When Paula heard her uncle call her «murderer» doubt invaded her mind. Had she really been a murderer? No, that was not possible, but then she had a terrible memory. Paula was scared, full of panic, and then ran to take refuge in her room without saying anything else to the Parkers.

She needed to be alone, although she could still hear them arguing in the distance, but she no longer paid attention because she was immersed in the depths of her soul.

She tried to remember and remembered.

Her mind traveled at full speed through her memories. All the mist that kept them hidden dissipated, and in this way the memories were exposed leaving Paula at the mercy of terror.

The first thing Paula remembered was the day Erika arrived home, months before the tragedy. She came to meet Paula's baby who was a year old, almost two. Erika said she had not gone to meet him before because she had supposedly lost the address of the house. She looked radiant and happy. She was thinner and had cut her hair.

"Excuse me for not coming before, Paula. Moving day was a complete disaster, I don't know if you remember. I was so tired! And to top it off I lost one of my bags on the train, I completely forgot it. Can you believe it? And I was furious with you for not helping me, but now I can understand it: you were pregnant and Franco had a lot of work. I also remember that you two were angry with each other. Surely in that suitcase was the paper with the written address."

Erika seemed determined to give explanations but Paula knew she was lying. When Erika moved out of the previous apartment, she did so because of a discussion she and Paula had, something that Erika didn't seem to remember, anyway Paula let her speak until she finally shut up.

"Okay, Eri. How did you get it?"

"I got it when I went to Franco's work last week, but I couldn't come before. You know my job has me very busy," said the woman, lying again. In the living room she saw the baby sitting in his high chair.

"Oh! How beautiful and big he is!"

Erika ran to hug the baby while Paula mentally wondered why Franco (his fiancé, because they would soon get married) had not told her before Erika had gone to work. The woman also wondered why Erika had not gone to work «to ask about her address». But soon all these doubts were dispelled and the two friends returned to regain confidence.

Paula knew that Erika had a new boyfriend named Gastón shortly after she left Franco and Paula's apartment, but both had cut their relationship two months ago. She told her friend that Gastón didn't understand her and that the relationship had also become violent, so she decided to cut her off. As Erika lived in his apartment and she had no more friends in that city, for that reason she had decided to return to Paula and Franco.

"Do you have a job now?" Paula asked worriedly, imagining that her friend came to her apartment to stay again.

"Yes, I answer the phone in a fast food restaurant. Not bad, there I get paid less than in my previous job, but at least I don't have to work at night... It's not far from here," she said with a smile that Paula thought she was forced. She hoped her friend wasn't lying.

Paula thought that her friend was only interested in her when she needed her help, surely she needed money, but Erika was like that, she always left a job and took a different one and the same happened with her relationships with men.

But Paula was wrong because Erika wasn't going to live with her and Franco because her job gave her enough money to rent a place to live with a roommate, but she did need money and it wasn't too long before she asked for help. Erika thought maybe Paula needed help with the baby.

Paula was thinking of returning to work at the office but could not afford a babysitter because they were very expensive, so after consulting with Franco they agreed that they would leave the baby with Erika. She would be paid much less than a babysitter charged, but they promised her that in the future they would increase her pay. Everyone was happy with the agreement.

During that time Paula felt safe and happy. During the first month she could have extra time and money for her.

But the first thing that started to bother Paula was the baby...

Every time Paula arrived from work and hugged him he cried instead of laughing, maybe because he knew that the time had come for Erika to go home, then he formed a tantrum. Erika was one of those women who were born to raise children. He loved her very much because they both spent a lot of time together. He only saw Mom for a few hours a day and he was almost always asleep.

"I don't like him crying when I arrive," Paula told Franco one night. They were having dinner while the child slept in the room above. The man seemed distracted.

"What?" he asked.

"I said it bothers me that my own son receives me with a tantrum because he doesn't want «her» to leave," Paula said that word with contempt.

"God, honey! He is just a baby and he spends too much time with Erika that spoils him a lot."

Paula didn't want to keep arguing, she just saw that her baby didn't love her and instead loved Erika very much. That little anger and annoyance grew inside Paula as time went by and became a real problem for her. The rejection of her son was opening a huge crack that opened more and more every day. A crack that was not in her heart but in her mind.

