Chapter 3 The Ashes Of Trust

Camila Pov

They both stared at me, still tangled in each other like the nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

The silence in the room was louder than the city outside, louder than my own racing heartbeat. I could hear my breath, shaky and uneven. My hands trembled at my sides.

Emilio was the first to move. He scrambled off the bed, dragging a pillow to cover himself like that would erase what I'd just seen.

"Camila." He lurched forward, his words tumbling over themselves. "Wait-please. Let me explain."

I shook my head slowly, my eyes never leaving my mother. My own mother.

Mami sat up slowly, the sheet pulled up to her chest, her expression stunned but not exactly ashamed. More like caught. Her lips parted, but no sound came.

I felt like I was falling. Like the floor beneath me had vanished.

"How could you?" I whispered.

Mami opened her mouth again, and this time words came out. "Camila, it's not what you think."

"It's not what I think?" My voice cracked, sharper than I intended. "Then what? Go on, explain."

My voice cracked through the apartment like thunder, and for a second, even the air seemed to flinch.

Emilio stepped forward, hands outstretched. "It was a mistake, Camila. It just happened. We didn't mean for it to-"

"DON'T!" The word ripped from my throat. "Don't you dare take another step." Stepping back from him like his very presence burned. "Don't come closer. Don't even say my name."

I turned to Mami. "You knew. You knew how much he meant to me. We were going to be married."

She winced at that, and I knew my words had hit their mark. But I didn't care. I wanted them to hurt. I needed them to.

Mami finally spoke, her voice low and strained. "You were always so busy, Camila. Always working. Always tired. You barely looked at him anymore. You didn't see the way he was drifting."

I spoke in anger,my voice was very loud.

"How could you do this to me Mami, I'm your daughter for goodness sake, I'm disgusted with you being my mother,you don't deserve to be called my mother Teresa."

My mouth dropped open in disbelief. "So you decided to take my place? Is that what this is? You decided to be the woman he needed while I was busy trying to pay your rent? Buy your pills? Feed Selena? You're so disgusting to me Teresa."

She looked away.

"You raised me better than this," I said quietly. My voice is calm now. Too calm. A calm born of something splintering deep inside. "Or maybe I just thought you did."

Emilio reached for me again. "Camila, I messed up. We messed up. It meant nothing-"

"Oh, nothing?" I laughed, but it came out wrong-too sharp, too broken. "You slept with my mother. You destroyed everything. But thank you, Emilio. At least I know what your love meant now. Nothing."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but I didn't give him the chance. I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, my legs like lead, each step heavier than the last.

I grabbed my bag from where I'd dropped it in the living room, went inside my room- packed my belongings and headed straight for the front door.

"Camila, wait!"

Mami's voice echoed behind me, but I didn't stop.

"Please, hija," she begged. "Don't go. We can talk about this. I made a mistake. A terrible one. But you can't just walk away."

I opened the door.

"Selena will be home soon," Mami said, her voice catching. "What will I tell her?"

I turned back, my eyes meeting hers. "Tell her the truth. That you broke your daughter to keep a man who was never yours to have."

I slammed the door behind me.

I didn't know where I was going. I just walked. Into the night, into the cold, into the ache.

My phone buzzed, but I ignored it.

Again.

And again.

Finally, I turned it off.

There was no one to call. No friend I could cry to. No place that felt safe anymore.

Selena was at university, probably asleep in her dorm, excited for her new classes. She always looked up to Mami. Worshipped her. What would this do to her?

I couldn't be the one to break her heart too.

My feet carried me to the park near the river, the same place I used to take Selena on weekends. The benches were empty at this hour, the streetlights casting pale yellow halos on the ground.

I sat, my limbs too heavy to keep moving.

And then, finally, I cried.

Not the quiet kind of crying. Not the dignified sobs you see in movies. This was ugly. This was snot and shaking and gasps that didn't find breath.

I cried because of my job. For the humiliation at Casa Estrella. For the betrayal of a stranger with too much pride.

I cried for my mother.

I cried for Emilio

I cried for the version of me that had believed in them.

I felt exactly terrible for having to call my very own mother by her name.

When the tears dried, my body felt hollow. Emptied out. A shell.

I looked up at the sky, where clouds shifted and parted, revealing a few cold stars.

"I have nothing left," I whispered.

But even that wasn't entirely true.

Because somewhere out there, Selena still believed in me. Still needed me. And I couldn't afford to fall apart.

My phone remained off. I wouldn't hear their apologies tonight. Maybe not ever.

I didn't know where I'd sleep. Or how I'd explain this to Selena. But I knew one thing:

I wasn't going back.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and kept walking. On the sidewalk, people lay curled up on cardboard, their breaths shallow in the night air. I slowed, staring. With nowhere else to go, I sank down beside them, the weight of my choice pressing harder than the bag on my back.

The next morning, I found myself sitting in a café, nursing a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. The manager had been kind, letting me sit without buying anything else.

I stared at the cracked screen of my phone, debating whether to turn it on.

Eventually, I did.

Ten missed calls from Emilio

Seven from Mami.

Two texts from each.

> Emilio: Please let me explain. It was a mistake. I miss you.

> Mami: Come home. We need to talk. I love you.

The words made me sick.

Then another text came through. This one from Selena.

> Hey sis! Heading home this weekend! Can't wait to see you and Mami. I miss your arroz con pollo. Love you!

I stared at it, unable to swallow as my throat cinched tight.

Selena had no idea. And I had no idea how to tell her.

I typed a reply, erased it, and typed again.

> Can't wait to see you too. I have something to tell you when you get back.

I hit send, then lowered the phone.

A new day had begun. The city was waking up.

And somewhere deep inside me, under the ashes of everything that had burned down, a tiny spark remained. Small. Flickering.

But alive.

Later that day, I checked into a small hostel on the edge of town. The sheets were stiff, the lights too bright, but it was quiet. Anonymous. Safe.

I spent the afternoon staring at the ceiling, playing everything back in my head like a broken film reel. The betrayal. The begging. The excuses.

I wasn't ready to forgive. I didn't even know if I ever would.

But I knew one thing for sure: I wasn't going to let their actions define me.

Not Emilio. Not Mami. Not even Chef Márquez or Leonel Castillo.

They had taken so much from me.

But I was still standing.

Still breathing.

And maybe, just maybe, that was the start of something new.

The ashes would clear.

And from them, I would rise.

Not for them.

For me.

For Selena.

For the woman I was becoming.