Chapter 53 · Proxy from Iloilo

"Read it out loud," Jae Min said, and slapped the envelope flat on the linen cart so hard the towels jumped. "Or should I get someone from Legal to do it for you?"

I didn't touch it. My hands still smelled of bleach from Room 1408, and there was a stranger sitting in the staff break room like she owned the folding chair.

"That's not addressed to me," I said.

"It's got your mother's name on it." He tapped the corner where ROSA SANTOS sat in ballpoint, underlined twice. "Signed six days ago. Notarized in Iloilo City. You want to tell me she's a ghost that writes checks?"

"I want to tell you to get out of my break room."

"Not my break room policy today." He didn't move.

The woman inside stood up when she saw me. Sixty-something, thin gold cross at her throat, a bag of pan de sal still warm on the table, like she'd walked straight off a jeepney into a five-star lobby and hadn't figured out the air-conditioning yet.

"Lila?" she said, voice cracking on