Inside the house things got worse. Shortly after the small discussion between Paula and Franco, it was Santiago's number two birthday and his parents organized a small party at home with a couple of friends who also had small children.

Everything had started well during the party even children and adults were having fun, but Paula had a problem with Erika and lost control of herself, just because when she arrived home she opened her arms with her usual smile and exclaimed:

"Where is the birthday king?"

When Santiago saw her, he left his new toys on the floor and began to shout with joy, raising his arms towards her. Erika took him in her arms with affection while everyone else watched her smiling, then Paula, seeing the scene felt pain and envy in her heart, so she took the baby from the arms of her friend and armed a scandal.

"He is my son, not yours!" she said before running to his room while the boy cried.

Erika didn't know what to do and the guests were silent because they were too surprised. Franco blushed due to the shame and anger he felt.

Paula didn't come back down to the party, she completely ignored the guests, so the party soon ended, their friends decided to leave and didn't accept another invitation again. Paula was still locked in her room and refused to say goodbye to her friends. This caused Franco to get even angrier with her.

"What the fuck happened to you! I can't believe you made such a scandal in front of the guests!" Franco shouted when everyone left.

Paula listened to him while holding her son.

"He's my son! I don't want her to be near my baby! I don't want her in my house! I want her to leave right away!" she shouted furiously and out of her mind.

"But what's wrong with you?" the man asked surprised.

"I can't stand it anymore, Franco. I can't stand for my son to love her and not me," Paula said distraught, with tears in her eyes.

"So this is because of jealousy? What nonsense! He is just a baby, Paula. We have talked about this so many times before. It's not about him loving her and not you. He spends too much time playing with her and that is why he is happy with her and cries when she leaves, but, honey, that doesn't mean he doesn't love you. You are his mother," he tried to explain Franco. He couldn't believe he was having that conversation with her. She looked like a girl fighting for a toy.

There was a brief silence.

"I hate her. She wants to take my child."

"What are you talking about? She doesn't want to take your child away, she is just her babysitter," the man shouted desperately.

"I don't want to see her anymore!"

"And then what do you want us to do? You and I need to work."

"Things are already difficult this way. We have to pay bills, Paula."

"I hate her," the girl whispered.

She just wanted her «friend» to leave their lives.

"You are crazy! Crazy!" Franco shouted and left the room slamming the door.

That was the first discussion they had of an endless chain of problems that fell on the family. Franco convinced Paula that Erika would continue to be Santiago's nanny for a while until they both got someone else to fit their budget.

It hadn't been easy for anyone...

Erika did not understand why her friend had stopped talking to her. She didn't understand why Paula didn't allow her to hug or caress the baby when she was present, so she waited for her to talk when she returned from work. That was not a good idea. Paula not only told her everything she thought about her (she accused her of wanting to steal the baby) but also turned violent and threw a glass that almost hit her head. At that moment the friends separated forever.

Erika wanted to leave immediately, but Franco intervened, asking her to stay for a short time.

"Paula was stressed and nervous... She works all day, and you know she can't stand being away from Santiago, but I've asked for a promotion at work and I think they can give it to me, so Paula wouldn't have to work so many hours, she could even take a vacation," Franco told Erika one day.

"I understand that she is nervous, but I cannot accept that she believed that I was trying to steal her son. That is incredible! She had never taken that attitude with me before," Erika lamented. "She hardly speaks to me and hates me, I know it."

"She doesn't hate you, just... you have to give her time," Franco didn't understand his wife's attitude either, but he thought it was all due to the stress of work ... unfortunately he was wrong.

Since Erika and Franco met, both got along very well because they had a lot in common. When Erika fought with her best friend, then she was very lonely, drifting. She knew she had to leave that house but she didn't want to lose her job, at least not until she got a new one and that situation was very depressed.

Franco understood her and felt very sad for her, was embarrassed by Paula's attitude, she was very selfish. But not long after he came up with an idea that brought joy to his home without harming Erika, even offering accommodation in his own home. His wife had died recently and he was left alone with the children. He worked all day and needed a lot of help. Franco's friend immediately accepted and Erika was extremely grateful to him for having found that job for her because now she was starting to earn more money.

