Chapter 14 - The Daughter Who Was Never Lost
Mauricio stepped through the broken doorway holding a photograph.
No one moved.
His eyes found mine.
Then Mia.
Then the photograph in my hand.
“You finally understand,” he said.
I raised my gun.
“Put the photograph down.”
He smiled.
“You still think this is about money.”
“Put it down.”
He slowly lowered the photograph.
Behind him stood two men.
One held a weapon.
The other carried a black case.
My mother moved closer to Mia.
Gabriel stepped in front of Lucía.
Mauricio looked at him.
“Father.”
Gabriel's face hardened.
“Don't call me that.”
“You always hated what I became.”
“I hated what you chose to become.”
Mauricio laughed.
“You taught me everything.”
“No.”
“I learned from the best.”
“You learned from fear.”
Mauricio's smile disappeared.
“Fear works.”
He held up the photograph.
“That's why all of you survived.”
I looked at it.
“Who is she?”
Mauricio didn't answer.
“Who is the girl?”
He glanced at Lucía.
“She knows.”
Lucía shook her head.
“No.”
Mauricio smiled.
“You've spent thirteen years protecting a lie.”
Lucía's face went pale.
I turned toward her.
“What lie?”
She stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“That girl isn't Isabela.”
My mother closed her eyes.
I felt the room tilt.
“Then who is she?”
Mauricio answered.
“Mia.”
Mariana pulled Mia closer.
“No.”
Mauricio nodded.
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
“Ask Lucía.”
I looked at her.
Lucía's eyes filled with tears.
“The photograph was taken six years ago.”
“So?”
“Mia was four.”
I looked at the picture.
The girl looked older.
Seven or eight.
But the scar was there.
The eyes.
The mouth.
Everything.
“How?”
Lucía shook her head.
“Because there were two girls.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
“Two?”
She nodded.
“Mia had a twin.”
Mariana's face went white.
“No one told me.”
“You weren't supposed to know.”
I looked at my mother.
“You knew.”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
“How many children were born that night?”
“One.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Lucía interrupted.
“There were two.”
Marta suddenly covered her mouth.
“I remember.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She was crying.
“The delivery room.”
Mariana stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
Marta looked at her.
“I heard two babies crying.”
Mariana's face collapsed.
“No.”
“I thought the second sound was an alarm.”
“But it wasn't.”
“No.”
Marta nodded.
“There were two.”
I looked at Mia.
She was trembling.
I knelt beside her.
“Do you remember another little girl?”
She looked confused.
“Sometimes.”
My heart tightened.
“What do you remember?”
“She looked like me.”
Mariana began crying.
“What was her name?”
Mia closed her eyes.
“Lia.”
Lucía stepped backward.
“No.”
Mia looked at her.
“Lia was always hiding.”
“Where?”
“Under the bed.”
“Why?”
“She was scared.”
“Of who?”
Mia looked toward Mauricio.
“Of him.”
Mauricio's expression changed.
I stood.
“You knew about the twin.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
He held up the photograph.
“This is Lia.”
I stared.
“Then where is Mia?”
Mauricio looked at the little girl beside Mariana.
“Right there.”
I felt sick.
“So there were two.”
“Yes.”
“And you separated them.”
“We had to.”
“Why?”
“Because one child carried the Ortega bloodline.”
I frowned.
“They're twins.”
“Not identical.”
Marta whispered:
“One was born from Mariana's egg.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
Marta continued.
“The other wasn't.”
Mariana stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“The second embryo was implanted.”
My mind struggled to understand.
“You're saying one baby was biologically ours…”
“And the other?”
Marta looked at Gabriel.
“Gabriel's.”
I turned toward him.
He looked devastated.
“Your father had arranged an illegal embryo transfer months before the delivery.”
Mariana shook her head.
“No.”
“He wanted an heir.”
Gabriel whispered:
“I didn't know.”
“You knew nothing?”
“I knew they were using the clinic.”
“But not the pregnancy?”
“No.”
I looked at the twins' photographs.
“So one was ours.”
“Yes.”
“And the other was created from Gabriel's genetic material.”
“Yes.”
“Which one is Mia?”
Nobody answered.
My entire body went cold.
I looked at Mariana.
She was crying.
“Which one is our daughter?”
Lucía stepped forward.
“Mia.”
I looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I was there.”
“Then tell me.”
She pointed at the girl beside Mariana.
“That one is yours.”
Mariana collapsed against her.
I closed my eyes.
Relief hit me.
Then fear.
“Where is Lia?”
Mauricio smiled.
“That's the question.”
I stepped toward him.
“Where is she?”
He lifted the photograph.
“She's been living under another name.”
“What name?”
He looked at Lucía.
“Tell him.”
Lucía shook her head.
“No.”
Mauricio raised his weapon.
Lucía froze.
“Tell him.”
She whispered:
“Isabela.”
I stared.
“Isabela was Lia?”
“Yes.”
The missing daughter.
The child everyone had been searching for.
The girl whose photograph had been mistaken for someone else.
She had been Mia's twin.
And Lucía had known.
I looked at her.
“Why did you call her your sister?”
“Because I couldn't tell anyone the truth.”
“Where is she now?”
Lucía looked toward the broken door.
“She's alive.”
“Where?”
“Close.”
“How close?”
