Then he walked away, leaving her alone with the envelope and the sudden weight of being seen in the wrong way.
She read the details slowly. A dinner that cost more than her yearly rent. An auction with starting bids she couldn’t pronounce without laughing. Rules of behavior that felt like commandments written for a different species.
It was a performance—and she was meant to be the joke.
That night, in her small apartment in Iztapalapa, her roommate Sofía examined the card under the kitchen light. Sofía worked long hours as a line cook and had learned to recognize trouble quickly.
“This makes no sense,” she said flatly. “Why would he invite you?”
Patricia shrugged, though her chest felt tight. “Maybe he’s just… being nice.”
Sofía snorted, humorless. “Sebastián Vargas doesn’t do ‘nice.’ My aunt worked for his mother. He treats staff like decorations. And when he gets bored… he likes breaking things.”
Patricia felt a chill crawl up her spine. “So why do this?”
Sofía met her eyes. “Because he wants to embarrass you. He wants you to show up in something you can barely afford, so people can stare, judge, whisper. So he can laugh and feel powerful.”
The envelope lay between them like a challenge.
Sofía reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Or,” she said slowly, “you go—and you rewrite the ending.”
Patricia let out a shaky breath. “With what money? I send half my paycheck to my grandmother. I barely survive.”
Sofía’s gaze drifted to the delicate chain at Patricia’s neck.
“You still have your mother’s pendant, don’t you?”
Patricia’s fingers closed around the small gold heart instinctively. It was the last thing her mother had given her before she passed away. A piece of love she carried every day.
“I can’t sell it.”
“I didn’t say sell,” Sofía replied gently. “Pawn it. Temporarily. Buy the dress. Walk into that room like you belong. When life shifts—and it will—you get it back.”
She looked at the envelope again.
For the first time, she didn’t see a threat.
She saw a door.
That night, lying awake in the dark, Patricia stared at the ceiling, her heart racing with fear and anticipation intertwined. Whatever waited on the other side of that golden paper would not be insignificant.
It might shatter her.
Or it might change everything.
Continue reading…
