He ran towards the bars in shock. His mother was extremely thin, and Don Joseph could barely sit up on the floor.
Shawn took Maria’s hand through the bars and asked, “Who did this to you?”
His father closed his eyes in pain. “Your sister did this.”
For almost four months Brenda had kept them locked up. It all started after she returned from a neighboring city, where a clothing business had failed and she had accumulated debts exceeding fifty thousand dollars.
At first she said she had returned to take care of her parents. Then she began to manage the money that Shawn sent every month.
She then convinced Don Joseph to sign a power of attorney, arguing that it was necessary to carry out medical and banking procedures. When the elderly couple discovered that Brenda was withdrawing large amounts and wanted to stop it, the threats began.
The situation exploded when she tried to convince them to sign the sale of the house and four acres inherited from her grandfather. Don Joseph refused firmely.
Two nights later Brenda locked them up in the cellar.
“She told us that no one was asking about us,” Doña Maria whispered gently. “She said you were too busy to come back.”
Shawn felt those words pierce his heart because there was something painfully true in them. He had not come, and he had sent money believing that would be enough.
“I am going to take you out right now,” Shawn said urgently.
He began trying the old keys in the padlock, but none of them worked.
“Brenda has the key,” his father said. “And Shawn, be careful, because we do not know how far she might go.”
At that moment they heard footsteps upstairs, followed by the noise of the kitchen door opening. Shawn stood up quickly.
“Shawn?” Brenda shouted from upstairs.
There was complete silence. The steps began to descend slowly.
Until Brenda appeared on the last step, holding her purse and clutching a bunch of keys in one hand. Her face no longer showed surprise, but pure fury.
“I told you not to come down here,” she said angrily.
Shawn stood firmly in front of his parents and said, “Open the gate.”
“You do not know what you are doing,” Brenda argued.
“Open it right now,” Shawn demanded.
Brenda let out a bitter laugh and said, “Of course, you arrive after twelve years and now you want to play the perfect son.”
“This has nothing to do with me,” Shawn replied. “Look at how they are living down here.”
“It is all about you!” she shouted. “You were the successful one, you were the pride, while I came back broken and no one asked what I needed.”
Shawn pointed to his parents and asked, “And that is why you locked them up?”
Brenda’s eyes filled with tears as she said, “I needed to sell this place.”
“Sell what?” Shawn asked coldly.
She remained silent, and Shawn felt a terrible premonition.
“Brenda, what did you do?” Shawn asked again.
His sister tightened her grip on the keys and whispered, “The house already has a buyer.”
Don Joseph raised his head in shock. “What did you say?”
“The deal will be signed on January 2nd,” she admitted. “I have already received an advance payment.”
Shawn then understood that the confinement had not been a sudden impulse, but part of a calculated plan.
“Did my dad sign it?” Shawn asked.
Brenda did not respond, but it was not necessary because Shawn understood everything.
“You forged his signature,” Shawn stated.
She took a step back in fear. Before he could say anything else, Shawn saw a official document folder sticking out of his sister’s purse that could prove something even worse, and the contents of those documents would forever change the destiny of the entire family.
PART 3
“Give me the folder,” Shawn demanded firmly.
Brenda clutched the bag to her body and said, “No.”
“Then give me the keys and open this gate,” Shawn said.
“Shawn, please listen to me,” Brenda begged.
“They have been down here for months,” Shawn said, his voice cold and devoid of anger. “Look at them.”
Brenda turned her face towards her parents and really observed what she had done for the first time. Her mother’s hands were trembling, her father was breathing with difficulty, and in one corner sat a bucket used as a toilet beside empty water bottles.
“I did not want it to end like this,” Brenda murmured softly.
Don Joseph replied from his mattress, “But it ended like that because every morning you chose to close that door again.”
Brenda began to cry hysterically. “I suffered too!”
“Nobody is saying you did not,” Shawn replied. “But suffering did not give you the right to make our parents prisoners.”
She looked at her brother with resentment. “It is very easy to talk when you have plenty of money.”
“How much do you owe?” Shawn asked.
“That does not matter,” Brenda said.
“How much is the debt?” Shawn insisted.
Brenda took a few seconds before answering, “Fifty-five thousand dollars.”
Shawn opened his eyes in disbelief. The boutique she had tried to open had ended up heavily in debt, leading to personal loans and informal borrowing.
When she lost the business, she returned home and discovered that the property could be worth far more due to regional growth. She had seen her escape route in that house.
First she took control of the money Shawn deposited each month, and then she used the power of attorney to make unauthorized bank transactions. When that was no longer enough, she began preparing the sale of the house.
“And my dad’s signature?” Shawn asked again.
Brenda lowered her gaze and whispered, “I copied it.”
