Chapter 11 - What Andrés Discovered
My brother couldn't speak.
I took the document.
The name was clear.
Gabriel Ortega.
My mother's financial adviser.
The same man who had warned me not to trust Sergio.
The same man who had given me my mother's letter.
The same man who had told us he wanted to protect me.
I felt betrayed.
“Call him.”
Andrés did.
No answer.
We drove to his house.
It was empty.
But the front door was unlocked.
Ruiz entered first.
The house had been searched.
Drawers were open.
Papers were scattered.
A computer screen was still on.
One file remained open.
It was labeled:
PROJECT N.
N.
Nicolás.
I couldn't breathe.
Ruiz opened it.
There were medical records.
Birth information.
The trust.
And photographs of me.
Taken during my pregnancy.
Someone had been watching us.
Then Andrés noticed a second folder.
Inside was a video.
Gabriel appeared on screen.
His face looked exhausted.
“I knew Sergio was dangerous.”
He paused.
“But I made one mistake.”
I leaned closer.
“I believed I could control the situation.”
He explained that my mother had asked him to protect the trust.
But after her death, Arturo threatened him.
Gabriel had given Arturo access to some records.
Not the money.
Not the trust.
Just information.
“I thought I was buying time.”
The video continued.
“I wasn't.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“If something happens to Elena or Nicolás, the person responsible will try to make it look like an accident.”
My heart stopped.
Then Gabriel gave a name.
“Mariana.”
Ruiz paused the video.
“Who is Mariana?”
I didn't know.
Andrés did.
His face had gone pale.
“She was our mother's assistant.”
“What happened to her?”
“She disappeared.”
Years ago.
No one knew where she went.
Then Ruiz found an old photograph.
Mariana stood beside my mother.
And beside her was Arturo.
I felt dizzy.
“She worked for both of them.”
“Apparently.”
Then the computer chimed.
A new email arrived.
No sender.
No subject.
Only an attachment.
Ruiz opened it.
It was a scanned page.
My mother's handwriting.
At the bottom were three words:
Mariana knows everything.
The address underneath belonged to a small house in Puebla.
We went there immediately.
An elderly woman opened the door.
She looked at me.
Then at Nicolás's photograph.
She began to cry.
“You look exactly like her.”
“Like my mother?”
“Yes.”
She opened the door wider.
“Come inside.”
I stepped in.
She locked the door behind us.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“Your mother didn't die naturally.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She was poisoned.”
Ruiz stepped forward.
“Do you have proof?”
The woman nodded.
“I kept it.”
She walked toward a cabinet.
Her hand trembled as she reached inside.
Then she pulled out a small envelope.
“Your mother gave this to me the night before she died.”
I reached for it.
The envelope had my name.
But before I could open it, someone outside shouted.
The lights went out.
May you like
And Mariana whispered:
“They found us.”
