Chapter 3: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Alejandro did not sleep that night.
At 2:17 a.m., he stood in the mansion's study with Elena's photograph in one hand and the hospital record in the other.
The city glittered beyond the windows.
Everything he had built seemed suddenly meaningless.
His father had been dead for eighteen months. The old man had left behind a fortune, a family foundation, and a network of secrets Alejandro was only beginning to uncover.
If the hospital record was genuine, his father had known Elena was alive after the date she was supposedly buried.
And he had hidden it.
Alejandro called Daniel.
“Get me the hospital director.””
“It's the middle of the night, sir.””
“Then wake him up.””
Twenty minutes later, Daniel returned the call.
“The director says the archive was transferred to a private medical storage company five years ago. He claims he can't access the original files without legal authorization.””
“Then get legal authorization.””
“There's another issue.””
Alejandro closed his eyes.
“Of course there is.””
“The patient was admitted under an alias. The name on the record is Elena Morales, but the date of birth and identification number match Elena Castillo.””
Elena Castillo.
Her full name.
Alejandro gripped the edge of his desk.
“Where was she admitted?””
“Saint Catherine's Medical Center. A private psychiatric and rehabilitation facility outside the city.””
“Why would she be in a psychiatric facility?””
“I'm trying to find out.””
“Try harder.””
He ended the call.
A soft knock came from the doorway.
Valentina stood there in pink pajamas, holding her rabbit by its remaining ear.
“Daddy?””
Alejandro immediately softened.
“What's wrong, sweetheart?””
“I had a bad dream.””
He crossed the room and lifted her into his arms.
“What happened?””
Valentina rested her head against his shoulder.
“Mommy was calling me, but I couldn't find her.””
Alejandro held her more tightly.
“It's okay. You're safe.””
“Will you find Mommy?””
The question left him speechless.
He could promise to search.
He could promise to protect her.
But he could not promise what she wanted most.
“I'll do everything I can,” he whispered.
Valentina considered that answer.
Then she reached into the pocket of her pajamas and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Marisol said I could give you this if I was scared.””
Alejandro unfolded it.
It was a child's drawing, made with thick blue and purple crayons.
Three stick figures stood beneath a yellow sun.
One was a woman with long hair. One was a little girl. The third was a tall man in a black suit.
Above the man, Valentina had written a single word in uneven letters.
DADDY.
Alejandro stared at the drawing until the words blurred.
He had spent years believing love was a weakness that powerful people exploited.
Now, a child who barely knew him had placed her trust in his hands.
He kissed her forehead.
“Let's get you back to bed.””
But as he carried her down the corridor, a light appeared beneath the door of the guest room.
Isabella was awake.
Her voice drifted through the narrow opening.
“I don't care what you promised him. The girl cannot stay.””
Alejandro stopped.
Another voice answered from inside the room.
A man.
“You told me the child was never going to appear.””
“I didn't know Marisol had kept her.””
“Then fix it.””
Alejandro shifted Valentina into one arm and pushed the door open with the other.
Isabella stood beside the bed, still wearing her wedding gown. Her makeup was smudged, and a half-empty glass of champagne rested on the nightstand.
A man in a gray suit stood near the window.
He looked familiar.
Alejandro recognized him as Ricardo Varela, Isabella's older brother and the family's attorney.
Ricardo's face went blank when he saw Alejandro.
Isabella recovered first.
“Darling, I was just discussing the wedding arrangements.””
“At three in the morning?””
She glanced at Valentina.
“Please don't bring her into this.””
Alejandro stepped into the room.
“Who told you she was coming?””
Neither answered.
He looked at Ricardo.
“And what exactly are you fixing?””
Ricardo adjusted his cuffs.
“Nothing that concerns you, Alejandro. Isabella is upset. The wedding has been canceled, and emotions are running high.””
“You were discussing my daughter.””
“We were discussing a domestic problem.””
Alejandro's expression went cold.
“Call her a domestic problem again.””
Ricardo's jaw tightened.
“Be reasonable. If the child is yours, there will be legal questions. Guardianship.
Inheritance. Public scrutiny. You don't want a scandal attached to the company.””
Alejandro looked at Isabella.
“Did you know about Elena?””
Her silence lasted only a second.
It was enough.
“Did you know she was alive?””
Isabella placed her glass on the nightstand.
“I knew your relationship ended badly.””
“That wasn't my question.””
“She left you, Alejandro.””
“Who told her I was marrying you?””
Isabella looked at her brother.
Ricardo stepped forward.
“This conversation is over.””
Alejandro laughed once, without humor.
“No. It has barely begun.””
He handed Valentina to Daniel, who had appeared behind him.
“Take her to Marisol. Stay with them.””
Valentina reached for Alejandro's collar.
“Daddy, don't go.””
He touched her cheek.
“I'll be right there, sweetheart.””
She reluctantly let Daniel carry her away.
The moment the child disappeared, Alejandro turned back to Isabella.
“Answer me.””
Isabella's composure cracked.
“What do you want me to say? That I was afraid of losing you? That I knew Elena was pregnant and thought she would ruin everything?””
Alejandro stared at her.
The admission seemed to surprise Isabella as much as it did him.
Ricardo grabbed her arm.
“Stop talking.””
She jerked away.
“No! I'm tired of protecting everyone else.””
