Chapter 13 - Father Mateo Finally Had to Hear Her VoiceFather Mateo’s trial began almost eighteen months after the storm.
By then, the financial case alone filled thousands of pages.
But prosecutors built the heart of the case around planning.
Lupita’s fertility records.
The pre-convent email.
Cross’s testimony.
Beatriz’s cooperation after her own conviction.
The payments.
The sedatives.
The fake authorizations.
The births.
The vanished children.
Mateo never testified.
Lupita did.
She entered the courtroom wearing navy blue, with no veil.
Mateo looked at her for the first time in months.
His face immediately arranged itself into the expression she remembered from childhood.
Gentle sadness.
Concern.
The look that once made her confess every doubt.
It no longer worked.
The prosecutor asked:
“Who was Father Mateo to you?”
“My godfather.”
“Did you trust him?”
“With everything.”
“Did you consent to any insemination procedure?”
“No.”
“Did you authorize him to consent for you?”
“No.”
“Did you agree to surrender Isabella, Mia, or Sofía?”
“No.”
Mateo looked down.
Then his attorney asked whether Lupita had voluntarily chosen Santa Clara.
“Yes.”
Whether she had voluntarily taken vows.
“Yes.”
Whether she had voluntarily donated money.
“Some of it.”
The defense tried to turn those choices into ambiguity.
Lupita refused.
“I chose the convent.”
Pause.
“I did not choose what they did to me inside it.”
The courtroom went silent.
Later, the prosecutor showed her the email describing her as a “long-term solution.”
“Do you recognize the medical attachment?”
“Yes.”
“What did you believe those tests were for?”
“To make sure I was healthy enough for religious life.”
“What were they actually used for?”
Lupita looked at Mateo.
“For him to decide my body was useful.”
For the first time, Mateo’s expression cracked.
Not dramatically.
He looked ashamed.
That almost hurt more.
Because shame meant he had always understood there was something to be ashamed of.
He was convicted on multiple counts relating to conspiracy, sexual and medical assault conduct, fraud, unlawful administration of drugs, child trafficking-related offenses, and financial crimes supported by the evidence.
The exact sentences were imposed later.
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Lupita did not attend.
She had spent enough years letting Mateo’s decisions determine her calendar.