She pointed toward the stairs.
My stomach dropped.
“She came here.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Mariana gripped Mia's shoulders.
“Where is she?”
Lucía whispered:
“She followed Mauricio.”
I turned toward him.
He was smiling.
“You brought her here?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
He opened the black case.
Inside was a laptop.
He turned the screen toward us.
A live camera feed appeared.
A young woman sat in a dark room.
Long dark hair.
Brown eyes.
The same scar near her eyebrow.
She looked terrified.
Mia stared at the screen.
“Lia.”
The girl on the screen looked up.
Her eyes widened.
“Mia?”
Mia stepped forward.
“Lia!”
The girl began crying.
Mariana covered her mouth.
My heart broke.
Two sisters.
Separated before they could remember each other.
Mauricio closed the laptop.
“No.”
I raised my weapon.
“Open it.”
“You don't give orders here.”
“Open it.”
He looked at me.
“You want your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Then give me the archive.”
“No.”
“You'll never see her again.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
“You're making the same mistake your father made.”
Mauricio looked at him.
“You don't get to talk about fathers.”
Gabriel's face tightened.
“You blame me.”
“I should.”
“For what?”
“For abandoning us.”
Gabriel stared.
“I never abandoned you.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because they threatened your life.”
“You left me with them.”
“I thought I could protect you.”
“You failed.”
Gabriel lowered his eyes.
Mauricio pointed the gun at him.
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Mauricio looked at me.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that you kidnapped children.”
“I protected them.”
“You call this protection?”
“You have no idea what the Ortega family was capable of.”
“You became worse.”
His face hardened.
“No.”
He pointed toward Mia.
“I kept her alive.”
“You stole her.”
“I prevented her from being killed.”
“By whom?”
He looked at my mother.
She began crying.
“By her.”
I turned.
“What?”
Mauricio laughed.
“Ask your mother what she did after your father died.”
I looked at Ofelia.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
“What did you do?”
She whispered:
“I made a deal.”
“With whom?”
“The Ortega group.”
“For what?”
“To get Mia back.”
“Did it work?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“They demanded another child.”
I felt sick.
“They wanted Mariana pregnant again.”
My mother nodded.
“Why?”
“Because they needed another genetic match.”
I looked at Mariana.
She was holding her stomach.
“Our baby?”
My mother nodded.
“They were watching this pregnancy from the beginning.”
Marta suddenly understood.
“The medication.”
“Yes.”
My mother looked at Mariana.
“They wanted the baby weakened.”
Mariana's face went white.
“They wanted another premature delivery.”
“They wanted access to the child before you could leave the hospital.”
I stared at Mauricio.
“You planned this.”
“Yes.”
“The bruises?”
“Necessary.”
“The pills?”
“Necessary.”
“The fake authorization?”
“Necessary.”
I stepped forward.
“You nearly killed my wife.”
He didn't answer.
Mariana looked at him.
“You tried to kill my baby.”
His expression remained cold.
“I needed the child alive.”
I could barely breathe.
“You're insane.”
“No.”
He looked at the laptop.
“I am practical.”
I raised my gun.
“You're done.”
He smiled.
“Maybe.”
Then he pressed a button.
The screen changed.
A hospital room appeared.
A doctor stood beside an operating table.
Mariana froze.
“That's…”
Her face drained of color.
“That's my doctor.”
Marta stepped closer.
“Where is this?”
Mauricio answered:
“Santa Elena.”
My mother shook her head.
“The clinic is abandoned.”
“Not tonight.”
I stared at the screen.
The doctor turned toward the camera.
Dr. Herrera.
He held a newborn medical bracelet.
Then he said:
“Prepare the second transfer.”
Mariana screamed.
“I'm not there!”
“No,” Mauricio said.
He looked at her stomach.
“Not yet.”
I understood.
The plan hadn't happened.
It was scheduled.
Tonight.
I grabbed Mauricio by the collar.
“Where is the clinic?”
He laughed.
“You already know.”
Santa Elena.
We had just left it.
Or thought we had.
I turned toward Marta.
“Can we get there?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“Then we're going.”
Mauricio shook his head.
“You won't make it.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because your mother already called them.”
I turned.
My mother was holding a phone.
The screen showed an outgoing call.
Santa Elena.
I stared at her.
“Mother?”
She began crying.
“I had no choice.”
“You always say that.”
“I was trying to save the baby.”
Mariana stepped toward her.
“You called them?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
My mother whispered:
“Because they threatened Mia.”
Mia stepped backward.
“Grandma?”
My mother looked at her.
“I am sorry.”
The house suddenly filled with sirens.
Not police.
Ambulances.
Three white vehicles stopped outside.
Men in medical uniforms rushed toward the entrance.
Marta looked through the window.
Her face changed.
“They're here.”
I grabbed Mariana's hand.
“We leave now.”
But before we could move, Mia looked at the laptop.
The screen had turned black.
Then one sentence appeared.
THE TRANSFER HAS ALREADY BEGUN.
Mariana's hand tightened around mine.
A second message appeared.
THE BABY IS ALREADY AT SANTA ELENA.
I stared at the screen.
Mariana was still standing beside me.
Her hand was on her stomach.
May you like
Then she suddenly doubled over.
And when she looked up at me, blood had begun to spread across her dress...