Alejandro's voice was barely above a whisper.
“What did you do?””
Isabella's eyes filled with tears, but her next words were sharp.
“I didn't kill her.””
Nobody moved.
Alejandro felt the room tilt.
“I didn't ask if you killed her.””
Isabella covered her mouth.
Ricardo stepped between them.
“She is exhausted. You are twisting her words.””
Alejandro reached for his phone.
“Daniel, call the police.””
Ricardo's face darkened.
“You wouldn't dare.””
“Watch me.””
Isabella suddenly lunged forward and seized Alejandro's wrist.
“If you contact the police, you'll never find Elena.””
He froze.
“What did you say?””
Isabella's eyes darted toward the door.
Ricardo grabbed her shoulders.
“Enough!””
But the damage was done.
Alejandro leaned closer.
“You know where she is.””
“I don't know where she is now,” Isabella whispered.
“Where was she?””
Her lips trembled.
“Saint Catherine's.””
Alejandro's blood ran cold.
The same facility listed in the hospital record.
He released her wrist.
“Why was she there?””
“Your father arranged it.””
“On what grounds?””
Ricardo answered before she could.
“Medical grounds. Elena was unstable. Your father believed she needed treatment.””
Alejandro's hands curled into fists.
“Was she unstable, or did someone make her look unstable?””
Neither answered.
He looked at Isabella.
“Did you visit her?””
She nodded reluctantly.
“When?””
“Three years ago. Before the wedding was arranged.””
“And?””
Isabella's eyes filled with something that looked almost like fear.
“She told me she had a daughter. She said you were the father. She begged me to tell you.””
Alejandro felt sick.
“And you didn't.””
“I thought you would leave me.””
“You were never married to me.””
“I loved you!””
“No,” he said.
“You loved what my name could give you.””
Isabella slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Alejandro slowly turned his face back toward her.
“You have one chance to tell me everything.””
Isabella began to cry.
“My father said Elena would disappear from your life. Your father agreed to make it happen. They arranged the medical admission, and I was told she would be transferred somewhere safe.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
“Who does?””
She shook her head.
“Your father handled everything through his personal secretary.””
Alejandro stepped back.
His father's secretary had retired two years earlier and moved to a coastal town. Alejandro had barely spoken to him since the funeral.
He would find him.
He would find the records.
And if Elena was alive, he would bring her home.
Ricardo moved toward the door.
“You cannot prove any of this. The records are confidential, and Isabella was under tremendous emotional pressure.””
Alejandro looked at him.
“Get out of my house.””
Ricardo straightened.
“You'll regret making an enemy of the Varela family.””
“I already regret allowing them into my life.””
Ricardo left.
Isabella remained beside the bed, crying into her hands.
Alejandro did not comfort her.
He walked out and went straight to the security room.
“Prepare the car,” he told Daniel.
“We're going to Saint Catherine's.””
Daniel hesitated.
“Sir, the facility closed its residential program last year.””
“Then find out where the patients went.””
“I've already started. There's something else you should know.””
Daniel opened a file on the monitor.
“The hospital's original admission record was altered. Someone removed the discharge details, but the digital archive retained a transaction log.””
Alejandro leaned closer.
“Show me.””
Daniel pointed to a line near the bottom.
The patient had been transferred from Saint Catherine's to another facility six weeks after admission.
The destination was listed as a private rehabilitation center on the coast.
But the authorization field contained something more disturbing.
The transfer had been approved by Alejandro himself.
His electronic signature appeared beneath the order.
He stared at it.
“I never signed this.””
Daniel nodded.
“I know, sir. The authorization was entered using your credentials.””
Alejandro felt the old machinery of his father's empire closing around him.
Someone had used his identity to erase the woman he loved.
Someone had hidden his daughter.
And someone had made certain that even after his father's death, the lie would remain intact.
Then Daniel opened the final attachment.
A recent photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed a woman standing outside a small seaside clinic, wearing a pale blue coat. Her dark hair was shorter than he remembered, and there were faint lines around her eyes.
But he knew her face.
He had loved that face.
He had searched for it in airports, hospitals, and crowds for months.
Alejandro reached toward the monitor.
“Where was this taken?””
“Six days ago,” Daniel said.
“The clinic confirmed that the woman used the name Elena Morales.””
Alejandro couldn't breathe.
“Is she alive?””
Daniel looked at the screen.
“The clinic says she left voluntarily three days ago.””
“Where did she go?””
“They don't know.””
Alejandro stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed something in the background.
A little girl stood beside Elena, holding a red balloon.
She looked about five years old.
Not three.
And she was wearing the same silver bracelet Valentina wore.
Alejandro stepped back.
His daughter was three.
The girl in the photograph was older.
Which meant Elena might have had another child.
Or someone had deliberately placed Valentina's bracelet on a different girl to mislead him.
Before he could speak, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered, listened for several seconds, and turned pale.
“Sir, the clinic has just received a call from someone claiming to be Elena's husband.””
Alejandro's eyes narrowed.
“Her husband?””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“The caller says Elena is not to be contacted under any circumstances.””
“Who is he?””
Daniel looked down at the caller information.
Then he whispered a name that made Alejandro's blood run cold.
“Your older brother, señor. Sebastián Villaseñor.””
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Alejandro had buried his brother four years earlier.
Or so he had been told.
