The Name They Took From Mina
At the pre-hearing family gathering, Aunt Dalia publicly challenges Mina’s legitimacy by weaponizing seating, naming, and the old Sera debt, stripping Mina of standing and marriage leverage in front of the people who matter. Shunted into the workroom under the guise of help, Mina discovers a receipt stamped from outside the family’s usual channels and finds Grandmother Sera’s name crossed out on the paper trail. The chapter ends with Mina realizing the debt is real, practical, and tied to a hidden immigrant network that has been moving records around her life for years.