“Everything alright, darling?”

Trying to mask her nerves, Leah offered to make her something to eat. As they sat in silence, Matilda spoke again.

“Leah, I’m in need, darling. Could you give me $500? I have no one else to turn to.”

Leah hesitated but almost reached for her wallet—until the door swung open.

Luis stood there, his face pale. The grocery bags in his hands fell to the floor.

“No,” he whispered. “I told you—I don’t want to see you. Leave. Now!”

Leah was stunned. She had never seen him this angry.

“Luis, don’t be cruel,” she pleaded. “She’s your mother.”

“She is not my mother, Leah!”

The room went silent.

“She left me at a foster home,” he said, his voice cold. “I begged her to take me back, reminded her that we only had each other after my father died. But she wanted a fresh start—without me.”

Leah turned to Matilda, ice filling her veins. “Is that true?”

“It’s… complicated,” Matilda muttered.

Luis’s expression darkened. “She was the one driving that night. She’d been drinking. My father wanted to drive, but she refused. She ran a red light. That’s why my father is dead. And that’s why she walked away without a scratch.”

Leah looked at Matilda. “Was any of it true?”

Matilda opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“Now, leave,” Luis said. “You’re not welcome anywhere I am.”

Matilda hesitated as if hoping they would call her back. But when they didn’t, she turned and walked out into the cold.

“She’s dead to me, Leah. She has been for years.”

Leah swallowed hard. “I should have believed you. I just… she looked so frail and cold. I wanted to help.”

Luis sighed, pulling her into his arms. “You didn’t know. But now you do.”

And just like that, the ghost of his past faded into the night.

“Now,” Luis said, smiling, “let’s make those cinnamon buns. I’ve been thinking about them nonstop.”

What would you have done?