Chapter 8 - The Return to San PedroAt 2:00 PM, Teresa pulled her Ford pickup back through the peeling gates of San Pedro Ranch.
This time, she wasn't alone. Behind her drove a black SUV carrying Victoria Vance and two private, licensed security guards hired by Victoria’s firm.
The ranch house stood silent under the baking afternoon sun. As Teresa stepped out onto the gravel driveway, the front door opened, and Rodrigo walked out onto the porch.
He looked unkempt, his hair messy, his shirt wrinkled, an open bottle of whiskey held loosely in his left hand. His eyes were wild, dark rings hanging under them from a sleepless night.
"You brought lawyers to my house, Mom?" Rodrigo called out, his voice hoarse, slurred with alcohol. "To my home?"
"It’s not your home, Rodrigo," Teresa said, standing at the base of the porch stairs, her hands resting in her coat pockets. "This land belongs to me. It belonged to your father. And you have disgraced every inch of it."
Rodrigo let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "Father? Dad would have backed me! A man manages his house! Mariana was unstable—she was crazy! She was going to ruin us!"
"She wasn't crazy," Teresa spat, stepping up the first stair. "She had a brain injury that you exploited. You forged my signature on bank loans, Rodrigo. You took three million dollars from crooks in San Antonio. Is that why you locked her in the coop? Because she found out you blew the family fortune?"
Rodrigo’s face went pale, the bravado draining from his posture instantly. "She... she had no right to look at my accounts..."
"You starved a human being!" Teresa roared, her voice echoing across the dry pastures like thunder. "You locked my daughter-in-law in a coop and fed her cattle corn! You are a monster!"
"I am your son!" Rodrigo screamed back, slamming his whiskey bottle onto the porch table, glass shattering everywhere. "I am all you have left of Dad! You take her side over mine?!"
"My son died eight years ago," Teresa said coldly, taking the final step onto the porch. "I don't know what you are, but you are no son of Mateo Mendoza."
Victoria Vance stepped up onto the porch behind Teresa, pulling a thick legal document from her bag.
"Rodrigo Mendoza," Victoria declared in a loud, ringing voice. "You are hereby served with an emergency eviction notice from San Pedro Estate, a restraining order on behalf of Mariana Alvarez-Mendoza, and an injunction freezing all ranch bank accounts pending a criminal investigation."
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Rodrigo stared at the papers, then at his mother. A terrifying, desperate darkness flashed in his eyes. He reached behind his back, his hand darting toward his waistband.
"I'm not leaving this land," Rodrigo growled. "Not for her, and not for you!"
