My wife is taught to obey even if it is in front of her father!

The impact was strong and brutal, like a board falling on cement. Mariana fell sideways against the table where we had the little carnitas, the guacamole, the freshly heated tortillas and the hibiscus glasses of water.

Everything collapsed. But what froze my blood was not only to see the blood in my daughter’s mouth, but to hear Stephen, Ruben’s brother, lying in a chair with a beer in his hand, say with a smile:

“It was time for someone to put it in place.

My wife Teresa screamed. My sister Lupita covered her face. I felt my blood boil, but I didn’t pounce on him. Not yet.

My name is Arturo Salgado. I am 59 years old and worked for almost thirty years investigating insurance fraud in Mexico City.

I saw simulated accidents, forged documents, bribed doctors and families destroyed for money. But nothing prepared me to see my own son-in-law beat up my only daughter in my own home.

Since Mariana married Ruben three years earlier, something she never thought of her. Too kind when there were visitors, too controlling when I thought no one saw him. Teresa told me that I was exaggerating, that no man would be good enough for my daughter.

But that Sunday I realized that my instinct was not wrong.

Mariana wore long sleeves despite the suffocating heat. He was startled every time Ruben raised his hand. I barely tried the food. When he quietly commented that the monthly fee for Ruben’s new truck was very high, he squeezed his jaw.

“Now you’re going to talk to me about money?” he said. You, who can’t even keep the house clean.

Mariana looked down.

“Ruben, I didn’t mean that.

-Reassure yourself.

I was getting up when Teresa grabbed my arm.

Arthur, don’t make things worse.

Then Ruben grabbed her by the hair and hit her.

Mariana trembled, with her hand on her party lip. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed a number I hadn’t used in fifteen years: that of Valeria Montes, a former federal agent turned private investigator.

“Arturo,” he replied. What happened?

I need you at my place. Right now. Domestic violence… and I think there’s something else.

Ruben looked at me with hate.

Who did you call, you nosy old man?

To someone who can ask questions.

Esteban stood up, huge, with his very expensive clock shining in the sun.

“Mr. Salgado, don’t get into couple matters.

“When a man hits my daughter in my house, it stops being a couple’s problem.

Then Mariana whispered:

“Dad… this has been going on for over a year.