Twenty Four: The Secret

One quiet afternoon, after she had left school, Marina was opening the door of her house when she heard Sandra saying to her husband:

-I love Marina very much, but she has to help with the chores my love. I can't make any effort and I don't want to lose this baby.

-Take it easy. Our daughter is helping us as much as she can. She gets tired with schoolwork.

-I don't care and she's not even our daughter really. I don't know if I want to continue with this. I think we'd better hand her over to her brother and....

At that moment, Marina enters the office and says with tears in her eyes:

-You don't like me, do you? That love you said you felt for me was all a pretense.

-Daughter, that's not true. I was just letting off steam, rest assured. We're not going to abandon you. I just think it's best that you go spend some time with your brother, since he wants you so badly.

-"She's not going anywhere," says Michael, looking at his wife, "She's our daughter and I'm not going to let her stay away from us.

-I don't want any more complications. I'm going to my room because I'm tired," says Marina.

She runs out and up the stairs, opens the door and locks her room and starts crying. She wonders what she has done to deserve this, if she will never have a place to live in peace. For a moment, she thinks it would be best to follow what Sandra said about spending time with her brother, but soon regrets it and decides to just put on some good music and relax until sleep comes.

He chooses to put it in random mode on his cell phone and listens: Y Lloro by singer Maite Perroni. The music gradually fills her entire room and although the song talks about crying for the one you love, she feels calmer, and with each lyric of the melody, Marina stops crying, and without realizing it she ends up falling asleep.

Marina is walking in a beautiful forest, with many trees around, flowers and the singing of some animals in the distance. An angelic voice is heard and as she gets closer, you can hear a beautiful song sung by a beautiful woman. At first the girl did not recognize who it was, but as she approached, she realized that it was Sandra. She was singing a lullaby to a baby who was in front of her in a baby carriage. The boy's hair was the same color as his adoptive mother, but he was so skinny, he looked sick. As Marina came closer, she could see that while Sandra was singing, tears were falling from her eyes, and at that moment she realized that something was wrong.

Before Marina could say anything, the woman replied:

-I'm sorry Marina. Now I understand why I lost my son. I hid a big secret from you. I don't know if you will be able to forgive me, but soon you will find out the truth-she says crying, in the midst of sobs-Sit down dear, for the story is a bit long.

After she sits down, Sandra turns to Marina and says:

-"It wasn't a conscience that I adopted you and it wasn't the first time I had seen you in that orphanage. I knew your birth mother, but not in a good way....

-What do you mean?

-Miguel worked as a truck driver and for that reason he traveled a lot. Many times he had to go to Sete Lagoas to deliver water for the company, but that day the road was a bit dangerous due to the rain. He failed to see that there was a car coming the other way and took the other side of the road. He didn't know it was his mother in that car. Of course, that's no reason for this to have happened, but what could he do? The truck flipped over, and luckily he wasn't hurt, but his mother...-Marina interrupts her in tears.

-"You mean it was your husband's truck that killed my mother? How come you never told me that? I hate you-she ran out of the place and started crying...

Marina wakes up in tears, wondering if everything that happened in the dream is really true or a figment of her imagination. After getting out of bed and washing her face, she decides she'd better go to the kitchen and have a glass of milk.

She quietly goes downstairs, but stops just outside the couple's bedroom when she hears something that catches her attention:

-You know very well Miguel that someday she will find out the truth and she won't forgive us for not having told her-Sandra says.

-"It wasn't my fault if her mother's car was passing on the other side, my love. Of course, if I could, I wouldn't have done it, but I'm keeping my promise to her: Take care of my daughter. She told me this in a dream just after we saw Marina in the orphanage. I had already seen her picture in the girl's wallet, together with other people in the portrait.

-So it's true, you killed my mother?-Marina suddenly opens their room in tears.

-"Darling, I was going to tell you when the time was right, but....

-But nothing. I can't live here anymore. I've decided I want to live with my brother or anywhere else but here with you.