Chapter 7 - The Poison TreeIn the four months following the preliminary indictment, the once-impenetrable empire of the Morales family collapsed completely.
With Mariela locked inside the state women’s detention facility awaiting trial, Hector spent millions of pesos hiring public relations firms, private investigators, and teams of appellate lawyers in an increasingly desperate attempt to repair his family's reputation. But the viral video had already rendered its judgment in the public mind.
The economic fallout was total. Morales Logistics was forced into emergency liquidation after its primary international partners pulled out, forcing Hector to sell off his commercial warehouses, liquidate his investment portfolio, and put the Zapopan mansion on the market at a massive discount just to pay off mounting debts and legal retainers.
Doña Patricia’s social standing dissolved completely. The exclusive charity committees, elite church groups, and private country clubs that had once courted her presence quietly canceled her memberships and barred her from entering their facilities. Her inner circle vanished overnight. The woman who had spent decades looking down on Camila as "unlettered and unworthy" was now an absolute pariah across the state.
During this painful season, Daniel and Camila turned their attention entirely toward healing their immediate home.
With the toxic presence of Daniel’s parents permanently removed from their lives, their modest home became an oasis of peace and affection. Camila devoted herself to Sofia’s medical recovery, working hand-in-hand with top pediatric dermatologists who implemented advanced silicone gel therapies and gentle laser treatments to restore the damaged skin along Sofia’s neck and cheek.
The physical results were nothing short of miraculous. Thanks to Sofia’s youth and rapid cellular healing, the deep reddish burns began to fade into soft, barely visible skin variations that specialists guaranteed would disappear entirely as she grew.
One quiet Thursday afternoon, while Sofia was happily playing with building blocks in the living room, Daniel’s phone rang.
The caller ID displayed an incoming collect call from the State Women's Correctional Facility.
Daniel looked at Camila, who gave him a calm, supportive nod from the kitchen table. Daniel pressed speakerphone.
"Daniel?"
The voice on the line was raspy, hollow, and weak. It bore no resemblance to the arrogant, sharp sister who had spent years belittling him and his wife. It sounded like a broken woman crushed by reality.
"Mariela," Daniel said, his voice completely calm, free of malice, but bounded by an immovable wall of distance.
"Daniel... please," Mariela sobbed into the phone. "You have to talk to the district attorney. Please. They're offering a plea bargain... five years in prison, Daniel! Five years away from Iker! He’s five years old! He doesn't understand why his mother isn't coming home! Please... tell them you'll support a suspended sentence... I can't survive in this place..."
Daniel listened to his sister’s desperate weeping. A year ago, he might have felt a wave of guilt. He might have searched for a compromise to preserve family unity. But then he looked down at his daughter, who was smiling as she built a high wooden tower on the rug.
"Did you think about Iker when you threw that boiling coffee, Mariela?" Daniel asked softly. "Did you think about how Sofia felt when her skin was burning off while you walked into the air conditioning to protect your son from the sound of her crying?"
"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!" Mariela wept hysterically. "I was jealous of you, Daniel! I hated that you had a peaceful life with Camila! I hated that Mom and Dad always used me to fight their battles! Please... forgive me..."
"I don't hate you, Mariela," Daniel said quietly. "And I don't wish cruelty on you. But forgiveness isn't escaping the consequences of your choices. You burned a baby. Now you have to face the law."
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"Daniel, wait—"
Daniel hung up the phone. He didn't block the line; he simply placed the phone face-down on the table, walked over to the rug, and sat down on the floor beside his wife and child.
