The doctor tried to intervene with a soft voice.
“Mrs. Barbosa, anxiety can cause confusion. Your son is worried about your safety.”
I looked at him.
“Doctor, if you are so worried about my safety, ask him why he was taking me to another country with papers I didn’t understand and a hidden app on my phone.”
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The man fell silent.
Matthew lost his patience.
“All of this was for your own good!”
Nancy let out a dry laugh.
“Oh, sure. Always for the good of the old woman and the house that is worth millions.”
Sarah had already called the police.
When the officers arrived, Matthew put the mask back on.
He spoke about my age.
About my grief.
About my “deterioration.”
About my forgetfulness.
I feared they would believe him.
For a second, I was the mother who doubted herself again.
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Then Lily appeared at the door.
I don’t know how she got there.
Paula brought her.
My daughter-in-law was thinner, with dark circles under her eyes, clutching a folder against her chest.
Lily ran toward me.
“Grandma.”
I hugged her as if I could tuck her inside my ribs.
Matthew turned pale.
“Paula, what are you doing here?”
She held up the folder.
“The same thing as your mother. I stopped obeying.”
Lily pointed at her father.
“He said grandma was going to a house where she couldn’t call. I listened.”
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Matthew shouted:
“Lily!”
The girl hid behind me, but she kept talking.
“And he said that if mom came back, he was going to say she was crazy.”
Paula handed her documents to Sarah.
Messages.
Audios.
Threats.
Transfers.
A draft of the sale of my house.
A request for a medical evaluation for me.
Another one for her.
Two women from different generations, marked with the same word:
Unstable.
The police did not arrest Matthew that afternoon.
Not the way I wanted.
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Real life does not obey pain with such speed.
But a report was opened.
A record was made.
Any moving process was suspended.
Sarah requested urgent measures to protect my property and my freedom of decision.
The doctor and the lawyer had to identify themselves.
The moving men left the boxes where they were.
And Matthew had to leave my house without taking even a single book.
Before crossing the gate, he looked at me.
“You are going to regret this, mom.”
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I was holding Lily’s hand.
“No. I regret taking so long.”
The following months were difficult.
