Paola sat on the carpet nearby, painting her acrylic nails a glossy silver.

“Mother, we have a disaster with the commercial lease filings,” Alejandro said, dropping the crumpled default notice on the low glass table.

Doña Victoria smoothed her silk neck scarf with two clipped flicks of her fingers, not even glancing at the paper.

“Don’t bring loud business panics into my parlor, Alejandro,” Doña Victoria said smoothly.

“Paola and I are finalizing the guest list for our Easter gathering.”

“Look at the paper, Mother!” Alejandro shouted, his voice cracking so sharply that Paola stopped with her polish brush in midair.