Chapter 53 ROSA'S FIRING
POV: Selena
My mother folds the letter before I finish reading it.
She does it neatly, the way she always folds things that hurt. Once, twice, then she presses the crease flat with her thumb like the paper might misbehave if she does not. I want to grab it back. I want to tear it. I want to pretend it never existed.
Instead, I sit there, frozen on the edge of her couch, my hands locked together so tightly my fingers ache.
“I’m sorry,” I say, because the words are clawing their way out of me and if I do not let them go, I think I might choke.
Rosa looks up. Her eyes are calm. Too calm.
“Why are you apologizing?” she asks.
My throat burns. “Because if I hadn’t met him. If I hadn’t stepped into all of this. You’d still have your job.”
She exhales slowly, like she is counting backward from something sharp. “Mija.”
She reaches for my hands and pulls them apart, one finger at a time. Her palms are warm. Solid. Familiar.
“Look at me,” she says.
I do.
“This is not your fault.”
I shake my head. “They said it was because of media attention. Because of who I’m connected to now.”
“That is their excuse,” she says. “Not your crime.”
“But you lost everything,” I whisper.
She smiles then, small and stubborn. “I lost a job. Not my life.”
Tears blur my vision. I hate them. I swipe them away with the heel of my hand, angry at myself for falling apart when she is the one who should be angry.
“I ruined it,” I say. “You worked there for twelve years.”
“I worked,” she corrects. “And I will work again.”
The front door opens behind us. Adrian steps inside, phone still in his hand, tension clinging to him like static. He takes one look at my face and stops.
“What happened?” he asks.
Rosa answers before I can. “They let me go.”
His jaw tightens. “Because of us.”
She shrugs. “Because of politics. It happens.”
“It shouldn’t,” he says.
He crosses the room, crouching in front of her so they are eye level. The gesture is instinctive, respectful.
“I want you to come work for the foundation,” he says. “We need people we trust. The pay would be better. The hours flexible.”
My heart stutters. Relief flashes through me before I can stop it.
Rosa does not hesitate.
“No.”
The word lands hard.
Adrian blinks. “Rosa, it’s not charity.”
She lifts her chin. “It feels like it.”
“It’s a job,” he insists. “One you deserve.”
She shakes her head. “I appreciate the offer. Truly. But I won’t take it.”
I turn to her. “Mama, please.”
She squeezes my hands again. “No.”
“Why?” My voice cracks. “You need work.”
“I need dignity,” she says gently.
The room goes quiet.
“I’ve worked my whole life on my own merit,” she continues. “I will not start now by accepting something just because my daughter is engaged to a powerful man.”
Adrian straightens slowly. I see the flicker of frustration in his eyes, but also something else. Respect.
“She’s like you,” he says softly to me.
I know.
That is what scares me.
Rosa releases my hands and stands. She moves to the kitchen, pours herself a glass of water, takes a sip like this is an ordinary afternoon and not the moment my world shifted.
“There’s something else,” she says casually.
My stomach tightens. “What?”
She turns back to us, glass still in her hand. “I already found another job.”
I stare at her. “That was fast.”
She shrugs. “I have references.”
Adrian relaxes a fraction. “Where?”
She hesitates.
The air changes.
“Mama,” I say. “Where?”
Her eyes flick to mine, then away. She sets the glass down carefully.
“Working for Senator James Thornton.”
The words do not register at first. They slide past my ears like a language I do not speak.
“What?” Adrian says sharply.
I feel cold all over. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking,” Rosa replies.
My heart starts pounding. “You can’t. He’s dangerous.”
“He’s a senator,” she says. “And he needed staff.”
“He is the reason you lost your last job,” I snap.
Her mouth tightens. “No. The media is the reason.”
“He’s our enemy,” Adrian says.
Rosa crosses her arms. “That depends on who you ask.”
I stand, my legs shaky. “Did he know who you were when he hired you?”
“Yes,” she says.
“And you still took it?”
“I needed work,” she says evenly. “And I will not be afraid of a man just because you are.”
Anger flares through me, hot and sudden. “This is not pride. This is reckless.”
Her eyes harden. “Do not speak to me like I am a child.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“I protected myself long before you ever needed to,” she says.
Adrian steps between us slightly. “Rosa, with respect, this puts you in danger.”
She meets his gaze without blinking. “I’ve been in danger my whole life. Low pay. No safety net. One paycheck away from nothing. This is not new.”
I feel sick.
“When do you start?” I ask quietly.
“Tomorrow,” she says.
The room tilts.
“You can’t,” I whisper.
“I already did,” she replies.
I see it then. The line we have crossed. The way the fight is no longer contained to us.
Thornton is not just watching anymore.
He is inside my family.
Rosa reaches for her coat. “I should go.”
“Mama,” I say, my voice breaking.
She pauses at the door. “I love you. That has not changed.”
She leaves.
The door clicks shut behind her.
Adrian turns to me. “We have to stop this.”
I nod, numb. “We’re already too late.”
Because whatever game Thornton is playing now, my mother is standing right in the middle of it.
And I do not know how to pull her out without tearing everything else apart.