I didn’t recognize that name.
It was then that he realized that the problem might not just be about his retirement money.
The lawyer requested bank statements for previous periods.
He compared the dates.
He checked the values.
He returned to being a leaf.
Then we move on to another.
The woman felt an old memory resurface with eerie precision.
When Fernanda was a child, Arturo always said that there was never enough money for everything.
Ballet was considered a waste.
Even his professional development had been considered an act of selfishness.
There was always a reason why his dream could wait.
Meanwhile, she continued to do calculations in silence.
He kept small sums of money with him.
I saved on the bus ticket.
I chose the cheapest foods.
And he kept working.
Now, in light of these excerpts, the old expression has taken on a new meaning.
“As always.”
As always, Arturo was in command.
As always, she trusted him.
As always, the decision seemed to have been made in the name of the family.
The lawyer closed one of the pages.
I have to check one last thing before I can give a definitive answer.
He didn’t try to guess what it meant.
He simply handed over the documents he had brought from home.
There were old receipts.
Excerpts.
The notebook.
And a photograph of Fernanda wearing her first ball gown.
The lawyer held the photo for a moment.
Is this your message?
He confirmed it.
In the notebook, next to small sums of money, dates and amounts were handwritten.
They were simply records of the savings he had accumulated to pay for Fernanda’s lessons.
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