Six months later I was placed in an orphanage, and my aunt sold my parents flat on the black market.
When I turned five, I became an orphan. The responsibility for me passed to my aunt, my fathers sister. While my parents were alive we never wanted for anything. They held senior positions, we owned a spacious city apartment and a modest country house outside town. Their deaths changed everything.
My aunt looked after her own daughter, Sofia, but we never formed a close bond. My younger cousin constantly teased me. Aunt Clara, though pleasant to strangers, was in fact petty and calculating, never missing a chance to benefit herself. She never gave me affection, support or a kind word.
From childhood I was tasked with cleaning the house and washing dishes. Watching television was forbidden, and sweets were bought only for Sofia. Soon after, my aunt sold my fathers car. My mothers clothes and jewelry vanished, while Aunt and her daughter grew increasingly stylish, frequenting cafés and restaurants, never taking me along.
As a child I didnt realize that Clara had sold everything, claiming the money was for my upbringing. Years later we moved into my aunts onebedroom flat on the outskirts. Six months after that, I was again handed over to the orphanage and the aunt sold the apartment.
Adjusting to the new conditions was hard, but I quickly adapted to the new environment. I received a decent education and, after finishing school, rented a small flat. I worked in a supermarket as a cleaning assistant, with a promised promotion. One day the owner, Mr. Miguel, came to the store.
When Miguel saw me, he invited me to his office after work. Inside I found only him. He asked me to recount my life and what my parents had done. I told him my story from the beginning.
He smiled, saying he remembered me as a child; he had been a friend of my parents. Years earlier he had started a business and opened a chain of shops, and now he was building a new shopping centre. When construction finished, a manager would be needed. He offered me the job, but I lacked the required training.
Just as I was about to decline, Miguel promised to help me obtain the necessary qualifications. In those circumstances I couldnt say no. The study was challenging but interesting. I completed the course without trouble and, at the end, received the promised, wellpaid position.
A few years passed. I bought a twobedroom apartment. One day my cousin knocked on the door. I dont know how she and Aunt found my address, but Sofia, in an authoritative tone, demanded that I let her in and help her find work.
My cousin had no higher education, so I offered her a temporary cleaning job. Outraged, she refused and immediately called her mother. Aunt Clara shouted over the phone that I owed her for my upbringing, and that without her I wouldnt know what became of me. She threatened revenge if I didnt assist Sofia.
I felt conflicted. In all those years without contact she had not changed, but I had. I was no longer the defenseless girl I once was. I decided I no longer needed that aunt or that cousin.
