the tone from where she stands.

Claudia blinks, looks at her, and their hands pull apart immediately.

"I'm sorry about that scene, Laia," Elvira says. "They told me they just wanted to check in on Claudia, make sure she was all right. I didn't expect this—though I should have, because with my sister everything is always a surprise."

"It's fine."

It's not fine, Claudia thinks, but she's so overwhelmed she can't say anything.

"Would you mind giving me a moment alone with Claudia?" Elvira asks.

"Of course. Sure."

Laia leaves the office and goes to hers, dropping into her chair with a heavy sigh.

"Sit down," Elvira says.

Claudia moves slowly and sits in the chair where her mother was a moment ago, resting her elbows on her knees as she stares at her hands, which are trembling.

"Were you the one driving?" Elvira asks, sitting down in the chair beside her.

Claudia doesn't lift her head. Her throat is so tight she can barely swallow, and when she answers, her voice breaks.

"Yes."

Elvira nods, watching her, and they sit in silence as the pressure Claudia has been carrying for years reaches its limit and she can no longer hold it in. She drops her head between her arms, brings her hands up behind it, and starts to cry. At first she does it quietly, trying to hold it back the way she always does, but it's unstoppable—the sobs come all at once, her body begins to shake, and her shoulders heave with each one.