When Paula knew that Franco had found work for Erika, she became very angry because she didn't understand why he had solved her problem. Franco had helped Erika... Franco had been very good to her... it would bother him to talk badly about Erika.

Paula began to believe that Erika was first in Franco's thoughts and for some reason began to believe that he no longer loved her.

Without anyone being able to realize it, Paula began to hate Erika in an excessive way and she was determined to discover why her husband was so kind to her friend, therefore that matter of the child was almost forgotten.

Paula began watching her husband obsessively. Every time Franco's phone rang, she was alert. She listened behind the doors or interrupted him asking who was calling. Paula memorized Franco's schedule and even went to visit him at work to see if he had gone to work or not. She was always disappointed because the only thing she had discovered was that Franco did not meet his «lover» at that time, but he did realize that Franco was talking to Erika more than usual by phone and that alarmed her, so her hatred It grew even more.

Paula also began to develop a rejection for her husband and her son, she thought they were hiding things from her and instead of talking about her feelings with someone, she began to isolate herself from everyone, accumulating those negative feelings inside her, obsessed with the idea to be deceived, betrayed. Paula was always in a bad mood, she hardly talked to anyone and always looked at Franco with hate.

Franco began to notice the changes; something was not right at home. Why did she act that way? Why did she sometimes ignore him as if he didn't exist? And it all got worse when he realized that she no longer paid attention to her son. She didn't kiss him anymore or hug him, she didn't even look at him when he cried. Franco was alarmed... he was very alarmed...

As time went by, anger and jealousy grew so much in Paula that a week before the tragedy, the situation erupted like wildfire.

That week Franco made a mistake. The tension was so strong in his house that he could not stand it and decided to meet Erika in a bar. He told Paula that he was going to meet Alejandro, a friend of his, but she knew that Franco was lying because he forgot something she didn't. Just that day was Alejandro's wife's birthday and she knew that he and his wife were out of town, at the in-laws; house.

The man had completely forgotten. However, he just wanted to talk to Erika, even if his wife didn't believe it that way.

"I thought you wouldn't come," Erika said when she saw him arrive.

She was waiting for him in front of the bar door, they both entered together in a place separated from the rest. The bar was dark but there were many people.

"I was about not to. To come I had to lie to Paula. I'm tired of her fights," Franco said.

The waiter approached them and they both asked for hard liquor.

"You shouldn't have lied to her, the woman," protested with a frown.

"She would surely make a fuss," Franco said with a shrug. Erika laughed.

"Yes, but it's better to be honest with her so she doesn't think you're unfaithful."

Franco, who hadn't thought about that before, was quite surprised.

"She would never believe that because she knows how much I love her," said the man, scandalized as if the idea were absurd.

Erika did not agree with him and thought that he was naive but did not want to continue refuting him, although she was about to tell him that she was sure that Paula's jealousy was the cause of her last fight when everyone lived together.

There was a brief silence.

"So what did you want to talk about?" said the woman.

Franco sighed.

"I'm very worried about her, Eri. She has been behaving very strangely for the past few weeks and I am alarmed by that."

"Strange in what way?" Erika asked confused.

Erika had not heard from her friend Paula for a long time, because the few times she talked to Franco, she only asked him about the boy. Erika was offended by Paula's attitude for her false accusations that she wanted to steal her son.

"Well, she hardly speaks, just answer my questions using monosyllables. There are days when she ignores me so much that I feel like a piece of furniture in the house... And she looks at me that way... as if she was mad at me... that look baffles me, but she told me she doesn't want to talk about it."

"Maybe she is still upset because you helped me get a job," Erika said eating a peanut. She tried to keep her voice from reflecting the resentment she felt for that.

"I don't think so, that was a long time ago. She may be angry at something else, even she sometimes watches over me as if I were going to do something wrong like stealing her savings, or something like that. The other day I found her under the living room window, on the street, spying like an intruder when she was supposed to be at work. I don't know what she intends, I don't understand her. She has become a woman very different from the one I met. Sometimes I think I'm living with a stranger," Franco said with a frown.

"Why was she spying on you? I don't think she would have thought you wanted to steal her... she would have told you."

