Accountability

Rosa, a fierce and independent Puerto Rican woman in her mid-twenties, has spent her life believing her father was nothing more than a deadbeat—a man unworthy of her time or love. Raised by her mother, Giselle, she grew up with stories of his failures, his absence, and his supposed indifference. But when Rosa stumbles upon the truth—that her mother’s lies were never about protecting her, but about punishing the man who broke her heart—Rosa’s world shatters. Giselle, elegant and calculating, arrives at Rosa’s apartment under the guise of a reconciliatory dinner, armed with a lemon cake and hollow compliments. But Rosa isn’t fooled. She’s done playing the obedient daughter. Tonight, she demands answers. Why did Giselle lie? Why did she erase Rosa’s father from her life? And most importantly, what was the real cost of her mother’s vengeance? As the tension escalates over a carefully prepared meal, Giselle’s facade cracks. She admits the unthinkable: she didn’t cut Rosa’s father out of her life to shield her from disappointment. She did it to hurt him. “I wanted him to feel the pain I felt,” she confesses, her voice trembling with a mix of defiance and regret. Rosa’s disgust is palpable. Her mother didn’t just rob her of a father—she weaponized her daughter’s love to settle a score. Just as the confrontation reaches its boiling point, Romeo steps out of the shadows. Handsome, dignified, and wearing a jersey that mirrors Rosa’s—symbolizing a bond Giselle tried to sever—he reveals the depth of Giselle’s betrayal. “You told me you’d make sure your daughter hated me,” he says, his voice steady but laced with years of suppressed pain. “And you succeeded.” The revelation is devastating: Giselle’s cruelty wasn’t just about control. It was about destruction.