PART 1
“If you’re thirty and still don’t have a husband or kids, you’ve done something wrong,” my brother said in front of everyone, raising his glass as if he’d just told the best joke of the evening.
I smiled out of pure habit, but inside I felt that old, burning resentment that had been with me since childhood every time Ricardo decided to remind me of his belief in my place in the family. That evening, I turned thirty, and I swore I wouldn't let him ruin the party. I had booked a splendid terrace on the shores of a lake in Valle de Bravo, with lights strung between the wooden beams, white flowers on the tables, and a three-tier cake I'd ordered weeks earlier. I wanted a quiet evening. Elegant. Mine.
I almost did it in the first forty minutes.
My friends arrived with gifts, my cousins with warm hugs, my parents with slightly forced smiles and a bouquet of sunflowers that made me feel truly loved. I even thought that maybe, just this once, Ricardo would behave. But no. He arrived late, as always, with his wife Paola in tow and his son Mateo racing between the tables like a top.
"Look at the birthday girl," Ricardo said, patting me on the shoulder. "Thirty years old, and she still spends like she has no responsibilities."
He said it laughing. As always. As if every backstab disguised as a joke stopped hurting just because it was wrapped in a smile.
Ten-year-old Mateo was running around touching everything. A decoration here, a napkin there, a glass that a waiter had almost knocked over. I calmly asked Ricardo to let him sit down for a bit.
"Oh, relax," he replied. "That's why you're missing out. Kids are like that."
It wasn't the first time he'd targeted me. At every family meal, he'd make comments about my singleness, my biological clock, my apartment in the city, my job, my freedom, as if everything I'd built was just a consolation prize for not having the life he thought was right. And my parents, though they sometimes muttered, "Enough, Ricardo," never really stopped him.
That night I noticed something worse.
Every time I took a few steps away to say hello, Ricardo would lean over to Mateo and whisper something in his ear. The boy would turn to look at me, nod, and smile as if he'd been entrusted with a secret mission. The third time I saw him, I went straight to his table.
—Ricardo, that's enough. I just want a quiet evening.
"Oh, Valeria, don't exaggerate," she replied with that innocent expression she always used before doing something cruel. "We live together."
A few minutes later, Mateo approached me while I was talking to a cousin.
"Aunt, why don't you have children?" he asked suddenly.
I felt a sharp blow in my chest. It wasn't a child's question. It was his father's voice coming from his mouth.
"Because not everyone wants the same life, my love," I said slowly. "And all decisions deserve respect."
Mateo frowned.
—My dad says you'll regret it later… that you're acting tough just because you're alone.
I looked up. Ricardo was watching me from his chair, amused. He wasn't hiding it at all. He wanted to see me burn.
I wanted to answer. I wanted to address it right then and there. But at that moment, the waiters came out with the cake and everyone started singing. It was beautiful: three tiers of white frosting, red fruits, edible flowers, and a golden decoration that read "30 and fabulous." My friends took out their phones, my cousins applauded, even my mother was moved.
And then Matteo made his way through the guests.
At first I thought he just wanted to see the candles up close. But no.
She placed both hands on the base of the cake.
“Mateo, no,” I said, moving closer to him.
It was too late.
He carried him in his arms with a clumsy but determined effort, walked to the edge of the terrace, right where the infinity pool began, and when we all finally understood what was happening, the boy turned to look at his father with a proud smile.
—Dad, I already did what you asked me to!
And he threw the cake into the water.
There was a splash, a chilly silence, and the reflection of candles dying on the surface of the pool.
I too felt something inside me sink.
Because in that moment I understood that the cake wasn't the only thing Ricardo had wanted to destroy... and that the worst of the night was about to begin.
PART 2