"I have no idea why he did it. When she realized that I had discovered her, she went into the house and looked at me angrily, as always. I think she hates me for something, Eri."

"She doesn't hate you, she always loved you and you have always been very close."

"I don't know... something happens, something bad," Franco said alarmed.

Erika tried to calm him.

"Maybe she is stressed because of work, you should remember that she no longer has anyone to help her with the child."

Franco laughed and Erika looked at him with surprise.

"She doesn't need help, she doesn't even take care of him. I do all the work at home; I even feed him," said the man. He took a long drink and continued: "That is another thing that has me worried. She doesn't seem to realize that Santi needs her."

That seemed very strange to Erika.

"But... she always held him up and she didn't let anyone get close to him, she seemed obsessed with him."

"Well, now she seems to have completely forgotten about him," Franco said sadly. "He cries and cries and she ignores him. You can't imagine what hurts to see her indifference. I don't know what to do, Eri!"

There was a brief silence.

"And there is something more...," Franco said. His fingers trembled a little.

"What?"

"She well... last night I woke up at midnight because I heard a noise in the house and she... I realized that Paula was not lying in bed and then I worried. I don't know why but there was something that told me to look for her. I found her in Santi's room. She was standing in front of the child's crib, holding a pillow. Her eyes had that strange look... She looked weird. I feared for the boy, Eri. I think... I think she was going to hurt him. God, I thought she wanted to hurt him with the pillow!"

He couldn't continue talking... something had stuck in his throat. Erika was horrified with what she had heard.

"Holy God!" she exclaimed.

"I took him in my arms and pulled him out of there... She didn't react, just looked at me. I was so scared for him!" Franco said after finishing the drink. "And since then I have been wondering if I was wrong and I'm a damn idiot for thinking about her. I know Paula would never do something like that to Santi. However, most of the time she looks like someone else and I don't know what to think anymore."

Erika was terrified; she had also drawn the same conclusions as her friend but her mind could not keep the idea that Paula could hurt her own son. Erika didn't know what to think about the matter.

There was a long silence while the two thought until the woman decided to break it up.

"I met a girl at my other job, when I was a waitress, remember?"

Franco nodded.

"Well, she was lucky. She studied but after a while she married one of those doctors... what is they called? Oh yeah! Psychiatrists. He worked in a very important hospital."

"I'm not going to put Paula in a Psychiatric hospital, Eri."

"Don't be conventionalist! Those doctors are like psychologists but they can prescribe medicines. Maybe there they can help her."

"I don't know," Franco hesitated.

"I can get my friend's phone number but I think it will take me a little while to track her."

Franco was not convinced. He didn't like those doctors and it seemed unfair to put his young wife in a crazy hospital.

"They are going to help her, Franco and they don't need to be interned there," Erika said, guessing his thoughts. "You just have to convince her to go see that doctor, tell him he will help her. Maybe she is just depressed and we are thinking that she would be capable of terrible things. Paula would never hurt someone and much less her son. Maybe she took the pillow so he was more comfortable."

Paula doubted, however Erika promised to get her friend's phone number and he promised to talk to Paula about her behavior.

When Franco returned home it was already late and his wife was asleep, apparently she had not noticed that he had arrived. The man put on his pajamas without making a noise and then went to see Santi in his room. The baby looked happy sleeping in his crib, although the crib soon had to be replaced by a bed. Franco looked at him with deep affection, knowing that he would do anything for him, but that night he couldn't sleep.

At about four o'clock in the morning, Franco felt that Paula moved to his side, got out of bed and left the room, and seemed to be sleepwalking. He decided to follow her because he was worried, then he felt that she was coming down the stairs and heard how she turned on the kitchen light and opened a drawer.

Because of the metallic noise, it seemed to be the cutlery drawer, so at that moment he thought his wife had gone to the kitchen to find a knife.

Franco was terrified about last night, so he ran to the boy's room and locked himself with him. Paula tried to open the door, struggled for a while with the lock, but since she couldn't open it, she left.

Franco was scared and hugging the boy in his arms until he fell asleep on the carpet. He finally decided that if Paula didn't want to go see that doctor he would force her to do it; they could no longer live like that.