“Yes, cooking!” I shout. “And I’m actually not terrible at it, but you wouldn’t know since you never bothered to teach me!”

“You lied to your own mother!” Mom yells back.

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” I say, the first sob escaping me. “But how can you look at me like I’ve just betrayed you over learning to cook when you’re selling Salt and didn’t even bother to tell me?! You can’t sell Salt!” I choke on the words, panic flooding my chest.

“If I have to sell Salt, I—” Mom stops herself, her shoulders tensing up. She exhales. “I hate it when we argue. Believe me, I’ve tried everything. But, it’s true, I listened to what Deals Deals had to say,” she admits, and I shake my head, because I don’t want to believe it. “We exchanged a few texts. I needed to at least know what they had in mind for the bakery first. A cafe won’t be so bad. They’ll keep the building just as it is.”

Anger makes my blood boil. “Grandma would never have let this happen!”

“Your grandmother told me to sell Salt, so don’t assume you know what she would’ve wanted or not.”

I don’t think I heard right.

“Grandma—what?” I say, the words coming out like a gasp.

“Filha, I didn’t want to tell you like this,” Mom begins to say, but I don’t want to hear it anymore.

This is too much.

Too unbearable.

The Grandma I knew—the Grandma I know—would never have told Mom to sell Salt.

It makes no sense.

I run up the stairs.

“Larissa!” Mom calls out again, but I rush into my bedroom and slam the door shut behind me. Pacing back and forth, I text Pedro.

LARI: Can we meet somewhere?

PEDRO: Are those texts forged? Is Deals Deals trying to make us fight again?

PEDRO: We’ll fix this together. Don’t worry. We’ll fix this.

LARI: I’m so sorry.

LARI: The texts aren’t forged.

PEDRO: They’re not another lie?

LARI: I didn’t know Mom was talking with that lawyer. I’m sorry. Mom had been acting strange for a while, but I had no idea she was actually talking with him.

PEDRO: Acting strange? What?

I stare at the screen, just the sound of my anxious breathing in the deafening silence. I should have told him earlier.

LARI: She kept the business card the Deals Deals lawyer gave her when he came by to offer. I didn’t know how to tell you.

PEDRO: Why not?

He’ll hate me for this. He’ll hate me.

LARI: I didn’t know if I could trust your family finding that out.

PEDRO: I wouldn’t have told them.

LARI: I know!

PEDRO: Do you? Because it feels more like you didn’t trust me.